Leo Fortune-West

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Leo Fortune-West
Personal information
Full name Leopold Paul Osborne Fortune-West
Date of birth 9 April 1971 (1971-04-09) (age 37)
Place of birth    Stratford, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Playing position Striker
Club information
Current club Alfreton Town
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
 ?–?
?–?
1992–1993
1993–1994
1994–1995
1995–1998
1997
1998
1998
1998–1999
1999–2000
2000–2003
2003–2006
2006–2007
2006
2006–2007
2007–2008
2008
2008–		 Tiptree United
Bishop's Stortford
Dartford
Dagenham
Stevenage Borough
Gillingham
→ Leyton Orient (loan)
Lincoln City
→ Rotherham United (loan)
Brentford
Rotherham United
Cardiff City
Doncaster Rovers
Rushden & Diamonds
→ Torquay United (loan)
→ Shrewsbury Town (loan)
Cambridge United
→ York City (loan)
Alfreton Town		 0? 0(?)
0? 0(?)
0? 0(?)
0? 0(?)
17 0(7)
69 (18)
03 0(0)
09 0(1)
05 0(4)
11 0(0)
61 (26)
92 (23)
90 (19)
06 0(0)
05 0(0)
19 0(7)
23 0(6)
13 0(2)
00 0(0)   

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 13:21, 11 June 2008 (UTC).
* Appearances (Goals)

Leopold Paul Osborne "Leo" Fortune-West (born 9 April 1971 in Stratford, England) is an English footballer, currently a playing for Alfreton Town in the Conference North.

Fortune-West started his career with Eastern Counties League side Tiptree United, and played for four more non-league sides before securing a move to the Football League with Gillingham for a fee of £5,000. He finished his first season with them as top scorer, and had several short spells with other League clubs before joining Cardiff City, where he played for three seasons. He played for the side as they achieved two promotions, but was eventually released by them.

He spent three seasons with Doncaster Rovers, winning promotion in his first, but was released in 2006. He then moved back to non-league football with Rushden & Diamonds, but soon made loan returns to the League with Torquay United and Shrewsbury Town. He had spells with Cambridge United and York City before joining Alfreton Town in 2008.

[edit] Career

Fortune-West started his career with Tiptree United in the Eastern Counties League at the age of 17, with whom he played one season, filling the roles of full back, centre back and striker.[1] He moved onto Bishop's Stortford and joined Dartford in the season they went out of business.[1] A spell at Dagenham followed this before he signed for Stevenage Borough in the Football Conference in 1994.[1] He scored seven goals in 17 appearances in his season at Stevenage,[2] after which he moved into the Football League with Gillingham for a fee of £5,000,[3] which was raised for the cash-strapped Kent team by its Supporters' Club.[4] Becoming a full-time professional necessitated giving up a degree course at the University of Greenwich.[1][5]

His first season at Gillingham, the 1995–96 season, saw him finish as the club's top scorer and them earning promotion to the Second Division.[6][7] After having made eight appearances and scored three goals for Gillingham during the 1996–97 season,[8] he joined Leyton Orient on loan in March 1997 until the end of the season,[3] making three appearances.[9] He signed for Second Division side Lincoln City on a free transfer in June 1998 and after making 11 appearances and scoring one goal, he was loaned out to Rotherham United in the Third Division.[10] He scored four goals in five appearances during this loan spell and eventually Brentford signed him for £60,000 in November 1998.[3] His debut for the team came in a 2–1 defeat to Leyton Orient on 21 November 1998 and scored one goal in 15 appearances for the side before returning to Rotherham for a fee of £35,000.[3][11]

He scored eight goals in 17 appearances as Rotherham made the Third Division play-offs,[10] which saw them lose to Leyton Orient on penalties in the semi-final.[12] The 1999–2000 saw Fortune-West finish as Rotherham's top scorer with 17 goals in 43 appearances as the club won promotion to the Second Division.[13][14] After a month into the 2000–01 season, he joined Cardiff City in the Third Division for a fee of £300,000.[3] Here he again gained promotion to the Second Division,[15] scoring 13 goals in 41 appearances during that season.[16] He again gained with the promotion with the side in 2002–03 after they won the play-offs,[17] but was released following the completion of this season,[18] during which he made 28 appearances and scored four goals.[19]

Bristol Rovers denied that they were interested in signing Fortune-West,[20] but Doncaster Rovers of the Third Division eventually moved for him in June, where he signed a two-year contract.[21] His first season with the club, 2003–04, saw him score 12 goals in 43 appearances as they won the Third Division.[22][23] He suffered a knee injury caused by wear and tear to the knee joint in October 2004, which resulted in him underdoing surgery, and returned to the side in March 2005.[24][25] He was to be offered a new deal in April and finished the season with seven goals in 28 appearances.[26][27] The following season was his last with Doncaster, as he was released after scoring four goals in 33 appearances.[28][29]

He returned to non-league football after he signed for Rushden & Diamonds in the Conference National in June on a two-year contract.[30] He joined Torquay United of League Two on loan in September as cover for the injured Mickey Evans,[31] but was recalled by Rushden due to an injury crisis in early November,[32] after making five appearances for the side.[33] Days later, he signed for Shrewsbury Town, originally on a two-month loan deal,[34] which was extended to the end of the 2006–07 season.[35] His Shrewsbury debut came as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to MK Dons on 18 November 2006,[36] after hoping he would be able to play in the FA Cup tie against Hereford United.[37] Following their 2–0 win over Notts County in February, manager Gary Peters referred to Fortune-West as 'Ronseal', as he does "exactly what it says on the tin".[38]

His final game for Shrewsbury came in the League Two play-off final against Bristol Rovers at Wembley Stadium, coming on as a substitute in the 80th minute, as Shrewsbury lost 3–1.[39] With the season over, Fortune-West returned to his home club Rushden & Diamonds,[40] who he left by mutual consent in August.[41] He signed for Cambridge United later that month after playing in a pre-season friendly for the team.[42][43] He started his Cambridge career by scoring four goals in the first three games, which included a hat-trick in their 5–1 victory over Farsley Celtic on 21 August 2007.[44] He was named as the Conference National player of the month for August.[45] He signed for York City on loan until the end of the 2007–08 season on 31 January 2008 and scored on his debut against Grays Athletic in February.[46][47] Cambridge attempted to recall him from his loan in March, but Conference rules meant that he would not be able to return.[48] He returned to Cambridge following the closure of his loan spell at York in April and featured in their play-off semi-final second leg against Burton Albion, which was won 2–1, meaning Cambridge reached the final 4–3 on aggregate.[49][50] He came on for the last 15 minutes in the final against Exeter City, but Cambridge lost 1–0 and was later released by the club.[51][52]

Fortune-West's next move was announced on 11 June 2008 when he joined Conference North outfit Alfreton Town on a one-year deal for the 2008–09 season.[53]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d "Leo Fortune-West", Cambridge United FC, 2007-10-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-20. 
  2. ^ Harman, John (2005). Alliance to Conference 1979-2004: The First 25 Years. Tony Williams Publications, pp643–650. ISBN 186983352X. 
  3. ^ a b c d e Leo Fortune-West. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  4. ^ Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd, p123. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X. 
  5. ^ SIX PLAYERS TO FOLLOW. findarticles.com. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  6. ^ Brown, Tony (2003). The Definitive Gillingham F.C.: A Complete Record. Soccerdata, p105. ISBN 1-8994-6820-X. 
  7. ^ GILLINGHAM. Football Club History Database. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  8. ^ Leo Fortune-West. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  9. ^ Leyton Orient 1996/1997 player appearances. Soccrbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-20.
  10. ^ a b Leo Fortune-West. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  11. ^ Football League Two - KO 15:00. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-25.
  12. ^ League Two Play-Off Semifinal second leg - KO 19:45. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  13. ^ Rotherham 1999/2000 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  14. ^ Final 1999/2000 Football League Two Table. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  15. ^ Final 2000/2001 Football League Two Table. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  16. ^ Cardiff 2000/2001 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  17. ^ Final 2002/2003 Football League One Table. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  18. ^ "Cardiff release Fortune-West", BBC Sport, 2003-05-28. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  19. ^ Cardiff 2002/2003 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  20. ^ "Rovers rule out Fortune-West", BBC Sport, 2003-06-10. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  21. ^ "Fortune-West joins Doncaster", BBC Sport, 2003-06-27. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  22. ^ Doncaster 2003/2004 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  23. ^ Final 2003/2004 Football League Two Table. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  24. ^ "Fortune-West sidelined by injury", BBC Sport, 2004-11-01. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  25. ^ Leo Fortune-West. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  26. ^ "Fortune-West poised for new deal", BBC Sport, 2005-04-13. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  27. ^ Doncaster 2004/2005 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  28. ^ "Doncaster boss makes big changes", BBC Sport, 2006-05-11. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  29. ^ Doncaster 2005/2006 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  30. ^ "DIAMONDS BAG FORTUNE", Non-League Daily, 2006-06-23. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  31. ^ "Torquay sign Fortune-West on loan", BBC Sport, 2006-09-29. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  32. ^ "Fortune-West to end Gulls stint", BBC Sport, 2006-11-02. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  33. ^ Torquay 2006/2007 player appearances. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  34. ^ "Fortune-West joins Shrews on loan", BBC Sport, 2006-11-07. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  35. ^ "Transfer Window Open", Shrewsbury Town FC, 2007-01-02. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  36. ^ Leo Fortune-West. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  37. ^ "Fortune-West seeking derby debut", BBC Sport, 2006-11-09. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  38. ^ "Peters hails Shrews battering ram", BBC Sport, 2007-02-21. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  39. ^ "Bristol Rovers 3-1 Shrewsbury", BBC Sport, 2007-05-26. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  40. ^ "Shrewsbury release defensive duo", BBC Sport, 2007-05-29. Retrieved on 2008-03-27. 
  41. ^ "Diamonds sign Burgess and Howell", BBC Sport, 2007-08-03. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  42. ^ "Cambridge seal Fortune-West deal", BBC Sport, 2007-08-09. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  43. ^ "Quinn Wants Fortune-West", Cambridge United FC, 2007-08-07. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  44. ^ Leo Fortune-West. Soccerbase. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  45. ^ "Fortune-West scoops monthly prize", BBC Sport, 2007-09-07. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  46. ^ "Fortune-West joins York on loan", BBC Sport, 2008-01-31. Retrieved on 2008-01-31. 
  47. ^ "York 2-0 Grays", BBC Sport, 2008-02-09. Retrieved on 2008-02-10. 
  48. ^ Flett, Dave. "Leo to stay put", The Press, 2008-04-01. Retrieved on 2008-04-01. 
  49. ^ Flett, Dave. "Panther packed off", The Press, 2008-04-26. Retrieved on 2008-04-26. 
  50. ^ "Cambridge 2-1 Burton (4-3 agg)", BBC Sport, 2008-05-06. Retrieved on 2008-05-22. 
  51. ^ Whyatt, Chris. "Exeter 1-0 Cambridge Utd", BBC Sport, 2008-05-18. Retrieved on 2008-05-22. 
  52. ^ "Quinn lets five leave the Abbey", BBC Sport, 2008-05-22. Retrieved on 2008-05-22. 
  53. ^ "Alfreton seal Fortune-West deal", BBC Sport, 2008-06-11. Retrieved on 2008-06-11. 

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Fortune-West, Leopold Paul Osborne
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Fortune-West, Leo
SHORT DESCRIPTION Professional footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 1971-04-09
PLACE OF BIRTH Stratford, England
DATE OF DEATH
PLACE OF DEATH