They Played for Both Clubs: Adam Le Fondre

Now you may have listened to LOVpod 3 (who am I kidding, of course you have!) and noted my esteemed colleague Dan Murphy's admission that he didn't realise who ALF was. I didn't think he was old enough to have lived through the wonder of early-Sky TV years and the Alien Life Form who loved to eat cats. I could be wrong though.

Anyway, the most famous ALF in these parts since that famous show is our mate Adam Le Fondre. He'll sit out this afternoon's game with his parent side Cardiff City as part of the ridiculous loan rules that the Championship top bods insist upon. I'm not a fan of inter-divisional loans but that's a blog for another day.

Glenville Adam James le Fondre was born in Stockport in December 1986, turning professional in 2004 after making his way through his home-town club's centre of excellence.

A decent return of 18 goals in 63 appearances drew the attention of bigger clubs, and it was in 2007 that a temporary move to Rochdale was made permanent. He featured in every game as the side made it all the way to the Wembley Play Off Final at the end of a season where he was the club's leading marksman. He continued his form into the 2008-09 season and finished the season as leading scorer with 21 goals and a series of Player of the Season awards.

A return of 34 goals in 91 games for Dale saw him move to Rotherham United in 2009.

"I needed a new challenge, with a progressive club that had high ambitions and in Rotherham I've found the perfect club to open a new chapter of my career with.

It was hard to leave Rochdale in the sense that I have left a lot of friends and the fans behind, but when a team with so much ambition like Rotherham comes in for you it is an opportunity you have got to take."

He struck 54 times in 94 appearances for the Millers and again drew the attention of bigger clubs. This time it was Reading who swooped, taking him down South for the first time in 2011 for a fee of £350,000.

He hit the net 12 times in 33 games in his first season, providing the spark that helped his new side reach the Premier League taking him to the top flight of English football. A sensational return of 12 in 34 in the Prem saw some call for him to receive international recognition, but it never came to pass, with ALF often being forced to play the 'super sub' role at Reading thanks to the wisdom of his manager.

Reading suffered relegation that season, and despite rumours of another move ALF remained loyal and would again top the scoring charts in the following campaign back in the Championship, netting 15 times in 40 games.

Despite this success, a move to Cardiff came about at the start of the 2014/15 season, with a rumoured fee of £2.75m taking him to Wales under the tutelage of former Manchester United striker Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.

Here he found the first barren spell of his career, scoring just three goals in 21 appearances. It was this struggle that saw him made available for transfer by new Cardiff boss Russell Slade.

He signed for Bolton Wanderers towards the end of January 2015, as exclusively revealed by this site. It took him a couple of weeks to get going, but following his first goal for the club in a 3-1 home win against Fulham, he made it 5 goals in his first 10 games for Bolton with a well taken brace in our 2-0 home win over Millwall in mid-March.

We'd love him to stay.

His brand of hard-running graft and clever play inside the penalty area is borne out by his impressive career statistics. 169 goals in 429 appearances is nothing to sniff at, and is a fine indicator of what a lethal finisher he is. For a short lad he displays no lack of self-confidence and self-belief either, something that has endeared him to Wanderers fans ever since he came to the club.