Emile Fontaine

Emile Fontaine (2 May 1880 – unknown) was a French footballer who played as a defender for Olympique Lillois.

Early career Emile Fontaine was born on 2 May 1880 in Saint-Pierre, Réunion, as the youngest of nine brothers from the marriage between André Célestin Fontaine (1834–1883) and Marie Josèphe Smith (1838–).

Playing career Early career

At some point during the turn of the century (1899–1901), Fontaine arrived in Paris, where he quickly became the captain of FEC Levallois as early as February 1903, aged 22. Later that year, he joined the ranks of Gallia Club, where he also became the club's captain by 1904, aged 24. On 8 November 1903, Fontaine started in the final of the Coupe Manier in 1903 in Vincennes, in which he made a crucial tackle to prevent a goal from Nicolet to keep the match tied at 2 in an eventual extra-time victory (3–2) over CA Paris.

The 12th man in the inaugural match In March and April 1904, Fontaine played two matches at the Parc des Princes for an unofficial French national team, namely against Southampton (0–11) and Corinthian (4–11).

Fontaine was one of the 12 players taken to Brussels to play in France's first-ever official match against Belgium on 1 May 1904, but the national coach Robert Guérin decided to sort out who would play between him and Georges Bilot, and the latter won, so he was thus the 12th man of the first match in a time when substitutions did not exist. Fontaine never became an international, because he then refused selection for the return match in 1905, when he was scheduled to start ahead of Bilot; without him, France conceded 10 goals in the two matches against the Belgians, including a humiliating 0–7 loss. He was then decisive in Gallia's victory in the final, not only as captain, but also as a defender, because he and his defensive partner Georges Bayrou kept a clean-sheet for over two and a half hours until a goal was finally scored around the fifth period of extra-time. He then signed for Olympique Lillois, with whom he played for three years until 1908, when he decided to return to Gallia. In 1908, he was selected for the French squad that was going to compete in the football tournament of the 1908 Olympic Games in London, but Fontaine was unavailable due to military service. On 8 May 1910, he started in the final of the 1910 Coupe Dewar, which ended in a 1–3 loss to CA Paris.

Later life After the First World War, Fontaine became the director of a car body shop in Paris.

Honours Gallia Club USFSA Paris Championship: Champions (1): 1904–05 USFSA Football Championship: Champions (1): 1905 Coupe Manier: Champions (1): 1903 Coupe Dewar: Champions (1): 1909 Runner-up (1): 1910