John Arnold Fielding (2 September 1939 – 1 August 2022) 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 lea ...

who played as a winger in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

and

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

. He later had a long career in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

and also played in

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Playing career

Early years

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

, Fielding began his career as an amateur at Everton. Following four seasons at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

, he transferred to

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 i ...

First Division club

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

. A record of nearly a goal every other game between September 1959 and March 1961 earned Fielding a £500 transfer to

Football League Fourth Division The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Following the creation of the Premier ...

club

. He broke into the team on a regular basis during the 1961–62 season, scoring 13 goals in 48 appearances. He went even better the 1962–63 season, with 11 goals in 32 appearances, before departing the club in March 1963. Fielding scored made 86 appearances and scored 24 goals for Southport.

Brentford

On 26 March 1963, Fielding transferred to Fourth Division high-flyers

for a £7,000 fee. He had impressed manager

Malky McDonald Malcolm MacDonald (26 October 1913 – 26 September 1999) was a Scottish professional footballer and manager, best remembered for his time as a utility player with Celtic and as a manager with Kilmarnock and Brentford. MacDonald managed the Sco ...

with his performance while a Southport player at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

in a 3–3 draw earlier in the season. After the return fixture, McDonald tabled a big-money offer. Fielding made seven appearances in what remained of the 1962–63 season to help the Bees over the line to the Division Four championship. He made semi-regular appearances in the Third Division and made 31 appearances, before fully breaking into the team in the 1964–65 season, when he made 42 appearances and scored 10 league goals. After making just 9 appearances in the first half of the 1965–66 season, Fielding left the Bees in December 1965. He made 93 appearances and scored 21 goals during years at Griffin Park.

Grimsby Town

Fielding joined Third Division club

in December 1965. Though not a regular pick for the team, he managed eight goals in 31 appearances before departing in 1967.

Port Elizabeth City

Fielding moved to

in 1967, where he linked up with former Brentford teammate Matt Crowe at

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

club Port Elizabeth City. He had a successful 1967 season, winning the league championship. Fielding departed the club at the end of the 1968 season.

Return to Southport

Fielding returned to Third Division club Southport in November 1968 and made a first team appearance in a

Lancashire Senior Cup The Lancashire County Football Association Cup (commonly known as the Lancashire Senior Cup) is an association football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Footbal ...

match on 3 January 1969. In February 1969, he departed to join

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

on trial.

Return to Wigan Athletic

Fielding returned to Wigan Athletic in 1969 for a second spell with the now high-flying

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English Association football, football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern Football League, Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English footba ...

club. He made 49 appearances and scored eight goals during the 1969–70 season and helping the Latics to a second-successive runners-up finish in the league. He departed at the end of the season.

Non-League football

Fielding wound down his career with spells at Northern Premier League clubs

Altrincham Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester, southwest of Sale, Greater Manchester, Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2021 United Kingdom ce ...

, Ellesmere Port Town, South Liverpool and

Runcorn Runcorn is an industrial town and Runcorn Docks, cargo port in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England. Runcorn is on the south bank of the River Mersey, where the estuary narrows to form the Runcorn Gap. It is upstream from the port of Live ...

. Work commitments led to his retirement from football in 1976.

Personal life

While an amateur with Everton, Fielding served an

apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in a regulat ...

as a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

with Arthur Peat.

Career statistics

Honours

Wigan Athletic *

Lancashire FA Challenge Trophy The Lancashire Football Association Challenge Trophy is an English football competition for senior non-league clubs who are members of the Lancashire County Football Association. The trophy was first played for in 1885, when it was known as the ...

: 1959–60 Port Elizabeth City *

: 1967

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fielding, John 1939 births 2022 deaths British plumbers Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football wingers Wigan Athletic F.C. players Southport F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Grimsby Town F.C. players Port Elizabeth City F.C. players Altrincham F.C. players Ellesmere Port Town F.C. players South Liverpool F.C. players Runcorn F.C. Halton players Northern Premier League players English Football League players National Football League (South Africa) players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in South Africa