Former South Africa and Manchester United player, Quinton Fortune, is set to visit The Gambia on Sunday for a four-day working visit.
He will attend the Manchester United Talk Show, scheduled for Monday 13th May at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. The Show will be hosted by DHL Express, one of the main sponsors of the English champions.
The Manchester United legend will be joined by Louise Otter of TREBLE GROUP on behalf of the DHL Express who are also organising the Show in many countries in Africa.
The former South African international will pay a courtesy call on the Minister of Youth and Sports, Honourable Alieu Kebba Jammeh. He will also preside over a donation of children school bags to the SOS Village and attend a media interview at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.
The 36-year-old Fortune also played for Bolton Wanderers in the English Premier League, and earned 46 international caps playing for the South African national team, including playing in the 1998 and the 2002 World Cups. His most recent club was Doncaster Rovers in 2010.
Fortune left South Africa at the age of 14 and moved to England where he played for the Tottenham Hotspur junior team, but never made a senior appearance for the club. After having trouble obtaining a work permit, Fortune moved to Spain, where he played for Atlético Madrid.
Manchester United purchased him from Atlético Madrid on 1 August 1999. He made his first appearance for the club on 30 August 1999, against Newcastle United. Fortune was initially brought to United as cover for Ryan Giggs, and was thought of primarily as an attacking left-sided midfielder. Fortune, however, proved himself a capable and dedicated performer in a number of positions. It was Fortune’s strength as a defender, rather than his qualities as an attacker, that Alex Ferguson depended most on, and he was often deployed as a central midfielder or as a left-back.
Despite playing in three Premiership winning seasons (1999–2000, 2000–01 and 2002–03), Fortune never played the required 10 games to earn a winner’s medal, making 6, 7 and 9 appearances respectively. He did however receive a Premier League winner’s medal from United that had been left at the club by a former player. After being used mostly in a squad rotation basis for his career at Manchester United, he was released by the club ahead of the 2006–07 campaign. In total, Fortune made 126 appearances for United, scoring 10 goals.
He joined Bolton Wanderers for the 2006–07 season and made the left back position his own for the club’s opening games. However, the former United player was injured against Arsenal and appeared for Bolton later only in their cup game against Doncaster Rovers prior to being released and later joining Blackburn Rovers and Sunderland on trial.
As of 2012, Fortune has returned to Manchester United. He trains with their reserve team whilst working on his coaching badges. Fortune has also worked as a model for an anti-domestic violence group called Tender as part of their “Don’t Kick Off campaign”. This campaign ran through the 2010 FIFA World Cup to stop men from using football as an excuse for violence against women.
Modou Lamin Beyai