Tom Fleming

"Whitey" Fleming was one of the outstanding wingers of his day.

Born in Beith in Ayrshire, Scotland, he played for his local team in the Ayrshire Cup final of 1906-07 before crossing the Atlantic to the United States in September 1907. In the U.S. he joined the Fore River shipyard club of Quincy, Massachusetts, winning the New England League and Cup in his first season over such famous teams as Fall River Pan-Americans. But after playing for a number of years in the New England League he was encouraged to return to Scotland where he joined First Division club Morton.

He returned to the U.S. before the start of World War I in 1914 and the spring of that year won the American F.A. Cup playing for Bethlehem Steel at outside left. The American F.A. Cup was the championship trophy of the American Football Association formed in Newark, New Jersey in 1884 and first played for in the 1884-85 season. It was to be the first of a long line of cup wins for Tommy Fleming. With the great Bethlehem Steel team before 1920, he won the American F.A. Cup four more times in 1916, 1917, 1918 and 1919 for a total of five. In addition he was a member of the team that in that same era won the U.S. Open Cup four times starting in 1915 and then again in 1916, 1918 and 1919.

When the first American Soccer League was formed in the summer of 1921 he became a member of the Philadelphia F.C. a team that was really Bethlehem Steel, but included some players from other Philadelphia teams. That team won the first ASL championship. In the summer of 1922 he returned to New England and joined the J & P Coats team of Pawtucket, Rhode Island. That team won the second ASL championship.

He remained with the Threadmen for the 1923-24 season before moving on to Boston for the start of the 1924-25 season. In Boston he joined a Wonder Worker team, known sometimes as the "Woodsies" after the teams owner, and contained many well known Scottish First Division players. Boston became a power in the league and won the ASL championship in the 1927-28 season. He also won the Lewis Cup, the ASL cup competition as distinct from the league, with Boston in 1927 and the one-time American Professional Championship in 1925 against the Ben Millers of St. Louis.

Fleming finished his playing career in Boston having won the American F.A. Cup five times, the U.S. Open Cup four times, the ASL championship three times, the Lewis Cup and the American Professional Championship.

In the American Soccer League he played 234 games and scored 94 goals.