Francesco Fonte was born in Rome on October 8, 1965.
He grew up at Lazio and debuted in Serie A on September 16, 1984 in the home match lost to Fiorentina. It was an awful year for the Biancocelesti, but a good season for him with 18 appearances and one goal. Lazio were relegated but he stayed. He was a good midfielder who could mark the opponent’s more dangerous forwards (he even marked Diego Armando Maradona once) and could certainly play the ball.
In the autumn of 1986, he was sold to Barletta in Serie C1 and contributed to their historic return to Serie B. He stayed in the third tier in 1987-88 to play for Monopoli together with his former teammate Mauro Meluso. In the next season he signed for Bari and the Apulians were promoted to Serie A.
In 1989-90 Foggia were in Serie B and President Pasquale Casillo decided to employ Zdenek Zeman as manager. The team took time to absorb his style of football, but once they did, they came an excellent eighth. One of the midfielders was Francesco Fonte who made 33 league appearances and scored 8 goals. He did not remain but moved across Italy to play for Avellino. He stayed for five years, the first two in Serie B, and in his last was vice captain of the team that got promoted to Serie B. His final years of active football were in minor leagues with Sporting Benevento, L’Aquila, Battipagliese, Martina and Fasano.
After he stopped playing, he moved to Monopoli in Apulia, his wife’s hometown, where he manages a seaside resort.
Lazio Career
Season | Total appearances (goals) | Serie A | Serie B | Coppa Italia |
1984-85 | 18 (1) | 14 (1) | - | 4 |
1985-86 | 23 | - | 18 | 5 |
Jun-Sep 1986 | 8 | - | 3 | 5 |
Total | 49 (1) | 14 (1) | 21 | 14 |
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