Premier League cult hero still going at 39 eyes next milestone after Man City move

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13 years ago, Adam Le Fondre was banging in the goals in the Premier League . Le Fondre spent just one season in the top flight - for Reading - scoring 12 times in 34 appearances.

Fast forward more than a decade and Le Fondre, 39, is still going. Indeed, the veteran forward is plying his trade at non-league powerhouse FC United of Manchester, located less than 20 minutes from his hometown, Stockport.

Le Fondre has found the net 10 times in 23 matches this season, with the ex-Bolton and Rotherham forward helping FC United mount a promotion push in the Northern Premier League, the seventh-tier of English football.

FC United, who were formed in 2005 following the Glazers’ takeover at Manchester United , sit third in the NPL, winning 12 and drawing three of their 20 league matches and sitting just five points behind leaders Hednesford.

"Yeah, it's been a really positive season," Le Fondre, who is 40 next December, told Mirror Football . "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."

Le Fondre is among the top scorers in the NPL this season, having struck eight times in the league and a further two goals in cup competitions. It’s the seventh season in eight that he has hit double figures - and the 1986-born front man is feeling as sharp as ever.

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"Yeah, I feel good physically," he said. "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."

Last month, Le Fondre netted his 300th senior career goal in a 2-1 win against Ilkeston - 21 years on from his first for Stockport in the 2004/05 season.

Reflecting on that achievement, the striker said: "Yeah, of course. 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," he added. "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."

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Le Fondre, who had scored goals up and down the top four tiers throughout the first decade of his career, opted to leave England and make the move to Australia in 2018. He had played for Stockport, Rochdale, Rotherham, Reading, Cardiff , Bolton, Wolves and Wigan but decided to venture Down Under and sign for A-League side Sydney FC.

It’s a move that paid off for Le Fondre, as he enjoyed a memorable five years - and a season on loan in India at Mumbai City - with The Sky Blues. In total, Le Fondre scored 73 times in 128 appearances for Sydney, winning three trophies in the process.

But Le Fondre returned to the United Kingdom two-and-a-half years ago after receiving an offer from Scottish Premiership side Hibernian - who were about to embark on a European campaign - while he was coming to the end of his contract.

Explaining why he left Australia to return to the UK, Le Fondre said: "Obviously, I was out of contract at Sydney. There was no contract offer coming forward so I had to plan what was next and I still wanted to play. While I was over there, I got an offer from Hibernian to come and play in Europe.

"At 36 or 37 years old, I didn't expect to be going and playing in Europe. Even if it was qualifying, it was something I wanted to do as well. We were planning to come back for family reasons.

"Obviously, I want to see my parents and I have these three young children so it makes sense to come back and go back to normal life here. That was the thinking behind it. I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to go and play for Hibernian up in Scotland ."

Le Fondre spent one season at Hibernian before moving to FC United last summer. He has since been at The Reds for the last 18 months, scoring 27 goals in the meantime.

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Although Le Fondre doesn’t have any plans of retiring from football soon, he has balanced playing alongside a video scout role at Manchester City's The City Football Group since October 2024.

"I'm still a video scout for Manchester City ," he said. "It was just off the back of a podcast. I had trials once and 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. It's more I'll be on WyScout watching players and sort of carrying on from there. I 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 about 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 picture.

"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."

Le Fondre is next in action for FC United when they travel to league leaders Hednesford in a vital clash at the top of the NPL on Saturday, December 27.

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