Jonathan Ronald James Forte (born 25 July 1986) is a former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who played as a striker; he last played for

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Le ...

club

Exeter City Exeter City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Exeter, Devon, England. The team play in , the third tier of the English football league system. Known as "the Grecians", the origin of their nickname is subject to ...

. Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

, he represented

Barbados Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate ...

at international level. Forte's first professional contract came with his home town club

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games a ...

before a move to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

in 2007. After four years, he then signed for Southampton in 2011. During his career Forte also spent time on loan at

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at T ...

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around ...

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syst ...

and

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...

Club career

Youth career

Forte was born in

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

. He started his career at

as a schoolboy in the Academy, but opted to join the

Academy, along with

Billy Sharp Billy Louis Sharp (born 5 February 1986) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker and captains club Sheffield United. He has also played for Rushden & Diamonds, Scunthorpe United, Southampton, Nottingham Forest, Reading, ...

after Rotherham turned him away. During his youth career he made several appearances for England at youth level.

Sheffield United

Forte was mostly used as a substitute at Sheffield United, with only five of his appearances being from the start. He went on loan twice in the 2005–06 season, to

and Rotherham United. He scored eight times (four for each team) for these clubs, and played an important part in keeping Rotherham in

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

. In July 2006, Forte was re-signed by Doncaster Rovers, initially on a six-month loan deal. He helped Doncaster win the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

on 1 April 2007 scoring the first goal in 3–2 (aet) victory against

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...

after only 43 seconds. Over the course of his career at Sheffield United he made 30 appearances scoring one goal against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the Nation ...

Scunthorpe United

Forte signed for

on 4 July 2007. He then signed for

on 13 November 2008 in a very fruitful one-month loan deal. He scored four goals in four league games, including a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mech ...

on his debut against Barnet. He re-signed on a one-month loan deal at Meadow Lane in February 2009, getting himself on the scoresheet again with two goals against

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. ...

in Notts' 3–1 home win. The loan was extended for a second month until 18 April in March. Forte scored two goals for Scunthorpe against Crystal Palace at Glanford Park.

Southampton

On 31 January 2011, he signed for

Southampton Southampton () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire, S ...

for an undisclosed fee on a three and a half-year deal, joining up with former manager

Nigel Adkins Nigel Howard Adkins (born 11 March 1965) is an English professional football manager and former player and physiotherapist. Adkins played as a goalkeeper for Tranmere Rovers and Wigan Athletic. He finished his playing career and began his man ...

. However, he did not sign in time to feature the next day at

. He made his debut as a substitute in a 4–4 draw with

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standin ...

. He scored his first goals from the bench against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...

, with the score at 2–0 he scored two goals in two minutes, to bring it to 2–2. The game ended in a 3–2 victory. He scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season in a 4–1 win over

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

, in the league cup. He scored another in the League Cup, a 3–1 victory at

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at the County Ground sin ...

. On 8 November 2011, he signed for

, His loan expired on 10 December 2011. He made his debut against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

in the Football League Trophy and he signed with fellow striker

Sam Hoskins Samuel Tobias Hoskins (born 4 February 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for club Northampton Town. Hoskins was born in Dorchester, Dorset and began his career at Southampton, joining the club ...

. On 27 January 2012, he signed for

on loan until the end of the season. He scored a hat-trick against Charlton, the second of his career. The first had been at Notts County on loan in 2008 away at Barnet on his debut. On 17 August 2012, Forte signed for

on a three-month loan. He made his debut the following day, scoring Crawley's third goal in a 3–0 victory over his former club,

. On 31 January 2013, Forte returned to his first club

, on loan for the rest of the season. Forte scored his first United goal in eight years when he netted in a 2–0 league victory over Bury at

Gigg Lane Gigg Lane is a football ground in Bury, Greater Manchester, England, built for Bury F.C. in 1885. The first match was played on 12 September 1885 between Bury and a team from Wigan. One of the world's oldest professional football stadiums, Gig ...

. After initially starting regularly Forte was injured during the game against Bury, and struggled with his fitness during the rest of his loan spell. With United failing to gain promotion, Forte returned to Southampton having played twelve games and scored one goal. On 17 May 2014, Southampton announced that Forte would be released.

Oldham Athletic

On 19 July 2014, Forte played as a trialist for

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

against Melbourne City, playing for 75 minutes for the Lancashire-based-club. He also played in a 2–1 victory over

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

. On 1 August 2014, Forte signed a one-year deal with the club, with an option of a further year. Forte made his debut on the opening day of the season against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

scoring both goals in a 2–2 draw. Forte scored his 9th and 10th goal against Coventry this gave them an emphatic 4–1 victory and stretched Oldham's 12 game unbeaten run. In the next match a 2–1 victory over Bradford City Forte continued his goal scoring form with a goal in the 7th minute putting Latics ahead.

Notts County

After three previous loan spells at the club, Forte returned to League Two club Notts County on 1 July 2016 on undisclosed terms. He was released by Notts County at the end of the 2017–18 season.

Exeter City

On 26 June 2018, Forte was signed by

. In August 2019, Forte announced his retirement as a player, aged 33, due to a knee injury.

International career

Despite playing for England at youth level, on 26 March 2010, he made his international debut for

in a 1–0 victory against Dominica. He qualifies for Barbados through his father. He turned down a call-up from the nation November 2008 and has not played internationally since.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Doncaster Rovers *

: 2006–07 Scunthorpe United * League One play-offs: 2008–09

References

External links

Jonathan Forte profile
at the official

Notts County F.C. Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...

website
Jonathan Forte profile
at the official

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...

website * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Forte, Jonathan 1986 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield People with acquired Barbadian citizenship Barbadian footballers Barbados international footballers English footballers England youth international footballers English sportspeople of Barbadian descent Association football wingers Rotherham United F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Southampton F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players English Football League players Black British sportspeople