Marc-Antoine Fortuné

Marc-Antoine Fortuné

Fortuné playing for Celtic in 2010
Personal information
Full name	Marc-Antoine Fortuné
Date of birth	(1981-07-02) 2 July 1981
Place of birth	Cayenne, French Guiana
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Playing position	Striker
Club information
Current club	Wigan Athletic
Number	32
Youth career
	Angoulême
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1998–2002	Angoulême	63	(20)
2002–2004	Lille	16	(0)
2003–2004	→ Rouen (loan)	34	(10)
2004–2005	Stade Brest	33	(10)
2005–2007	Utrecht	53	(11)
2007–2009	AS Nancy	71	(12)
2009	→ West Bromwich Albion (loan)	17	(5)
2009–2010	Celtic	32	(10)
2010–2013	West Bromwich Albion	62	(6)
2011	→ Doncaster Rovers (loan)	5	(1)
2013–	Wigan Athletic	17	(2)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12 January 2014. † Appearances (Goals).

Marc-Antoine Fortuné (born 2 July 1981) is a French footballer who plays as a striker for Wigan Athletic.

Fortuné started his professional career at Angoulême in 1998, and made 63 league appearances in four seasons before switching to Lille in 2002, where he made 16 league appearances. He spent the 2003–04 season on loan to Rouen, making 34 league appearances, and switched permanently to Stade Brest in July 2004. He made 33 league appearances in his single season at Stade Brest, and moved to Utrecht in 2005, where he made 53 league appearances. He joined AS Nancy in January 2007, and made 71 league appearances, also spending a six-month loan to West Bromwich Albion from January 2009 until the end of the 2009–10 season. Having made 17 appearances for West Brom, he joined Celtic in July 2009, and made 32 appearances in his solitary season for the club. He rejoined West Brom in August 2010, this time on a permanent deal, and made 62 league appearances for the club, also spending a month on loan to Doncaster Rovers in 2011, making 5 league appearances for the club. He joined current club Wigan Athletic in July 2013.

Early life

As a child Fortuné played both football and basketball, but gave the latter up at the age of 12 due to scheduling conflicts.^[2]

Club career

Angoulême

At age 16 Fortuné was given a trial by the French club Rennes. He was not offered a contract, but instead signed for lower-league team Angoulême. 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 and into the Championnat National, 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 clubs. In the following summer, Fortuné joined Ligue 1 side Lille. In all, Fortuné made a total of 63 league appearances for Angoulême, scoring 18 goals.

Lille OSC

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 club Rouen 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 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 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 side FC Utrecht.

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.^[2] 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 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 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. During the first half of the 2008–09 he was once again mainly used by Uruguayan coach Pablo Correa as a substitute with several clubs from the Premier League tracking his progress.

West Bromwich Albion

Fortuné moved to West Bromwich Albion in the January 2009 transfer window, joining on loan for the remainder of the 2008–09 season.^[3] He made his début for West Bromwich Albion in their 3–0 Premier League home win over Middlesbrough and scored by deflecting teammate Robert Koren's shot into the net.^[4] 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.^{[citation needed]}

Celtic

On 9 July 2009, Fortuné signed for Celtic in a deal worth £3.8 million.^[5] He scored his first league goals on 22 August in a 5–2 win against St. Johnstone at Celtic Park^[6] and his first European goals on 18 December in a 3–3 draw against Rapid Vienna in the Europa League.^[7][8] 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's ill-fated reign. The new Celtic manager, Neil Lennon didn't include Fortuné in his plans and thus the striker made his last appearance for the club against his former side FC Utrecht in the Europa League.^[9]

Return to West Bromwich Albion

On 27 August 2010, Fortuné completed a whirlwind return to The Hawthorns on a permanent basis after the striker joined West Bromwich Albion from Celtic for an undisclosed fee.^[10] He scored the first goal of his second spell with the club on 23 October 2010 in a 2–1 win over Fulham.^[11] Fortuné also scored the equalising goal, in a 2–2 draw at home, against Wigan Athletic on 1 February 2011.^[12] After his loan return from Doncaster Rovers, 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.

Marc was released by West Brom at the end of the 2012–2013 season

Doncaster Rovers (loan)

In November 2011, Fortuné signed a loan deal with Doncaster Rovers. 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. However on 20 December 2011, WBA recalled Fortuné along with two other loaned players due to an injury crisis.^[13]

Wigan Athletic

Fortuné signed for FA Cup holders Wigan Athletic on 5 July 2013.^[14] 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 2 assists, including one to set up Shaun Maloney for Wigan's 4th 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 on 10 November 2013.

Career statistics

As of 12 January 2014

References

External links

• Profile – Marc-Antoine Fortuné West Bromwich Albion FC
• Marc-Antoine Fortuné French league stats at LFP.fr (French)
• Marc-Antoine Fortuné career stats at Soccerbase
• BBC profile