John Walter Fletcher
| John Walter Fletcher | |
|---|---|
| Born |
11 April 1847 London, England |
| Died | 28 February 1918 (aged 70) Neutral Bay, New South Wales, Australia |
| Occupation | Teacher, footballer, sports administrator, cricketer, magistrate |
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 (NSW) as a teacher and a magistrate.
Fletcher was born in London, the son of Harriet Fletcher (later Bathurst) and John Rolt. He was educated at Redhill School, in Redhill, Surrey and at Cheltenham College. In 1866, Fletcher entered Pembroke College, Oxford University and graduated in 1869 with a Bachelor of Arts (second class honours). While at Oxford, he took a keen interest in sport, especially long distance running, and acquired a blue in athletics. In 1879, Fletcher obtained his Master's degree from Oxford.
In 1875, Fletcher had emigrated to Australia and began working as a teacher at a private school called Oaklands, at Mittagong, New South Wales. 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 and Fletcher served as secretary of Paddington 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.
...
Wikipedia