Fabrice Fernandes

Fabrice Fernandes
Personal information
Full name	Fabrice Fernandes
Date of birth	29 October 1979 (age 44)
Place of birth	Aubervilliers, France
Height	1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)
Position(s)	Winger
Senior career*
Years	Team
1998–2001	Rennes
2000–2001	→ Fulham (loan)
2001	→ Rangers (loan)
2001	→ Marseille (loan)
2001–2005	Southampton
2005–2006	Bolton Wanderers
2006–2007	Beitar Jerusalem
2007–2008	Dinamo București
2008	Le Havre
Total
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Fabrice Fernandes (born 29 October 1979 in Aubervilliers) is a French former footballer who played for several clubs, most particularly Southampton.

Playing career

Fabrice Fernandes spent three years at the INF Clairefontaine academy, before moving to Rennes in 1996.^[3]

He first joined an English team in 2000, after signing a season-long loan deal at Fulham where he helped them get promoted to the Premier League. He played for the France national under-21 football team, impressing the likes of Rangers in the process, for whom he joined on loan in March 2001,^[4] scoring on his debut for the club, from 20 yards out against Motherwell.^[5]

In December 2001, he moved to Southampton,^[6] making his debut in a defeat to Leeds United,^[7] and played in many games during the season, despite sometimes being hit with injury. He picked up an FA Cup runners-up medal in season 2002–03,^[8] and had a solid 2003–04, at the end of which he was offered a new contract to run to 2006.

However, after Southampton were relegated to the Championship under manager Harry Redknapp at the end of the 2004–05 season, Fernandes negotiated for release from his contract. The Saints needed to reduce their payroll and engaged the services of agent Willie McKay to find a new club for him. Allegedly, McKay was paid a fee of £30,000 by Southampton for his services. This transfer was amongst those being scrutinised by the Stevens enquiry into corruption in English football.^[9]

Sam Allardyce snapped him up for free at the end of August 2005^[10] and he made his debut for Bolton in their first ever UEFA Cup game against Lokomotiv Plovdiv at the Reebok Stadium.^[11] He appeared once in the league for Bolton, as a substitute in a 5–1 defeat to Chelsea.^[12]

In February 2006 Fernandes moved to play in Israel for Beitar Jerusalem, the club owned by Arcadi Gaydamak, the father of Portsmouth owner Alexandre Gaydamak.^[13] After leaving the Jerusalem club he has had trial spells with Stoke City and Dunfermline Athletic.

In January 2007, he joined Dinamo Bucharest (Romania) in the Romanian First League, but was released a year later.^[14] From there he joined Le Havre.

Honours

Fulham

Football League First Division champions: 2000–01

Beitar Jerusalem

Israeli Premier League champions: 2006–07

Southampton

FA Cup runners-up: 2003

Dinamo Bucuresti

Liga I champions: 2006–07
Romanian Supercup runners-up: 2007

References

^ ^a ^b ^c "Fabrice Fernandes". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
^ "Fabrice Fernandes". Ligue de Football Professionnel. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
^ "Fédération Française de Football".
^ "Gers are fab, Collins tells Fabrice". BBC Sport. 14 March 2001. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ "Fab Rangers debut at Fir Park". BBC Sport. 17 March 2001. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
^ "Saints sign Fernandes". BBC Sport. 28 December 2001. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ "Leeds steal late win". BBC Sport. 29 December 2001. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ "Arsenal retain FA Cup". BBC. 17 May 2003. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ Scott, Matt (3 November 2006). "Quest team look into Fernandes transfer deals". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
^ "Bolton snap up winger Fernandes". BBC Sport. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ "Bolton 2-1 Lokomotiv Plovdiv". BBC. 15 September 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^ "Chelsea 5-1 Bolton". BBC. 15 October 2005. Retrieved 16 August 2012.
^ "Bolton capture midfielder Perez". BBC Sport. 31 January 2006. Retrieved 23 April 2020.
^ Chalk, Gary; Holley, Duncan; Bull, David (2013). All the Saints: A Complete Players' Who's Who of Southampton FC. Southampton: Hagiology Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 978-0-9926-8640-6.