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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for and captains

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club Casa Pia. He 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 in 2007. He signed for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

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

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in January 2017. He then represented Dalian Yifang in China and

Lille Lille (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city in the northern part of France, within French Flanders. Positioned along the Deûle river, near France's border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France Regions of France, region, the Prefectures in F ...

in France, winning the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

title with the latter in the 2020–21 season. A Portuguese international from age 30, Fonte was part of the Portugal squads at two

European Championships A European Championship is the top level international sports competition between European athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. In the plural, the European Championships also refers t ...

and the 2018 World Cup, winning Euro 2016.

Club career

Portugal

Born in

Penafiel Penafiel ( or ) is a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality and former bishopric (now a Latin Catholic titular see) in the Norte Region, Portugal, northern Portugal, Portuguese Porto District, district of Porto. Capital of the Tâmega Subregion ...

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

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

. He only appeared with

as a senior, in the third division. He joined Salgueiros in 2004, but the club was in severe financial difficulties and was liquidated shortly after; 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 ...

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

debut with Vitória de Setúbal, where his performances attracted the eye of Benfica, who signed him in January 2006 and immediately loaned him to Paços de Ferreira in the same league. He finished the season with 26 appearances and one goal, in a 2–2 away draw against

in which he also scored twice in his own net; both Paços and Setúbal managed to retain their status. Fonte spent the 2006–07 season on loan to Estrela da Amadora, still in the top division, only missing five games as the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

-based club finished in ninth position.

Crystal Palace

In July 2007, Fonte moved on loan to Crystal Palace 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 campaign, as Palace finished fifth and qualified to the promotion play-offs. Fonte continued to feature regularly with the Londoners in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

, 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 and Danny Seaborne, in a 1–1 draw away to Millwall. His first goal came on 28 August, in a 4–0 away win over Bristol Rovers. After scoring seven league goals and helping the Saints win promotion to the second tier, Fonte was named in the League One Team of the Year for 2010–11. He was also voted Southampton's Player of Year, achieving 64% of the vote, with Adam Lallana coming second with 18% and Dan Harding finishing third with 7%. On 29 December 2011, Fonte penned a new deal keeping him at the club until June 2015; Southampton were top of the table at that point, with the player having appeared in every league game. He eventually contributed 42 matches and one goal, which came against Coventry City in the final fixture of the season as the team earned a second consecutive promotion. Fonte made his debut in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

on 19 August 2012, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–2 away loss to

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. 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 and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 7 October, the second arriving in the last minute. On 24 August 2013, Fonte scored a header in the 89th minute of the home game against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, rescuing a point for his side. The following 23 January, he was attacked by teammate Dani Osvaldo during a training session; subsequently, the latter was loaned out to

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in the winter

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

. On 8 August 2014, Fonte signed a new three-year contract 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 Southampton on 16 October 2016, in a 3–1 home victory over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

West Ham United

On 20 January 2017, Fonte joined English top-flight

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 by bringing down Raheem Sterling. On 4 November 2017, after a league match against his former employers 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 Super League (), commonly known as the Chinese Super League or the CSL (), also known as the China Resources Beverage Chinese Football Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Ch ...

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 a two-year contract with

on 20 July 2018. He made his

debut on 18 August as the season began with a goalless draw at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and scored his first goal on 22 September to open a 2–1 win at home to

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

while assisting the other goal by Jonathan Ikoné. On 16 December, he was sent off after 16 minutes of a 3–2 victory at

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Gard Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region of Southern France. Located between the Med ...

for swearing at an

assistant referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

, as was manager Christophe Galtier for arguing his case; he missed just two games as the ''Dogues'' finished runners-up to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, scoring three times including the conclusion of a 5–1 victory over that opposition at the

Stade Pierre-Mauroy The Stade Pierre-Mauroy (), also known as the Decathlon Arena – Stade Pierre-Mauroy for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use retractable roof stadium in Villeneuve-d'Ascq (Métropole Européenne de Lille) in Northern France, that opened in Augus ...

on 14 April. On 9 August 2019, Fonte agreed to an extension until 2021. The 37-year-old captained the team to the national championship in the 2020–21 campaign, their first since 2010–11, making 36 appearances and scoring three times in the process. After adding one more year to his contract, Fonte played in the

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 cup, super cups found in many other count ...

on 1 August 2021, a 1–0 defeat of PSG in

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

. He renewed again for 2022–23, after which he was released.

Later career

On 19 July 2023, Fonte signed a one-year contract with

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. One year later, the 40-year-old remained in the Portuguese top flight on a one-year deal at Casa Pia.

International career

Fonte was selected for the Portugal B squad for the Vale do Tejo tournament in 2006. On 24 January, he played against

Slovenia Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...

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, two months shy of his 31st birthday, Fonte received his first call-up to the senior team, for a friendly with

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and a

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 association football, football ch ...

qualifier against

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

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

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and is the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,197, it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after W ...

on 18 November. Fonte was included in Fernando Santos' squad for the Euro 2016 finals. His first game in the tournament took place on 25 June, as he started alongside Southampton teammate Cédric Soares in the round-of-16 tie against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

, which Portugal won 1–0 after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play 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 only if the game is required t ...

. He went on to retain his position until the final, helping to beat hosts France 1–0. Fonte was also called up for both the

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

in Russia (four appearances as starter) the victorious 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals (both matches, one start) and the delayed

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the Anniversary#Latin-derived numerical names, quadrennial international men's association footb ...

, where he did not leave the bench. On 9 October 2021, he scored his only goal for the national team, in a 3–0 friendly win over

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. On 24 March 2022, aged 38, Fonte earned his 50th

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

in a World Cup qualifying play-offs against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, 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 club AFC Bournemouth and the Turkey national team. Ünal scored on his Süper Lig debut on 25 August 2013 for Bursaspor against Galatasaray, mak ...

; however, his Lille teammate

Burak Yılmaz Burak Yılmaz (born 15 July 1985) is a Turkish professional association football, football coach and former player who played as a forward (association football), forward. He is the current head coach of Süper Lig club Kasımpaşa S.K., Kasımp ...

missed the shot and the game ended 3–1 for Portugal. He was named in a preliminary 55-man squad for the finals in Qatar, but did not make the final cut.

Personal life

Fonte's younger brother, Rui, was also a footballer. A forward, the two were teammates at Sporting (youth level), Crystal Palace and Lille. Their father Artur 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, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

: 2009–10 Lille *

: 2020–21 *

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Braga *

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

: 2023–24 Portugal *

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

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

: 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, CONMEBO ...

third place:

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

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 Football in England, En ...

: 2010–11 League One * Southampton Player of the Season: 2010–11, 2014–15 *Lille Player of the Season: 2020–21 Orders * POR_Ordem_do_Merito_Comendador_BAR

Commander of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

References

External links

* * *
National team data
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fonte, Jose 1983 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Penafiel Men's association football central 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 S.C. Braga players Casa Pia A.C. 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 men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's B international footballers Portugal men's 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 men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's 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)