Hard man with a big heart and even bigger personality
Football stalwart
FOOTBALL identity Bill Fleming was not afraid of a challenge — or a battle, for that matter.
He often put his hand up to help out when others had flinched, and he always had your back.
If you needed a good fundraising idea and someone to help you organise it, he was your guy.
He had a big heart like that and an even bigger personality. He also had some very firm ideas — ideas that sometimes brought conflict — but his passion for football helped inspire and fuel the sport in Dunedin.
Fleming was a talented defender and represented Otago. But he was young when he took up coaching and it was arguably there he had his biggest impact on the game.
In 1976, he coached Caversham to third place in the National Soccer League and was named New Zealand Football Association Personality of the Year.
Cavvy banged in a seasonhigh 40 goals and was the early pacesetter.
William John Fleming died in Dunedin on March 6. He was 74.
Former Football South general manager Bill Chisholm played at Dunedin Technical and Caversham when Fleming was coaching the sides.
He recalls his former mentor as ‘‘a largerthanlife character’’, who had an enormous passion for the game.
‘‘He was a hard man and often a blackandwhite sort of a character,’’ Chisholm said.
‘‘But he had a big heart as well and would do anything to help people out.
‘‘As a coach, Bill had a great belief in himself and he transmitted that to his players.
‘‘He had a good grasp of the game and he was a great motivator.’’
One of Chisholm’s favourite memories of Fleming illustrates the sort of character he was.
The pair were attending a New Zealand coaching session at Logan Park, when a photographer from the Otago Daily Times showed up.
‘‘Suddenly, Bill disappears behind the trees. He didn’t want to get his photograph taken because he was working for the railways at the time and he wasn’t supposed to be there.
‘‘Bill was quite cheeky that way.
‘‘He was always a guy with the schemes to raise money and he was good at it. He was in it, boots and all, whatever club he was with.’’
Fleming was born in Dunedin on November 13, 1945. His father, Naismith, and mother, Hazel (nee Helen), had four other children — Dorothy, James, Beverley and Trevor.
His father was a stalwart of the Mornington Football Club and was president of the Otago Soccer Referees Association in 1944.
Bill Fleming attended King Edward Technical College, where he established himself as quite the athlete.
He was a junior athletics champion. He ran the 100 yards in 10.5sec and recorded a rapid 11.6sec for the 80 yards hurdle, which is understood to have been an Otago record ‘‘for many years’’.
Fleming married young. He was 18 when he wed Daphne (nee Bain) in Invercargill in 1964.
The couple, who divorced 30 years ago, had four children — Stephen, Sharon, Malcolm and Rodney.
Fleming had various jobs. He did an apprenticeship in carpet laying, then worked at the Roslyn Mills as a machine operator.
He also had a stint as a truck driver for the New Zealand Railways and Speight’s Brewery. He owned a fish ’n’ chip business in Green Island about 30 years ago as well. But he finished up his working life delivering meals on wheels for St Barnabas Rest Home — a job he was really proud of, son Stephen said.
Sport was his passion. He was prominent in softball and was a founding member of the RoslynWakari Softball Club. He also enjoyed bowls, but football was king.
‘‘He was always passionate about his football,’’ Stephen said.
‘‘I watched him play when he was in the National League and he was aggressive. He was a good header of the ball and a good tackler — they were his strengths,’’ he said.
‘‘But he got married early and coaching took over in his early 30s.’’
Fleming had stints at Dunedin Technical and RoslynWakari but Caversham was his main club.
He was a former president of the club as is his son, Stephen. Fleming’s passion for the game stirred in all three of his sons.
They all went on to play the game at a high level. Malcolm also coached at provincial level.
Fleming, who represented Otago at age group level, made 17 National League appearances. He joined the Caversham club straight out of school but it was coaching where he made the biggest impact.
He coached Caversham during the mid1970s. The club gained promotion to the National Soccer League for the 1975 season and placed fourth.
The following season was shaping up nicely. Caversham was the frontrunner but drifted off the pace in the second half of the season.
The team had no problem scoring goals but a run of draws proved costly.
His father showed great passion for the sport, Stephen said
‘‘He was an emotional person and wore his heart on his sleeve,’’ Stephen said.
‘‘He wasn’t backwards coming forward and he had many runins with officials and supporters, but that is how things were in those days. They were a little bit different. And I think he got his energy from that.
‘‘But back in the ’70s and ’80s there was a real buzz about the football down here and he got in the mix of that and that gave him drive and energy.’’
Fleming is survived by children Stephen, Sharon, Malcolm and Rodney.
— Adrian Seconi