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Speaking for the first time about his exit at Bolton, the 31-year-old striker admits the opportunity to be a marquee signing in Sydney was too good to turn down, given there was no guarantee of regular football under Phil Parkinson.
Le Fondre’s departure – bizarrely announced by the club 20 minutes into a Carabao Cup game against Leeds United earlier this month – came as a hammer blow to the scores of fans whose replica shirts bore his name.
A swaggering style and supreme self-confidence had made the former Reading and Cardiff City front man a terrace favourite during his time with the Whites, and few in the game can match his goals-to-minutes ratio, yet the introspective decision to up roots from Stockport and move his wife and three children Down Under was made knowing how ruthless the game can be.
“I had to trust my instincts,” Le Fondre told The Bolton News. “I didn’t do that a couple of years ago when I moved to clubs for the wrong reasons and I wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“I had to be playing regularly. I only had a year left at Bolton and if I’d been out of the team or been injured then you can find yourself swallowed up. It doesn’t matter what your record says, people forget you.
“It happened at Wolves, where I got promised all sorts of things but ended messing up two years of my career. I’d gone from scoring eight in 17 for Bolton on loan to scrambling on transfer deadline day. Those kind of decisions will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Le Fondre found himself the centre of conversation as much for his time out of Parkinson’s team as he was as a regular starter and goalscorer.
On several occasions, fans hankered for him to get more game time but it was not until the sale of Gary Madine to Cardiff last season that he was able to make a lasting impression. Le Fondre insists, however, there are no feelings of resentment as he prepares to start a new chapter in his career.
“The gaffer let me go when it would have been really easy to say ‘no’ and dig his heels in,” he said. “And for that I hold him in very high regard. I don’t think a lot of managers would agree to it.
“In terms of where my head was at – I hadn’t been involved during the first six months of last season but couldn’t complain too much because Gaz (Madine) had been in such great form.
“It had got to the stage where I was looking elsewhere. It looked like I was leaving in January but then things happened, and I was able to play at Bolton.
“This is the kind of opportunity that no other club in England could provide. I wanted to play games – and this gives me that chance – but it’s also an environment for my family that I’d have never had the chance to experience.
“I will always back myself, no matter where I am playing my football. When I start regular games I deliver, especially when the pressure is on.
“I always knew I could do that at Bolton. Last day of the season against Peterborough in League One – goal and assists. Last day against Forest – goal and assists.
“When I first turned up after Wigan I was a bit slow at the start but it wasn’t long before I’d hit my straps again.
“This pre-season I played games and felt sharp. In fact, I’’m probably the fittest I have ever been. So this kind of move opens doors in my career. I feel like I am going to make a big impact on the A-League.”
Le Fondre’s new surroundings will be quite unlike those he has experienced in all four divisions of the English game.
He kicked-off his Sydney FC career with a friendly game against India’s Under-23s, where, of course, he got on the scoresheet in a 3-1 win. But his experience won’t be contained to Australia, and in the AFC Champions League he is likely to come across the best Japan, Korea and China have to offer in the Champions League.
Emotional ties at Bolton will not be dulled by distance, much like the memory of last season’s Great Escape against Nottingham Forest.
“Leaving Bolton was hard,” he said. “Saying goodbye to the boys was difficult.
“We’d been through so much together and even though quite a few left over the summer there’s still that core of players who had become good friends. I’ll miss them.
“It’s hard leaving a dressing room which is so united. But I had to be selfish and think about myself. That’s the way you have to be in football because the career is only so long.
“Last season will never leave me. I remember being sat in the dressing room after the Forest game in total shock.
“After we’d lost at Burton, people had relegated us. When we’d gone 1-0 up and then 2-1 down, we looked at each other and thought ‘that’s it, we’re gone.’
“But going on to win that game will rank as one of my greatest-ever achievements.”
Le Fondre made no secret of the fact he wanted to be loved at Bolton when he returned to help fire them back into the Championship, and the supporters responded in kind.
His move – abrupt as it was – may have comes as a shock to the system for some but the striker was keen to let fans know their backing had been wholly appreciated.
“As a footballer, the one thing you need is for someone to give you a chance,” Le Fondre said.
“Fair enough if you have a couple of stinkers – people will criticise – but to be at a club like Bolton where the fans willed you on from day one was very special.
“The fans gave me everything. They were magnificent with me.
“They sang my name and we shared a bond, which I’ll keep with me no matter where I play.
“I’ve always wanted to be the player people relied upon, the one they point to and say ‘he’s going to score you a goal.’ I was like that as a kid, and I haven’t changed as a professional. I want that pressure.
“Bolton gave me that platform and if I can find that here, I’ll consider myself a lucky bloke.”
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Le Fondre’s departure – bizarrely announced by the club 20 minutes into a Carabao Cup game against Leeds United earlier this month – came as a hammer blow to the scores of fans whose replica shirts bore his name.
A swaggering style and supreme self-confidence had made the former Reading and Cardiff City front man a terrace favourite during his time with the Whites, and few in the game can match his goals-to-minutes ratio, yet the introspective decision to up roots from Stockport and move his wife and three children Down Under was made knowing how ruthless the game can be.
“I had to trust my instincts,” Le Fondre told The Bolton News. “I didn’t do that a couple of years ago when I moved to clubs for the wrong reasons and I wasn’t going to let it happen again.
“I had to be playing regularly. I only had a year left at Bolton and if I’d been out of the team or been injured then you can find yourself swallowed up. It doesn’t matter what your record says, people forget you.
“It happened at Wolves, where I got promised all sorts of things but ended messing up two years of my career. I’d gone from scoring eight in 17 for Bolton on loan to scrambling on transfer deadline day. Those kind of decisions will haunt me for the rest of my life.”
Le Fondre found himself the centre of conversation as much for his time out of Parkinson’s team as he was as a regular starter and goalscorer.
On several occasions, fans hankered for him to get more game time but it was not until the sale of Gary Madine to Cardiff last season that he was able to make a lasting impression. Le Fondre insists, however, there are no feelings of resentment as he prepares to start a new chapter in his career.
“The gaffer let me go when it would have been really easy to say ‘no’ and dig his heels in,” he said. “And for that I hold him in very high regard. I don’t think a lot of managers would agree to it.
“In terms of where my head was at – I hadn’t been involved during the first six months of last season but couldn’t complain too much because Gaz (Madine) had been in such great form.
“It had got to the stage where I was looking elsewhere. It looked like I was leaving in January but then things happened, and I was able to play at Bolton.
“This is the kind of opportunity that no other club in England could provide. I wanted to play games – and this gives me that chance – but it’s also an environment for my family that I’d have never had the chance to experience.
“I will always back myself, no matter where I am playing my football. When I start regular games I deliver, especially when the pressure is on.
“I always knew I could do that at Bolton. Last day of the season against Peterborough in League One – goal and assists. Last day against Forest – goal and assists.
“When I first turned up after Wigan I was a bit slow at the start but it wasn’t long before I’d hit my straps again.
“This pre-season I played games and felt sharp. In fact, I’’m probably the fittest I have ever been. So this kind of move opens doors in my career. I feel like I am going to make a big impact on the A-League.”
Le Fondre’s new surroundings will be quite unlike those he has experienced in all four divisions of the English game.
He kicked-off his Sydney FC career with a friendly game against India’s Under-23s, where, of course, he got on the scoresheet in a 3-1 win. But his experience won’t be contained to Australia, and in the AFC Champions League he is likely to come across the best Japan, Korea and China have to offer in the Champions League.
Emotional ties at Bolton will not be dulled by distance, much like the memory of last season’s Great Escape against Nottingham Forest.
“Leaving Bolton was hard,” he said. “Saying goodbye to the boys was difficult.
“We’d been through so much together and even though quite a few left over the summer there’s still that core of players who had become good friends. I’ll miss them.
“It’s hard leaving a dressing room which is so united. But I had to be selfish and think about myself. That’s the way you have to be in football because the career is only so long.
“Last season will never leave me. I remember being sat in the dressing room after the Forest game in total shock.
“After we’d lost at Burton, people had relegated us. When we’d gone 1-0 up and then 2-1 down, we looked at each other and thought ‘that’s it, we’re gone.’
“But going on to win that game will rank as one of my greatest-ever achievements.”
Le Fondre made no secret of the fact he wanted to be loved at Bolton when he returned to help fire them back into the Championship, and the supporters responded in kind.
His move – abrupt as it was – may have comes as a shock to the system for some but the striker was keen to let fans know their backing had been wholly appreciated.
“As a footballer, the one thing you need is for someone to give you a chance,” Le Fondre said.
“Fair enough if you have a couple of stinkers – people will criticise – but to be at a club like Bolton where the fans willed you on from day one was very special.
“The fans gave me everything. They were magnificent with me.
“They sang my name and we shared a bond, which I’ll keep with me no matter where I play.
“I’ve always wanted to be the player people relied upon, the one they point to and say ‘he’s going to score you a goal.’ I was like that as a kid, and I haven’t changed as a professional. I want that pressure.
“Bolton gave me that platform and if I can find that here, I’ll consider myself a lucky bloke.”
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