José Miguel da Rocha Fonte (born 22 December 1983) is a Portuguese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a centre-back for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club

Lille Lille ( , ; nl, Rijsel ; pcd, Lile; vls, Rysel) is a city in the northern part of France, in French Flanders. On the river Deûle, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Pref ...

and the Portugal national team. Fonte started his professional career with

Sporting CP B Sporting Clube de Portugal B is the reserve team of Portuguese football club Sporting CP, a team based in Lisbon. Reserve teams in Portugal play in the same league system as the senior team, rather than in a reserve team league. However, they cann ...

, moving to England with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

in 2007. He signed for

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

in 2010, where he made 288 appearances in all competitions, until he joined

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in January 2017. He then represented Dalian Yifang in China and Lille in France, winning the Ligue 1 title with the latter in the 2020–21 season. A Portuguese international since age 30, Fonte was part of the squad at two

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations ( UEFA). The competition is conte ...

and the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

, winning

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Club career

Portugal

Born in

Penafiel Penafiel ( or () is a municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the northern Portuguese district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion, the population was 72,265 in 2011, in an area of . History The region ...

, Fonte finished his football education (after already having played there from ages 10 to 13) at

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

. He only appeared with

as a senior, in the third division. He signed with Salgueiros in 2004, but the club was in severe financial difficulties and was liquidated shortly thereafter; as a result, he terminated his contract and transferred to

Felgueiras Felgueiras () is a municipality in Porto District, Portugal. The current mayor is Nuno Fonseca. There are two cities located in the municipality: Felgueiras (city status received on 13 July 1990) and Lixa. The population in 2011 was 58,065, in a ...

in the Segunda Liga. In the 2005 off-season, Fonte made his

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

debut with

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

, where his performances attracted the eye of Benfica, who signed him in January 2006. He was immediately loaned out to fellow league team

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

. He finished the season with 26 league appearances and 1 goal, during a 2–2 away draw against

in which he also scored two in his own net– as both Paços and Setúbal managed to retain their status. Fonte spent the 2006–07 season on loan to

Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela da Amadora (), sometimes just Estrela, is a Portuguese sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. It's the successor of Clube de Futebol Estrela da Amadora, founded in 1932 and extinct in ...

, still in the top division, only missing five league games as the

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

-based club finished in ninth position.

Crystal Palace

In July 2007, Fonte moved on loan to

in England, being introduced in the team's starting line-up after a run of injuries. The move was made permanent at the end of the 2007–08 season, as Palace finished fifth and qualified to the promotion play-offs. Fonte continued to feature regularly with the Londoners in the Football League Championship, even appearing as a makeshift striker when required.

Southampton

Fonte signed for

on 9 January 2010 for a fee believed to be around the region of £1.2 million, signing a three-and-a-half-year contract. He made his debut one week later alongside two other recent signings,

Jon Otsemobor Jon Otsemobor (born 23 March 1983) is an English former professional footballer who played as a right back. Born in Liverpool, he began his career with hometown club Liverpool. He also played for Hull City, Bolton Wanderers, Crewe Alexandra, ...

and

Danny Seaborne Daniel Anthony Seaborne (born 5 March 1987) is a retired English professional footballer who played as a defender. Seaborne began his professional career at Exeter City, having risen through the club's youth system; he signed his professional c ...

, in a 1–1 draw away to

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, eas ...

. His first goal for Southampton came on 28 August, in a 4–0 away win over

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

. After scoring seven league goals and helping Southampton win promotion to the second tier, Fonte was named in the

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

Team of the Year for the 2010–11 season. He was also voted Southampton's Player of Year, achieving 64% of the vote, with

Adam Lallana Adam David Lallana ( ; born 10 May 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Brighton & Hove Albion. Lallana began his youth career with AFC Bournemouth before transferring to Southampton in 200 ...

coming second with 18% and

Dan Harding Daniel Andrew Harding (born 23 December 1983) is an English footballer who last played as a defender for National League South club Whitehawk. Harding began his career with Brighton & Hove Albion and has also played for Leeds United, Ipswich ...

finishing third with 7%. On 29 December 2011, Fonte signed a new contract keeping him at the club until June 2015. Southampton were top of the table when he signed, with the player having appeared in every league game at that point in the season. He eventually contributed 42 matches and 1 goal, which came against

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

in the final match of the season as the team earned a second consecutive promotion. Fonte made his debut in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

on 19 August 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–2 away loss to Manchester City. He netted his first goals in the competition in a 2–2 home draw with

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

on 7 October, the second arriving in

the last minute ''The Last Minute'' is a 2001 British-American urban gothic film, written and directed by Stephen Norrington. It shows a struggling man hitting bottom and finding light in unexpected places, and trying a huge alternative as the solution to hi ...

. On 24 August 2013, he scored a header in the 89th minute of the home game against Sunderland, rescuing a point for his team. On 23 January 2014, Fonte was attacked by teammate

Dani Osvaldo Pablo Daniel "Dani" Osvaldo (; born 12 January 1986) is a former professional footballer who played as a forward. Born and raised in Argentina, Osvaldo represented the Italy national team internationally. Osvaldo began his career at Huracán ...

during a training session. Subsequently, the latter was loaned out to Juventus during the winter

transfer window A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer win ...

. On 8 August 2014, Fonte penned a new three-year deal with Southampton running until June 2017, and was also named

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

. He made his 250th league appearance for the club on 16 October 2016, in a 3–1 home win against

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

West Ham United

On 20 January 2017, Fonte signed for Premier League club

for a reported fee of £8 million (plus potential add-ons) on a two-and-a-half-year contract. He made his league debut on 1 February, in a 4–0 home defeat by Manchester City in which he conceded a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) A p ...

by bringing down

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger and attacking midfielder for club Chelsea. Born in Jamaica, he represents the England national team. Born in Jamaica to Jamaican parents, S ...

. On 4 November 2017, after a league match against one of his former teams, Crystal Palace, it was confirmed Fonte had suffered a foot injury that would sideline him for the rest of the year.

Dalian Yifang

Fonte completed a transfer to

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional association ...

club Dalian Yifang on 23 February 2018, joining for a reported fee of £5 million. On 15 July, he terminated his contract.

Lille

Fonte signed for French

club

on 20 July 2018, signing a two-year contract. The 37-year-old captained the team to the 2020–21 Ligue 1 title, their first since 2010–11, making 36 appearances and scoring 3 goals in the process.

International career

Fonte was called up to the Portuguese B squad for the Vale do Tejo tournament in 2006. On 24 January, he played against

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

as the match ended with a

penalty shoot-out The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

loss after a 1–1 draw. On 3 October 2014, aged nearly 31, Fonte received his first call-up to the senior team, for a friendly with

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and a UEFA Euro 2016 qualifier against

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

. He made his debut in another friendly, playing the second half of a 1–0 win over

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...

on 18 November. Fonte was selected by manager Fernando Santos for his

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

squad. His first game in the tournament took place on 25 June, as he started alongside Southampton teammate

Cédric Soares Cédric Ricardo Alves Soares (born 31 August 1991), known simply as Cédric (), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right back for club Fulham, on loan from Arsenal, and the Portugal national team. Cédric's career starte ...

in the round-of-16 tie against

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

, which Portugal won 1–0 after

extra time Overtime or extra time is an additional period of play specified under the rules of a sport to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played onl ...

. He went on to retain his position until

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

, in which Portugal beat the hosts France 1–0. Fonte was named in the final 23-man squads for both the

in Russia and Portugal's victorious campaign in the

2019 UEFA Nations League Finals The 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2018–19 edition of the UEFA Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the 55 member associations of ...

, as well as the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

, where he didn't manage to leave the bench. On 9 October 2021, aged 37, Fonte scored his first goal for the national team, in a 3-0 home win over

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. On 24 March 2022, aged 38, Fonte earned his 50th cap in Portugal's World Cup qualifying Play-off match, against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

, where he gave away a second-half penalty for a kick at

Enes Ünal Enes Ünal (born 10 May 1997) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Spanish club Getafe and the Turkey national team. Ünal scored on his Süper Lig debut on 25 August 2013 for Bursaspor against Galatasaray, making h ...

inside the penalty area. However,

Burak Yılmaz Burak Yılmaz (born 15 July 1985) is a Turkish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Eredivisie club Fortuna Sittard. Yılmaz is one of nine players to play for each of the Big Three clubs of Turkey, and one of only two player ...

, his teammate at Lille, missed the shot and the game ended 3–1 for Portugal, who then qualified for the final playoff game. In October, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and US doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a team, but smaller than a section." while US Army do ...

for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

in Qatar. However, he did not make the final cut.

Personal life

Fonte's younger brother, Rui, is also a footballer. A forward, the two were teammates at Sporting (at youth level), Crystal Palace and Lille. Their father,

Artur Artur is a cognate to the common male given name Arthur, meaning "bear-like," which is believed to possibly be descended from the Roman surname Artorius or the Celtic bear-goddess Artio or more probably from the Celtic word ''artos'' ("bear"). O ...

, played 12 seasons in the Portuguese top division.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fonte goal''.

Honours

Southampton *

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Le ...

: 2009–10 Lille *

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the super cups found in many other countries. His ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Portugal *

: 2016 *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is a biennial international football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The first tournament began in September 2018. The ...

: 2018–19 *

FIFA Confederations Cup The FIFA Confederations Cup was an international association football tournament for men's national teams, held every four years by FIFA. It was contested by the holders of each of the six continental championships ( AFC, CAF, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, ...

third place: 2017 Individual *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: 2010–11 League One * Southampton Player of the Season: 2010–11, 2014–15 Orders * POR_Ordem_do_Merito_Comendador_BAR

Commander of the Order of Merit

References

External links

Profile
at the Lille OSC website
Profile
at the Portuguese Football Federation website * * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonte, Jose 1983 births Living people People from Penafiel Portuguese footballers Association football defenders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players Sporting CP B players F.C. Felgueiras players Vitória F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers F.C. Paços de Ferreira players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players Premier League players English Football League players Crystal Palace F.C. players Southampton F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players Chinese Super League players Dalian Professional F.C. players Ligue 1 players Lille OSC players Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal B international footballers Portugal international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2020 players UEFA European Championship-winning players UEFA Nations League-winning players Portuguese expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in China Expatriate footballers in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in China Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Commanders of the Order of Merit (Portugal) Sportspeople from Porto District