Jimmy Fletcher has died at the age of 89 - a man who scored goals across the county, won four England amateur caps and went on to become a successful greyhound trainer.

He played for Gillingham and made headlines during his time at Maidstone United after postponing his wedding to play football for his country. When Jimmy did eventually get married, he had a game on the same day and netted a hat-trick!

He also won big on the greyhounds, backing an outsider as part of a consortium, watching as it romped home to secure a massive £200,000 windfall.

Jimmy, who had worked at Chatham Dockyard for a living, was described during his playing days with the Stones in the Corinthian League as a “tall, hard-working, thrustful inside-forward, who scores lots of goals,” and his performances for them would earn him international recognition for England’s amateur team.

It was a call-up for his country that led to him postponing his marriage to Patricia Woolford. The flowers had to be cancelled and the cake had already arrived but football came first. His fiancée spoke to the press at the time and after being described as a ‘staunch Maidstone fan’, she commented: “It’s a disappointment...but it is a wonderful chance for him.”

He came close to being called up for England to play in the Olympics in Australia in 1956.

Before playing for Maidstone, Jimmy had played for Wouldham, where he grew up and lived most of his life, and also had spells at Chatham Town and Faversham.

He went professional in 1957 after moving from Maidstone to Gillingham, where he bagged 13 goals in 27 first team outings during the 1957/58 season - second top scorer behind Ron Saunders, his former team-mate going on to lead Aston Villa to the Division 1 title as manager in 1981.

Jimmy’s time at Priestfield was hampered by injury but he managed a six-game scoring streak midway through the season - including one in a 6-1 FA Cup replay victory over Millwall - playing under long-serving Archie Clark and then Harry Barratt in what was a tough year for Gillingham in Division 3 South.

He went on to play for Southend and back in Kent with Gravesend & Northfleet, Dartford, Margate and Dover before concentrating on the the dogs. He moved from Wouldham to Sutton Valence and eventually to the Isle of Sheppey. In 2012, he was a special guest at Maidstone United as the club opened their Gallagher Stadium.

Granddaughter Zoe said: “We are so proud of him and his achievements. He was a brilliant footballer and went on to be a really good greyhound trainer.

“He had dementia in later life and lost a lot of his memory but if you showed him football clips or dog racing his face would light up, remembering it all.

“I was with him on the day he won big on the dogs, I was quite young but I remember he swung me around!”

Jimmy and Patricia, who is still alive, had three children together and he leaves four grandchildren and great grandchildren too.

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