A former Essendon High School student who grew up in East Keilor, Victoria, Fletcher had two footballers as neighbours: Ken Peucker (played with Essendon) and Ted Flemming, a WA Sandover Medal winner (1930). Ken and his older brother practised football skills daily in a nearby paddock as teenagers. Fletcher was a versatile footballer and played in many positions during his 264-game career for the Bombers. He excelled as a wingman and half-back flanker.
He won the club's best and fairest award in 1978 and represented Victoria throughout the 1970s. A broken leg forced him to retire in 1980, and he left the club as their fourth-most-experienced player in Essendon's history (ranked 11th as of 2024).[1] He did, however, continue playing in country football as captain-coach of Tatura.
In Round 7 of 2014, Ken and his son Dustin claimed the record of most VFL/AFL games played by a father–son combination, with 648 games between them. Their record was finalised at 664 total games upon Dustin's retirement in 2015, aged 40, who is one of only five players in the history of the VFL/AFL to accomplish the 400-game milestone.[1]
