In the latest edition of SoccerClub magazine, we look at the top 10 facts about Bafana Bafana and Manchester United great Quinton Fortune.
1) He grew up in Kewtown, which neighbours Athlone in Cape Town. He is the youngest of six siblings and credits his family with keeping him on the straight and narrow, away from the gangs prevalent in the area.
2) He loved other sports, too, and played cricket and tennis in the streets while growing up. He says he and his friends had one cricket bat in their neighbourhood, and everyone just shared it.
3) Fortune had a successful trial at Tottenham Hotspur aged 14, where he trained alongside Gary Lineker and Paul Gascoigne. The next week, he appeared on the front page of The Sun newspaper being talked of as the first ‘£1-million kid’. Then Spurs coach Terry Venables later described him as the best young talent he had ever seen.
4) Fortune spent three years at Spurs and helped them to the FA Youth Cup final against Manchester United, before leaving abruptly at the insistence of his mentor Colin Gie. He spent nine months with Chelsea, but ended up at Spanish LaLiga club Atlético Madrid owing
to work-permit issues in England.
5) He was mostly a B-team player at Atlético, making only a handful of first-team appearances before a shock move to Manchester United
in 1999, months after they had beaten Bayern Munich to win the Champions League final. He played central midfield, left back and left wing at Manchester United, never quite cementing down one position, but making himself a useful option in all of them.
6) He spent seven years in all at Old Trafford, winning three Premier League titles under legendary Sir Alex Ferguson. He did not play the required 10 games in the third of those title wins, but was later handed a winners’ medal by the Premier League as a special dispensation, as he had racked up nine games.
7) He scored for United in their 2–1 Champions League away loss to eventual winners FC Porto in 2004. The man who scored twice for Porto that day? Benni McCarthy. It is still the only time two South African players have scored in a Champions League game in Europe.
8) He once held the record as the youngest player ever to be capped by South Africa and was 19 years, three months and 21 days old when he played against Kenya in the Four Nations Cup in September 1996. He started all three games at the 1998 World Cup in France and hit the crossbar late on in the 1-1 draw against Denmark.
9) He also started all three games at the 2022 World Cup in Japan and South Korea and scored a late equaliser from the penalty spot in the 2-2 draw with Paraguay. He also assisted Siyabonga Nomvethe’s goal as Bafana claimed a first ever World Cup finals win against Slovenia.
10) His final Bafana cap was earned in a 2–1 home win over Uganda as he again netted from the penalty spot. He won 47 caps in all – a scandalously low total for such a talent – with both his goals coming from 12 yards.
