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

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

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

Angoulême Angoulême (; Poitevin-Saintongeais: ''Engoulaeme''; ) is a small city in the southwestern French Departments of France, department of Charente, of which it is the Prefectures of France, prefecture. Located on a plateau overlooking a meander of ...

in 1998, switching to

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

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

and switched permanently to Brest 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 of the Netherlands, as well as the capital and the most populous city of the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Utrecht (province), Utrecht. The ...

. He joined

AS Nancy Association Sportive Nancy Lorraine (), known as AS Nancy Lorraine, and more commonly as Nancy, is a French football club founded in 1967 and based in Nancy, Grand Est. The club plays its home matches at the Stade Marcel Picot located in Tomb ...

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

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

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 Foot ...

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 currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

, Coventry City, Southend United and Chesterfield. 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 (appro ...

, 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 parties to a dispute, to present information (in the form of evidence) in a tribunal, a formal setting with the authority to adjudicate claims or disputes. One form of tribunal is a court. The tribunal, w ...

by the French club

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

. 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 French football league system behind Ligue 1, Ligue 2 ...

and into the

Championnat National The Championnat National (), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, is the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, the Championnat National operates on a system of ...

, 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 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 ...

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 association football, football club based in Lille, Northern France competing in Ligue 1, the top division of Football in Franc ...

. 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 sponsorship reasons, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions making up the Ligue de Football Prof ...

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, commonly known as Stade Brestois or simply Brest,''Stade Brest'', used by some English-speaking media outlets and journalists, is not a grammatically correct name for the club. is a French professional football club based in ...

Brest

Fortuné signed for Ligue 2 side Stade Brestois 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 (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

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 a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

side

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

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. 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 knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

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 Communes of France, commune in the Meurthe-et-Moselle Departments of France, department in north-eastern France. Stage 7 of the 2012 Tour de France, Tour de France on 7 July 2012 started in Tomblaine. The Stade Marcel Picot, ...

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 during the summer

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 ...

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

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

an coach Pablo Correa as a substitute with several clubs from 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 ...

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 ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

and scored by deflecting teammate Robert Koren'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 at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is a Soccer-specific stadium, football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic F.C., Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest List of football stadiums in Sco ...

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

Rapid Vienna Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English language, English, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian cham ...

in the

Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. 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 football manager and former footballer who was most recently the manager of EFL Championship club West Bromwich Albion. Mowbray played for Middlesbrough, Celtic and Ipswich Town as a d ...

's ill-fated reign. The new

manager,

Neil Lennon Neil Francis Lennon (born 25 June 1971) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He currently manages Scottish Championship club Dunfermline Athletic. During his playing career he represe ...

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 stadium, all-seater association football, football stadium in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England, with a capacity of 26,688. It has been the home of EFL Championship, Championship club West Bromwich Albion F.C. ...

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 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 ...

. 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 Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. 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 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. The team compete in the ...

. 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 Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

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 association football, football coach, and former player. He was most recently the manager of club Wigan Athletic. Maloney played for Celtic F.C., Celtic, Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa, ...

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 at

Huish Park Huish Park is a Association football, 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 Athletic Ground, Huish. Huish Park has ...

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, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

in an

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

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

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

Chesterfield

On 3 August 2018 it was announced that Fortuné had joined National League side Chesterfield. 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 association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1946 from the merger ...

. 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 based in La Louvière, in the province of Hainaut. Created in 1922 and the team set to play in Belgian Division 3 from 2025–26, the fifth tier of Belgian football after ...

in the third-tier

Belgian National Division 1 The Belgian Division 1 is a semi-professional division and the third-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Challenger Pro League. It was created by the Ro ...

. 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 Guyane in French, is an Overseas departments and regions of France, overseas department and region of France located on the northern coast of South America in the Guianas and the West Indies. Bordered by Suriname to the west ...

for the first time, to play in the qualifiers for the

2014 Caribbean Cup The 2014 Caribbean Cup was the 18th edition of the Caribbean Cup, an international Association football, football competition for national teams of member nations affiliated with the Caribbean Football Union (CFU) of the CONCACAF region. The fin ...

Managerial career

In 2022, after retiring from football, Fortuné briefly managed

club

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Fortune, Marc-Antoine 1981 births Living people Footballers from Cayenne French men's footballers French Guianan men's footballers Men's 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 men's footballers French Guianan expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's 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 football managers French Guianan football managers Expatriate football managers in Belgium French expatriate football managers Black French sportspeople French people of French Guianan descent 21st-century French sportsmen