James Rodney Fletcher (23 September 1945 – 24 November 2023) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who scored 60 goals from 201 games in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

playing as a

centre forward Forwards (also known as attackers) are outfield positions in an association football team who play the furthest up the pitch and are therefore most responsible for scoring goals as well as assisting them. As with any attacking player, the role ...

for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, that competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' because of ...

, Lincoln City,

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

Career

Fletcher was born on 23 September 1945 in

Preston, Lancashire Preston () is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire, England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding distri ...

. He played for

Nelson Nelson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Nelson'' (1918 film), a historical film directed by Maurice Elvey * ''Nelson'' (1926 film), a historical film directed by Walter Summers * ''Nelson'' (opera), an opera by Lennox Berkeley to a lib ...

in the

Lancashire Combination The Lancashire Combination was a football league founded in the North West of England in 1891–92. It absorbed the Lancashire League in 1903. In 1968 the Combination lost five of its clubs to the newly formed Northern Premier League. In 1982 it ...

before turning professional with

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

in 1962. After two years playing for Leeds' junior teams he began a teacher training course, and in his final year played for

where he made his debut in

. Fletcher signed on a part-time basis for Lincoln City while working in his first teaching post in nearby

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of Linco ...

. He scored regularly for the reserves but only established himself in the first team towards the end of the 1968–69 season. The following year he was the club's top scorer with 17 goals in all competitions and played in every game. Access individual season statistics via Season Stats dropdown menu at foot of right-hand sidebar. When managerial changes left Fletcher out of favour, he joined

in 1971 for a £3,000 fee, to replace

Kevin Keegan Joseph Kevin Keegan (born 14 February 1951) is an English former footballer and manager. A forward, he played for several professional clubs from 1968 to 1984. Having begun his career at Scunthorpe United, he moved to Liverpool in 1971 and ...

who had joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Still combining his football and teaching careers, Fletcher was ever-present in the 1971–72 season. His 19 goals helped Scunthorpe to the Third Division title and made him the club's leading scorer, a feat he repeated the following season, though with only 10 goals as they were

relegated In sports leagues, promotion and relegation is a process where teams are transferred between multiple divisions based on their performance for the completed season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are often called open leagues. ...

. He finished his professional career with two injury-hit seasons at

before being released on a free transfer. In May 1975, he was appointed player-manager for Immingham Town agreeing a two-year contract. He resigned from the post in June 1977 due to increased work commitments from a new job as PE Master at the newly opened Humberston Comprehensive School and later played for Louth United.

Death

Fletcher died on 24 November 2023 and a celebration of his life was held on 13 December 2023. He was 78.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fletcher, Rod 1945 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Preston, Lancashire English men's footballers Men's association football forwards English Football League players Nelson F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Lincoln City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Immingham Town F.C. players Louth United F.C. players English football managers