Liam Vaughan Henry Fontaine (born 7 January 1986) is an English

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 le ...

who plays as a defender for

Scottish League One The Scottish League One, known as cinch League One for sponsorship reasons, is the third tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish League One was e ...

side Edinburgh City. He has previously played in the English leagues for

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 ...

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 ...

and

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

, and in the Scottish leagues for

Kilmarnock Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...

, Hibernian, Ross County and

Dundee Dundee (; sco, Dundee; gd, Dùn Dè or ) is Scotland's fourth-largest city and the 51st-most-populous built-up area in the United Kingdom. The mid-year population estimate for 2016 was , giving Dundee a population density of 2,478/km2 or ...

Career

Fulham

Fontaine, who was a youth player at

, represented

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

at under-16 and under-17 level. Fontaine spent some time at

in the first part of the 2004–05 season. His loan move was initially for a single month, but was later extended by a further two months. He made a couple of first team appearances for Fulham in January 2005. His debut came in a

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 ...

game against

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 ...

at St. Mary's on 5 January, which was drawn 3–3. He enjoyed a further loan spell in the latter part of the 2004–05 season with

in the

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for 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' ...

Bristol City

After being brought to Yeovil by then manager

Gary Johnson Gary Earl Johnson (born January 1, 1953) is an American businessman, author, and politician. He served as the 29th governor of New Mexico from 1995 to 2003 as a member of the Republican Party. He was the Libertarian Party nominee for Presid ...

, Fontaine then went back to Fulham until he was brought to Bristol City on loan by his former Yeovil manager Johnson. The loan spell was made permanent at the end of that season with Fontaine signing a two-year contract, with City having to pay Fulham an undisclosed fee through tribunal. A key member of the 2006–07 promotion team and flourished once more at Championship level, he became centre stage when his goal against Wolves in November left his manager Gary Johnson red-faced – having previously told his defender he would "bare my backside in Burton's window" if he found the net. Fontaine signed a new deal with Bristol City on 12 January 2012 to keep him at the club until the end of 2014 season, stating his ambition is to be the club's captain on a permanent basis. On 2 September 2013, Fontaine joined Championship side

, for a third spell, on loan until January 2014. At the end of the 2013–14 season, Fontaine was released by Bristol City.

Hibernian

On 26 August 2014, Fontaine joined

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

side Hibernian. He made his debut the same day, in Hibernian's 3–2 victory against

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

in the

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

. Fontaine made 38 appearances and scored two goals in the 2014–15 season. In June 2015, he signed a two-year contract with Hibernian. He scored a goal in the March 2016 Scottish League Cup Final, which Hibs lost 2–1 to Ross County. Fontaine played the first 70 minutes of the

2016 Scottish Cup Final The 2016 Scottish Cup Final was the 131st final of the Scottish Cup and the final of the 2015–16 Scottish Cup, the most prestigious knockout football competition in Scotland. The match took place at Hampden Park on 21 May 2016 and was conteste ...

, which Hibs won 3–2 against

Rangers A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

. In June 2017, Fontaine signed a contract with Hibs for the 2017–18 season. He suffered an ankle injury playing for the Hibs under-20 side in September 2017, which head coach

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 ...

said would prevent Fontaine from playing for at least 10 weeks.

Ross County

On 31 January 2018, Fontaine joined

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, known as the cinch Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is the top division of the Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL), the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland. The Scottish ...

team Ross County on a free transfer. He made his debut later that day, in a 4–2 defeat against

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. County were relegated from the Premiership at the end of the 2017–18 season, but Fontaine helped them win promotion from the

in 2018–19. He left County by mutual consent in October 2020.

Dundee

On 20 November 2020 after a trial period, Fontaine joined

side

until the end of the season. He would make his debut the next day as a substitute against

Ayr United Ayr United Football Club are a football club in Ayr, Scotland, who play in the Scottish Championship, the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League. Formed in 1910 by the merger of Ayr Parkhouse and Ayr F.C., their nickname is ...

. Fontaine had a prolific December, scoring 3 goals in 4 games for the club going into the new year. Fontaine would be a key piece in the Dundee side leading up to and in the Premiership play-offs, and helped the club to gain promotion to the Premiership. On 28 May 2021, Fontaine signed a one-year extension with Dundee. Fontaine would leave Dundee following the end of his contract in May 2022.

Edinburgh City

Fontaine signed for

club

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian ...

in July 2022. After a strong season as team captain, Fontaine would renew his contract for another season in July 2023.

Personal life

During a period out of football due to injury, Fontaine began playing the guitar. In September 2018 he released a single called "Life Lessons".

Career statistics

Honours

Player

;Hibernian *

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,2015–16 *

: 2016–17 ;Ross County *

: 2018–19 *

Scottish Challenge Cup The Scottish Professional Football League Challenge Cup,2018–19

Notes

References

External links

International profile
at theFA {{DEFAULTSORT:Fontaine, Liam 1986 births Living people Footballers from Beckenham English people of Dominica descent Black British sportsmen Men's association football defenders English men's footballers Fulham F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Kilmarnock F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Hibernian F.C. players Scottish Professional Football League players England men's youth international footballers Ross County F.C. players Dundee F.C. players Edinburgh City F.C. players