Julie Fleeting

Julie Stewart MBE (Fleeting; born 18 December 1980) is a Scottish former footballer who played as a forward.

She spent nine years at English club Arsenal and was the first Scot to play as a full-time professional in the WUSA playing for San Diego Spirit.

She won the Scottish Women's League title with Ayr and seventeen major trophies with Arsenal.

Fleeting, the only girl playing in the entire league, also helped St Winning's Primary School beat 1,000 other schools to the 1992 national championship.

The competition was sponsored by Tudor Crisps and Fleeting's school prevailed 1–0 in the final at Ibrox Stadium.

She joined Prestwick Girls when SFA rules barred her from mixed football at age 12.

In April 1995, Fleeting scored twice as Prestwick beat Cumbernauld Cosmos 7–5 in the final of the Under-16 Scottish Cup.

The following season Prestwick came under the auspices of Ayr United, and the Sunday Mail newspaper was already describing Fleeting as: "the most gifted young footballer in Scotland."

According to the Scottish Football Association, Fleeting has a record of 116 goals (a national record by some distance) and 121 caps for Scotland between her debut in 1996 and retirement in 2015, although those figures appear to include unofficial internationals.

Fleeting also captained her country for eight years.

According to UEFA, she has a record of 28 goals in 22 games in UEFA competitions for national teams, and 22 goals in 32 games in UEFA club competitions.

After finishing school in 1998 she resisted overtures from American Universities to continue playing for Ayr while training to become a PE teacher at Moray House School of Education.

Fleeting explained that: "I was only young when I had to decide which university to go to, and at the time, Edinburgh was far enough away from home. But when I graduate I will still only be 21 and young enough to go abroad if I want to."

In the 2001 Scottish Women's Cup final at Almondvale Stadium, Fleeting scored a hat-trick but Ayr lost on penalties to local rivals Kilmarnock after a 3–3 draw.

Having already won the league championship, Ayr manager Hugh Flynn consoled his players with the prospect of participation in the following season's inaugural UEFA Women's Cup.

In November 2001 Ayr hosted the group stage mini tournament after original hosts Toulouse had their ground damaged by an explosion at a factory.

Fleeting found the net in draws with Osijek and Chernihiv but Ayr were eliminated after a third draw with Toulouse.

As the 2001–02 season progressed and graduation neared, Fleeting began to consider her options: "I'm considering America but as it's the top league in the world the competition will be fierce. Italy or England are possibilities although it's a shame I must leave Scotland to make a career in football."

Fleeting married goalkeeper Colin Stewart in June 2005.

They became a couple when Fleeting was playing for Ayr United and Stewart was coming through the youth ranks at Kilmarnock, having met through Jim Fleeting's friendship with Colin's father Jim Stewart.

The wedding at St Mary's Church in Irvine was attended by Scottish football notables including Tommy Burns, Jim Leighton and Ian Durrant.

Fleeting, known to teammates as Fleets, retained her maiden name for football purposes.

In 2007, Fleeting was named as Scotland's Sports Personality of the Year.

She was appointed a Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours.

She has also represented Scotland in the sport of basketball.

Fleeting's father is ex-professional player and current Scottish Football Association Director of Football Development Jim Fleeting.

Former Kilmarnock owner Bobby Fleeting is her uncle.

She also has a brother named Barry who played football at Junior level.

Fleeting attended St Winning's Primary School in Kilwinning, Ayrshire for her primary education and St Michael's Academy in Kilwinning, Ayrshire for her secondary education.

While still at school, Fleeting showed talent in basketball (she played for Cunninghame Basketball Club and represented her country in the sport) and field hockey (she played for Eglinton Ladies Hockey Club and had a trial for the national side) as well as football.

A teacher by profession, she has taught Physical Education in St Michael's Academy in Kilwinning in North Ayrshire; St Matthew's Academy in Saltcoats, North Ayrshire; Charleston Academy, Inverness and—since 2008—Auchenharvie Academy in Stevenston, North Ayrshire.

On 23 December 2008, Fleeting announced she was pregnant with her first child and ruled herself out of participation in the remainder of the football season.

She was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours, collecting the medal in November of that year in a Buckingham Palace ceremony hosted by Prince Charles.

She gave birth to a daughter, Ella, on 27 July 2009.

In June 2009, Fleeting was inducted into the University of Edinburgh's Sports Hall of Fame alongside Graeme Randall, Gregor Townsend and Chris Hoy.

In 2011, Fleeting became an ambassador of Street Soccer for women's football in 2011.

Fleeting began her football career aged nine with Cunninghame Boys under-10s.

In February 2012 it was reported that Fleeting and husband Colin were expecting their second child.

Sophia Jane, a girl weighing 7lbs 3ozs arrived at 11:03pm on 28 April 2012.

Fleeting had a third child, Matilda was born in 2017.