Fred Fielding
Collingwood and South Melbourne
AFL career
18 games10 goals
- Debut
- R5 1911 v COL27 May 1911
- Most recent
- SF 1913 v FIT13 Sept 1913
Stats
Bio
A diminutive premiership star from the Bendigo Football League, Fred Fielding arrived in the VFL with a winning pedigree forged during South Bendigo's golden era. After a solitary appearance for South Melbourne in 1911 failed to yield a permanent spot, he returned to the bush to secure his fourth consecutive flag before Collingwood lured him back to the city for a proper crack at league football in 1913. Standing just 170cm, Fielding was an exceptionally clever rover and small forward who relied on elite foot skills and evasive ball-handling to impact the scoreboard. He quickly cemented his place in the Magpies' lineup, featuring as one of their best players in the 1913 semi-final, but his promising career was effectively ended when he departed to captain-coach Echuca the following season. His story concluded tragically during the Great War, where he enlisted under the alias "James Gleeson"—using his mother's maiden name—and was killed in action in France during the Hundred Days Offensive.
Profile
- Born
- 06 Sept 1889
- Died
- 08 Aug 1918 (aged 28y 336d)
- Birthplace
- Bendigo, VIC
- Deathplace
- Villers-Bretonneux, France
- Height
- 170 cm
- Weight
- 68 kg
Teams
Bio
1 revisionA diminutive premiership star from the Bendigo Football League, Fred Fielding arrived in the VFL with a winning pedigree forged during South Bendigo's golden era. After a solitary appearance for South Melbourne in 1911 failed to yield a permanent spot, he returned to the bush to secure his fourth consecutive flag before Collingwood lured him back to the city for a proper crack at league football in 1913. Standing just 170cm, Fielding was an exceptionally clever rover and small forward who relied on elite foot skills and evasive ball-handling to impact the scoreboard. He quickly cemented his place in the Magpies' lineup, featuring as one of their best players in the 1913 semi-final, but his promising career was effectively ended when he departed to captain-coach Echuca the following season. His story concluded tragically during the Great War, where he enlisted under the alias "James Gleeson"—using his mother's maiden name—and was killed in action in France during the Hundred Days Offensive.