John Walter Fletcher (11 May 1847 – 28 February 1918) is widely regarded as the "father of
Australian soccer". He was also prominent in
New South Wales
)
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, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
(NSW) as a
teacher
A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching.
''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. whe ...
and a
magistrate
The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...
.
Biography
Early life
Fletcher was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, the son of Harriet Fletcher (later Bathurst) and John Rolt. He was educated at Redhill School, in
Redhill, Surrey and at
Cheltenham College
("Work Conquers All")
, established =
, closed =
, type = Public school Independent School Day and Boarding School
, religion = Church of England
, president =
, head_label = Head
, head = Nicola Hugget ...
. In 1866, Fletcher entered
Pembroke College,
University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
and graduated in 1869 with a
Bachelor of Arts
Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four year ...
(second class honours). While at Oxford, he took a keen interest in sport, especially
long distance running
Long-distance running, or endurance running, is a form of continuous running over distances of at least . Physiologically, it is largely aerobic in nature and requires stamina as well as mental strength.
Within endurance running comes two d ...
, and acquired a
blue
Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between violet and cyan on the spectrum of visible light. The eye perceives blue when ...
in athletics. In 1879, Fletcher obtained his
Master's
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. degree from Oxford.
Career
In 1875, Fletcher had emigrated to Australia and began working as a teacher at a
private school
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
called Oaklands, at
Mittagong
Mittagong () is a town located in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, Australia, in Wingecarribee Shire. The town acts as the gateway to the Southern Highlands when coming from Sydney. Mittagong is situated at an elevation of . The town ...
,
New South Wales
)
, nickname =
, image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg
, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name = Australia
, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
. In 1877, Fletcher established his own private boys’ school in
Sydney, which he named
Coreen College. During this period, Fletcher met Anne Marian Clarke, whom he married at St Thomas's Church of England,
North Sydney. The couple settled in
Woollahra
Woollahra is a suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Woollahra is located 5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woolla ...
and Fletcher served as secretary of
Paddington
Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
Cricket Club. He also began to work towards the establishment of Association football in Sydney. The first club,
Wanderers was formed on 3 August 1880, with Fletcher as its secretary. On 14 August, the first official game was played, between Wanderers and the
King's School rugby team, at
Parramatta Common,
Parramatta
Parramatta () is a suburb and major Central business district, commercial centre in Greater Western Sydney, located in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located approximately west of the Sydney central business district on the ban ...
.
In 1882, he formed the New South Wales English Football Association (some sources refer to it as the Southern British Football Soccer Association), Australia's first soccer association and one of the first to be established outside the United Kingdom. The word "English" was necessary to distinguish the association from organisations related to
Rugby football
Rugby football is the collective name for the team sports of rugby union and rugby league.
Canadian football and, to a lesser extent, American football were once considered forms of rugby football, but are seldom now referred to as such. The ...
, which had already been established as the most popular
code of football
Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...
in the Sydney area.
Fletcher was in the
NSW cricket squad that played
Victoria
Victoria most commonly refers to:
* Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia
* Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada
* Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory
* Victoria, Seychelle ...
in Melbourne in December 1882, although he was never a member of the playing team. Anne Fletcher also achieved sporting notability in 1883, by embroidering the velvet bag in which "
The Ashes of English Cricket" were returned to England with the
England cricket team
The England cricket team represents England and Wales in international cricket. Since 1997, it has been governed by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), having been previously governed by Marylebone Cricket Club (the MCC) since 1903. Engl ...
. It is possible that Fletcher himself poured The Ashes into their urn.
[Mosely 1995:7n]
He moved Coreen College to
Katoomba in 1884, and renamed it Katoomba College. Fletcher was involved in the establishment of soccer clubs in the
Blue Mountains and from 1891 to 1894, served as President of the Katoomba School of Arts. In 1893, a
major economic downturn forced Katoomba College to close, and Fletcher joined the
Bar
Bar or BAR may refer to:
Food and drink
* Bar (establishment), selling alcoholic beverages
* Candy bar
* Chocolate bar
Science and technology
* Bar (river morphology), a deposit of sediment
* Bar (tropical cyclone), a layer of cloud
* Bar (u ...
that same year.
In May 1898, he took up a position with the
New South Wales Department of Justice. In 1899, he was appointed police magistrate at
Wilcannia
Wilcannia is a small town located within the Central Darling Shire in north western New South Wales, Australia. Located on the Darling River, the town was the third largest inland port in the country during the river boat era of the mid-19th ce ...
, and was transferred to
Moree in 1902. In 1904 he became a relieving police magistrate, before retiring in 1914. He then lived in
Neutral Bay
Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council.
Neutral Bay takes ...
. Fletcher is buried at
Gore Hill Cemetery.
Personal life
Fletcher had six children, including John William Fletcher, a prominent
pastoralist and public figure in Queensland.
In 1999, John Walter Fletcher was inducted into the
Football Hall of Fame Football Hall of Fame may refer to:
American football
*College Football Hall of Fame
*Pro Football Hall of Fame, located in Canton, Ohio
Association football
*English Football Hall of Fame
*Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame
*National Soc ...
.
References
External links
Philip Mosely, "Father of Australian Soccer: John Waiter Fletcher 1847-1918—a Biographical Sketch" First published in ''ASSH Bulletin'' (Australian Society for Sports History) December 1995.
Football Federation Australia "John Walter Fletcher"2007
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, John Walter
1847 births
1918 deaths
Soccer players from Sydney
People educated at Cheltenham College
Australian schoolteachers
Creators of association football
Australian people of English descent
Men's association football players not categorized by position
Burials at Gore Hill Cemetery
Association football players not categorized by nationality
Educators from the Colony of New South Wales