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Adam Le Fondre scored 12 goals in his sole season as a Premier League footballer - and the Stockport-born forward is still banging in the goals 13 years later
When Adam Le Fondre made the move to FC United of Manchester in August 2024, few could believe it. The Red Rebels, formed in 2005 following the Glazers' takeover of Manchester United, managed to lure the 39-year-old forward to the seventh-tier of English football, despite playing in Europe for Hibernian the previous season.
Although Le Fondre is approaching the twilight of his career, he has showed no sign of slowing down at FC United. Indeed, after finding the net 17 times in his debut campaign at Broadhurst Park, he has struck 10 goals in 23 appearances this season.
His form has helped FC United mount a promotion push in the Northern Premier League, with the Reds sitting third and just five points behind leaders Hednesford.
"Yeah, it's been a really positive season," Le Fondre told Manchester Evening News. "I think, obviously, compared to last season, we've brought in some new players, we've made some good adjustments in the team; structure and discipline-wise, and we're bearing fruit to that.
"We've put ourselves in a really good position to have a really promising season and a real good go at trying to get promoted out of this league as well."
"Yeah, I feel good physically," Le Fondre said, when reflecting on his own performances. "Obviously, some days are better than others when you get to my age, but generally I feel really good physically.
"I feel in a really good physical condition as well. I look after myself on and off the pitch, and long may it continue for me, because that's the key to me carrying on playing, is me staying injury-free and being able to contribute to winning football as well. So, while I'm doing that, I'm not looking at leaving at this moment in time."
Alongside playing part-time for FC United, Le Fondre balances that with working as a video scout for Manchester City's The City Football Group.
"Yeah, I'm still a video scout for Manchester City," Le Fondre, who has vacated that role since October 2024, said. "It was just off the back of a podcast, 'I had trials once' and I laid out what I envisaged myself doing in the future.
"Someone from the City Group got in touch and it sort of grew from there organically."
"Obviously, I can't go to live football games because I tend to be playing a lot," he continued. "It's more I'll be on WyScout watching players and sort of carrying on from there. Yeah, I do envisage I'll carry on doing it. As long as it doesn't hinder my coaching, which it shouldn't do.
"I'll always have time for video scouting and it's always good looking at very good players."
Elsewhere, Le Fondre is due to kickstart his coaching career after he was appointed as the Head of Football at FC United’s new football academy, which is set to begin in September 2026. His role is expected to include a blend of coaching and overseeing the development of players, with an end goal of getting them into the first-team squad.
"It's going to be good to shape young people's futures," Le Fondre said. "It's an opportunity for them to learn from me and hopefully I can help them better and help them have a football career. Obviously, I think the strength behind it is that FC United have created a pathway from their academy into the first team, and I'm going to try and help with that.
"The importance is on my shoulders to mould the players and try and turn them into football players who can contribute, whether it's the club as a whole or on the football pitch as well."
Last month, Le Fondre scored his 300th senior career goal during FC United’s 2-1 win against Ilkeston. It came almost 21 years since his first, with the forward starting out as a teenager at Stockport before moving to Rochdale and enjoying time across the EFL and having one season in the Premier League at Reading.
When asked about that achievement, Le Fondre admitted: "I think for any player who's managed to play for as long as I have, the sort of things that you need to keep going for, milestones that you need to set, because you have to still keep that hunger, that drive there. That was just one of the ones for me I wanted to tick off.
"My next milestone now is 800 games. So, that sort of thing, just for me, I set targets for myself to try and get to, because I need something for myself to be driving towards rather than just floating in the wind with no direction.”
Out of the 300 plus that Le Fondre has now scored, there are a couple that stand out to him. "I think for probably importance, I've got a couple really where I've scored two against Southampton in the same game for Reading," he said. "Probably them two for just general importance and what they meant to the title race at that time and the club.
"For Bolton as well, I've been lucky enough that when we got promoted on the last day of the season against Peterborough at home, I scored and set up a goal in that game. The following season, when we stayed up on the last day of the season against Nottingham Forest, I managed to score and set two up on that.
"So, those sort of goals live long in the memory of what I've done in football. Like I say, it's hard to pick ones out, but I think them ones, they've got a bit more significance tied to them and a bit more importance behind them as well. For me, probably them goals are the ones that really helped contribute and I look back on so fondly of the scenes of that as well."
Another significant goal for Le Fondre is the one he scored against boyhood club Manchester United in the Premier League, even if Reading ended up losing the game 4-3.
"It's something I can look back on with immense pride," Le Fondre admitted. "Obviously, I scored against United. For me, it's unfortunate we didn't win the game.
"It's great for me to score, but if you don't win the game, ultimately, I've sort of failed my job as well because we've not won. So, there's always a little bit of tinge with certain goals. Don't get me wrong, I look back very fondly on all the goals I've scored throughout my career.
"So, it's not as if I'm dismissing them. It's just that some sort of mean a little bit more with how the result panned out and what came off the back of them as well."
Although Le Fondre will 40 next December, he doesn't plan on stopping anytime soon. "It's just how I feel. If I feel good and it fits into my day-to-day schedule, then I'll carry on doing it," he finished.
"Obviously, I'm still contributing and still looking a little bit like myself as a footballer, then I'll continue to play and contribute. But I've not set a date on anything going forward-wise.
"If stuff outside the pitch gets a little bit more traction than on the pitch, then it'll be a time to step away and do that. But at this moment in time, there's no timescale on anything like that."
Le Fondre and FC United are next in action when they face table toppers Hednesford in a blockbuster Christmas clash on Saturday, December 27.
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