Pierre Fonkeu

Pierre Fonkeu

Personal information
Full name	Pierre Xavier Fonkeu [1]
Date of birth	(1997-07-10) 10 July 1997 (age 26)
Place of birth	Belgium
Position(s)	Forward
Team information
Current team	Maidstone United
Youth career
0000–2017	Club Brugge
2017–2019	Norwich City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2020	Lens II	1	(0)
2020	Beroe	3	(0)
2021	Weymouth	15	(0)
2022	Hemel Hempstead Town	11	(2)
2022–2023	Dartford	43	(10)
2023–2024	Oxford City	16	(3)
2024	→ Hemel Hempstead Town (loan)	5	(1)
2024–	Maidstone United	0	(0)
International career‡
2019	Cameroon U23	0	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:10, 26 May 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 18:09, 1 February 2021 (UTC)

Pierre Xavier Fonkeu (born 10 July 1997) is a Cameroonian footballer who plays as a forward for Maidstone United.

Early life

Fonkeu was born in Belgium. ^[2]

Club career

Having come through the youth ranks at Club Brugge, Fonkeu joined Norwich City on a two-year contract on 31 August 2017 following a trial period with the club. ^{[3] [4]} He was released by the club in summer 2019 following the expiry of his contract. ^[5]

On 27 June 2019, it was announced that Fonkeu had signed for RC Lens, initially joining their reserve team in the Championnat National 2. ^[6] However, he played just once for their reserve side and joined Bulgarian First League club Beroe in February 2020. ^{[7] [8]} He played 3 times for Beroe but was released at the end of the season. ^{[7] [9]}

Following a trial spell at Grimsby Town, Fonkeu was offered a short-term deal with the Mariners, however this was held up due to delays in obtaining international clearance, and fell through after the departure of manager Ian Holloway. ^[10] Fonkeu signed for National League club Weymouth on a permanent deal on 30 January 2021. ^[2] He made his debut for Weymouth as a substitute in a 1–0 home defeat to Notts County later that day. ^[11] He made 15 appearances for Weymouth during the 2020–21 season. ^[7] He was released by the club at the end of the season following the expiry of his contract. ^[12]

On 25 February 2022, Fonkeu joined National League South side Hemel Hempstead Town. ^[13] He made 11 appearances and scored twice during the 2021–22 season. ^[7]

On 1 August 2022, Fonkeu joined Dartford ahead of the 2022–23 season. ^[14]

On 14 July 2023, Fonkeu signed for Oxford City. ^[15]

On 12 March 2024, Fonkeu joined Hemel Hempstead Town on loan. ^[16]

In June 2024, Fonkeu joined National League South side Maidstone United. ^[17]

International career

He has represented Cameroon at under-23 level and was part of their squad for the 2019 Africa U-23 Cup of Nations, where he was an unused substitute in all three matches. ^{[2] [18]}

Career statistics

As of match played 1 April 2024 ^[7]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Lens II	2019–20	Championnat National 2	1	0	—		—		0	0	1	0
Beroe	2019–20	Bulgarian First League	3	0	0	0	—		0	0	3	0
Weymouth	2020–21	National League	15	0	0	0	—		0	0	15	0
Hemel Hempstead Town	2021–22	National League South	11	2	0	0	—		0	0	11	2
Dartford	2022–23	National League South	43	10	1	0	—		6 [lower-alpha 1] [lower-alpha 2] [lower-alpha 3] [lower-alpha 4]	1	50	11
Oxford City	2023–24	National League	16	3	0	0	—		0	0	16	3
Hemel Hempstead Town (loan)	2023–24	National League South	5	1	—		—		—		5	1
Career total			94	16	1	0	0	0	6	1	101	17

1. Three appearances and one goal in the London Senior Cup
2. One appearance in the FA Trophy
3. One appearance in the Kent Senior Cup
4. One appearance in the National League South Play-Offs

References

1. Freezer, David (13 July 2017). "Trial players impress for Norwich City U23s in friendly at King's Lynn". The Pink Un. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
2. Walton, Neil (30 January 2021). "Weymouth complete signing of wing wizard Pierre Fonkeu". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. Freezer, David (31 August 2017). "Norwich City complete signing of former Club Brugge striker Pierre Fonkeu". The Pink Un. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
4. "City sign Pierre Fonkeu". www.canaries.co.uk. Norwich City F.C. 31 August 2017. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
5. Freezer, David (9 May 2019). "Abrahams and Fonkeu among academy players set to leave City this summer". The Pink Un. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
6. Freezer, David (27 June 2019). "Released striker signs for French club Lens after Canaries exit". The Pink Un. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
7. Pierre Fonkeu at Soccerway. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
8. Esanji, Isaac (17 February 2020). "Pierre Fonkeu quitte le RC Lens pour la Bulgarie". Acto Cameroon (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
9. "Берое се раздели с камерунец". topsport.bg (in Bulgarian). 8 May 2020. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
10. Green, Trevor (21 December 2020). "Grimsby Town waiting on clearance for former Norwich City forward Pierre Fonkeu". GrimsbyLive. ISSN   0307-1235 . Retrieved 1 February 2021.
11. Walton, Neil (30 January 2021). "Terras' winning run ends as Notts County claim victory". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
12. Walton, Neil (1 June 2021). "Jordan Ngalo and Pierre Fonkeu depart Terras after contracts expire". Dorset Echo. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
13. @hemelfc (25 February 2022). "New Signing: Introducing Pierre Fonkeu! The 24 year old striker formerly of Club Brugge, Norwich and Weymouth joins the Tudors as Mark Jones continues to assemble his Tudors side" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
14. "NEW SIGNING: Pierre Fonkeu". Dartford Official Website. 1 August 2022. Retrieved 1 August 2022.
15. "Oxford City sign ex-Norwich City forward Pierre Fonkeu". Oxford Mail. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 14 July 2023.
16. "Pierre Fonkeu joins Hemel Hempstead on loan". Oxford City Official Site. 14 July 2023. Retrieved 12 March 2024.
17. "Fonkeu bolsters squad". maidstoneunited.co.uk. 14 June 2024. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
18. Enow, Njie (30 October 2019). "Nice refuse to release Cameroon's Ganago for Under-23 Afcon". BBC Sport. Retrieved 1 February 2021.