Marc-Antoine Fortuné (born 2 July 1981) is a French Guianan professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

manager and former player who played as a striker. Fortuné started his professional career at

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; oc, Engoleime) is a communes of France, commune, the Prefectures of France, prefecture of the Charente Departments of France, department, in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of southwestern Franc ...

in 1998, switching to

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 ...

in 2002. He spent the 2003–04 season on loan to

Rouen Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine in northern France. It is the prefecture of the Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one of ...

and switched permanently to

Brest Brest may refer to: Places *Brest, Belarus **Brest Region **Brest Airport **Brest Fortress * Brest, Kyustendil Province, Bulgaria * Břest, Czech Republic *Brest, France ** Arrondissement of Brest **Brest Bretagne Airport ** Château de Brest *Br ...

in July 2004. A year later he moved to Dutch club

Utrecht Utrecht ( , , ) is the List of cities in the Netherlands by province, fourth-largest city and a List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, capital and most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, pro ...

. He joined

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), commonly known as AS Nancy Lorraine, or simply Nancy, is a French association football club founded in 1967 in Nancy, Grand Est and located in Tomblaine, in the inner suburbs of Nancy. The club currently ...

in January 2007, also spending a six-month loan spell at

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

from January 2009 until the end of the 2009–10 season. Fortuné signed for

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in July 2009 before returning to West Brom in August 2010, this time on a permanent deal. He later played for

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, Championship, the second tier of the English footbal ...

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England. As of the 2022–23 season, the team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of English football. Southend are known as ...

and

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

. After retiring from football in 2021, he managed La Louvière Centre in the Belgian third division.

Early life

As a child, Fortuné played both football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

, but gave the latter up at the age of 12 due to scheduling conflicts.

Club career

Angoulême

At age 16 Fortuné was given a

trial In law, a trial is a coming together of Party (law), parties to a :wikt:dispute, dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence (law), evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to Adjudication, adjudicate claims or d ...

by the French club

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

. He was not offered a contract, but instead signed for lower-league team

. He broke into the Angoulême side in the 1999–2000 season and had a successful start, scoring three goals in ten appearances before the end of the campaign. At the end of the 2000–01 season, Fortuné propelled the club out of the

Championnat de France amateur The Championnat National 2, commonly known as National 2 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur (CFA), is a football league competition. The league serves as the fourth tier of the French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue ...

and into the

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

, the third tier of French football. His continued goalscoring form and overall performance during this and the following season caused much speculation over his future with media reports constantly linking him with many

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 ...

clubs. In the following summer, Fortuné joined Ligue 1 side

Lille OSC Lille Olympique Sporting Club (), commonly referred to as LOSC, LOSC Lille or simply Lille, is a French professional football club based in Lille, Hauts-de-France that competes in Ligue 1, the top flight of French football. Lille has played its ...

. In all, Fortuné made a total of 63 league appearances for Angoulême, scoring 18 goals.

Lille

Upon joining Lille, the then 21-year-old struggled, finding himself playing on the left of midfield. This coupled with a constant series of injuries lead to dips in form and a low point in Fortuné's career. He was injured on his second appearance for the club and was ruled out for a month. Upon his return to action, he picked up another injury. This new injury caused Fortuné to be out of action for a further six weeks. In his first and only season for Lille, he started just seven times and only made a further nine appearances from the substitutes bench. During this season he was unable to score a single goal.

Rouen

Fortuné joined

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

club

on loan in the summer of 2003 with an option to make the move permanent. With this fresh start for the young player, Fortuné saw a return to form. Playing from right-midfield he managed to score goals in his first three appearances which earned him a role back to his preferred role of striker. A successful season at Rouen ended with ten Ligue 2 goals in 34 appearances. His good form for Rouen earned him a move to

Stade Brest Stade Brestois 29 or simply Brest, is a French football club based in Brest. It was founded in 1950 following the merger of five local patronages, including Armoricaine de Brest, founded in 1903. In its early years, the club made a rapid rise ...

Stade Brest

Fortuné signed for Ligue 2 side Stade Brest in July 2004, making it his third new club in three successive seasons. It turned out to be another successful move for Fortuné. He started the season playing wide on the right side of a front three. This led to a league position of 9th and a good run in the

Coupe de France The Coupe de France, formerly known as the Coupe Charles Simon, is the premier knockout cup competition in French football organized by the French Football Federation (FFF). It was first held in 1917 and is open to all amateur and profession ...

ending in the quarter-final stage. He scored 10 goals in 33 Ligue 2 appearances and started to draw attention from bigger clubs around Europe including

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

side

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion Galgenwaard. The club was formed in 1970 as a merge ...

Utrecht

In 2005 Fortuné moved to FC Utrecht in the Dutch Eredivisie. Finding himself back in the winger role he enjoyed a successful time at the club but struggled after the death of his friend, neighbour and teammate

David Di Tommaso David di Elias Alemu Tommaso (6 October 1979 – 29 November 2005) was a French professional footballer who played as a central defender. Early life Di Tommaso was born in Échirolles, Isère. His father Pascal Di Tommaso and uncle Louis Di To ...

. During his time at Utrecht, Fortuné scored a total of 13 goals in 56 league and cup appearances for Utrecht. During the January transfer window of the following season he looked for a move back to France after an unsettling period in the Netherlands. He secured a move back before the transfer deadline and was signed by

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Football in France, French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was est ...

winners and Ligue 1 side Nancy.

Nancy

Fortuné returned to France in January 2007, this becoming his fifth move in as many years, with

Tomblaine Tomblaine () is a commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in north-eastern France. Stage 7 of the Tour de France on 7 July 2012 started in Tomblaine. The Stade Marcel Picot, football stadium to Ligue 1 side AS Nancy, is located within th ...

club AS Nancy. He started off his first season back in France well, scoring six goals in 17 Ligue 1 appearances. The 2007–08 season saw Fortuné struggling for form and failing to score a goal. This caused him to take on the role of a substitute for most of the season. He finished the 2007–08 campaign with just seven goals in 38 appearances, with most of them being from the bench. His third season back in France with Nancy saw much of the same as the previous. Fortuné made just 24 appearances with most of them as a second-half substitute. This season was even less successful as Fortuné netted only two goals during the Ligue 1 season. He became unsettled at Nancy but was unable to secure a move away from the

Stade Marcel Picot The Stade Marcel Picot is a stadium located in Tomblaine, France, near the city of Nancy. Built in 1926, it is used by Ligue 2 football team Nancy. The stadium was completely rebuilt and inaugurated in its new configuration in 2003. It is now ...

during the summer

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 ...

. During the first half of the 2008–09 he was once again mainly used by

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

an coach

Pablo Correa Pablo Alejandro Correa Velázquez (born 14 March 1967) is a Uruguayan former association football, football player. After his retirement as a player, he became the head coach of three French football clubs. Playing career Correa started his fo ...

as a substitute with several clubs from 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 ...

tracking his progress.

West Bromwich Albion

Fortuné moved to

in the January 2009 transfer window, joining on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season. He made his début for West Bromwich Albion in their 3–0

home win over

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

and scored by deflecting teammate

Robert Koren Robert Koren (born 20 September 1980) is a Slovenian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Koren earned 61 caps and scored five goals for the Slovenia national team between 2003 and 2011 and played at the 2010 FIFA World C ...

's shot into the net. In just five months with the club, he became a fan favourite of the supporters, scoring five goals in eighteen appearances as well as creating other goals. He won the West Bromwich Albion Supporters' Player of the Year despite only joining the club in January.

Celtic

On 9 July 2009, Fortuné signed for

in a deal worth £3.8 million. He scored his first league goals on 22 August in a 5–2 win against

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland which is a member of the Scottish Premiership for the 2022–23 season. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun ''aka'' Saint Johnstoun – an old ...

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is also ...

and his first European goals on 18 December in a 3–3 draw against

Rapid Vienna Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Rapids are hydrological features between a ''run'' (a smoothly flowing part of a stream) and a ''cascade''. ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

. Overall Fortuné's time at Celtic wasn't successful. Due to his big price tag and unimpressive goalscoring record, the player's stay at the Glasgow club was seen as a summation of the manager

Tony Mowbray Anthony Mark Mowbray (born 22 November 1963) is an English former professional footballer who is currently the manager of Sunderland. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a defender. He began his coaching career with Ip ...

's ill-fated reign. The new

manager,

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish football coach and former player. During his playing career he represented English clubs Manchester City, Crewe Alexandra and Leicester City. Lennon moved to Celtic in 2000, where he ...

didn't include Fortuné in his plans and thus the striker made his last appearance for the club against his former side

in the

Return to West Bromwich Albion

On 27 August 2010, Fortuné completed a whirlwind return to

The Hawthorns The Hawthorns is an all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F ...

on a permanent basis after the striker joined West Bromwich Albion from Celtic for an undisclosed fee. He scored the first goal of his second spell with the club on 23 October 2010 in a 2–1 win over

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 ...

. Fortuné also scored the equalising goal, in a 2–2 draw at home, against

on 1 February 2011. After his loan return from

, he began to make appearances for West Brom in 2012. On 4 February 2012, he started the game and scored the opening goal in a 2–1 defeat at home to Swansea City. This was just his 3rd goal for the Baggies. He was released by West Brom at the end of the 2012–13 season.

Doncaster Rovers (loan)

In November 2011, Fortuné signed a loan deal with

. He made his début for the club in the 0–0 draw against Watford at the Keepmoat Stadium. He got his first assist for the club a week later, setting up

Billy Sharp Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and captains club Sheffield United. He has also played for Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Reading, ...

to score the winner against top of the table Southampton, again in front of the home fans. He scored his first goal for Doncaster in their 2–1 loss away at

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

. However, on 20 December 2011, WBA recalled Fortuné along with two other loaned players due to an injury crisis.

Wigan Athletic

Fortuné signed for

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

holders

on 5 July 2013. He signed on a two-year contract, on a free transfer. Fortuné made his début for The Latics away to Barnsley as a 74th-minute substitute on 3 August 2013, where he made two assists, including one to set up

Shaun Maloney Shaun Richard Maloney (born 24 January 1983) is a Scottish football coach and former player. Maloney played for Celtic, Aston Villa, Wigan Athletic, Chicago Fire, Hull City and the Scotland national team as an attacking midfielder or winger. ...

for Wigan's fourth goal in a 4–0 win at Oakwell. Fortuné scored his first goal for Wigan in a 1–0 victory away to

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

Huish Park Huish Park is a football stadium located in Yeovil, Somerset, England. The stadium has been home to Yeovil Town F.C. since its completion in 1990, following their relocation from Huish. Huish Park has a capacity of 9,565 (of which two stands ...

on 10 November 2013.

Coventry City

Fortuné joined Coventry in September 2015, signing a one-year contract.

Southend United

It was announced officially on 16 January 2017 that he has signed a new contract extension until the end of the 2017–18 season. Previously, on 29 September 2016, Fortunè signed a four-month contract at Southend United following a successful trial. Fortunè scored his first goal for Southend on Tuesday 4 October 2016 in a 1–0 victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a professio ...

in an

EFL 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 ...

match. Following his release by Southend he was reportedly on trial with

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that in the 2022–23 season will compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system, following the victory in ...

Chesterfield

On 3 August 2018 it was announced that Fortuné had joined National League side

. He took the squad number 32, making his début the following day as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 win at

Ebbsfleet United Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the club competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 1946 fr ...

. Fortuné was released by the club at the end of the season, having scored 7 goals in 29 appearances.

La Louvière Centre

On 29 September 2020, Fortuné signed with

UR La Louvière Centre Union Royale La Louvière Centre is a Belgian association football club created in 1922. History In 2011, it moved from Stade Raymond Dienne, Haine-Saint-Pierre to Stade du Tivoli, La Louvière as R.A.A. Louviéroise went into liquidation ...

in the third-tier

Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian National Division 1, commonly referred to as simply Eerste Nationale (in Dutch) or Nationale 1 (in French) is a semi-professional and the third-highest division in the Belgian football league system, one level below the Belgian First ...

. He retired in 2021, and instead joined the coaching staff of the club.

International career

In August 2014, Fortuné was called up by

French Guiana French Guiana ( or ; french: link=no, Guyane ; gcr, label=French Guianese Creole, Lagwiyann ) is an overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department/region and single territorial collectivity of France on the northern Atlantic ...

for the first time, to play in the qualifiers for the 2014 Caribbean Cup.

Managerial career

In 2022, after retiring from football, Fortuné briefly managed

club

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile – Marc-Antoine Fortuné
West Bromwich Albion FC * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Marc-Antoine 1981 births Living people Sportspeople from Cayenne French footballers French Guianan footballers French Guianan expatriate footballers French people of French Guianan descent Association football forwards Angoulême Charente FC players Lille OSC players FC Rouen players Stade Brestois 29 players FC Utrecht players AS Nancy Lorraine players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Celtic F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Chesterfield F.C. players UR La Louvière Centre players Eredivisie players Ligue 1 players Ligue 2 players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Belgian National Division 1 players French expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Scotland Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in England French expatriate sportspeople in Scotland French expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium French Guianan football managers French football managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium French expatriate football managers