Ben Anthony Foster is an English former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper most notably for West Bromwich Albion & Watford.
Ben Foster : Man utd | Stats | Transfermarkt | Wife
Foster was born in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire. He started his football career as a youngster at Racing Club Warwick of the Southern League Division One West.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ben Anthony Foster | ||
| Date of birth | 3 April 1983 | ||
| Place of birth | Leamington Spa, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
He became their first-choice goalkeeper in December 2000, and was also training as an apprentice chef at Café Rouge in Leamington Spa.
In April 2001 Foster turned professional with Second Division club Stoke City after being spotted by scout Colin Dobson.
He signed a one-year contract with an option for a further two years; the “five-figure” fee was undisclosed, and RC Warwick would benefit from the inclusion of a sell-on clause.
During his time at Stoke, Foster had loan spells at Bristol City, Tiverton Town, Stafford Rangers, Kidderminster Harriers and Wrexham.
Foster sustained a cruciate ligament injury in June 2003 while playing tennis with his brother, which sidelined him for a period of six months.
After his recovery, Foster was awarded the number 14 shirt and received his maiden call up to the Potters’ first team for a First Division match versus Wimbledon on 17 January 2004.
He remained on the bench for the 1–0 victory and was an unused substitute on a further six occasions during the remainder of the 2003–04 season.
Ben foster man utd
While playing for Wrexham on loan from Stoke, Foster was spotted by Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, who was watching his son, Darren, in the 2005 Football League Trophy Final.
United had been struggling for several years to replace former goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel, and Ferguson decided to move for the young Foster, making a bid of £1 million for the player.
Stoke agreed a deal with United on 15 July 2005, and the transfer was completed on 19 July.
The 39-year-old, who spent five years at Man United and played for Watford and West Brom, has announced his retirement.
Foster spent five years at Old Trafford from 2005 to 2010 and spent a large portion of his career in the Premier League with the likes of Watford, Birmingham and West Bromwich. He also won eight senior England caps.
He had been a free agent since leaving Watford following their relegation at the end of last term. Foster, who made more than 500 appearances in his career, wore a classic Manchester United shirt for his retirement announcement.
Stats
Foster began his professional career in 2001 with Stoke City, having joined from Racing Club Warwick. However, he never made an appearance for Stoke, and spent time on loan with Bristol City, Tiverton Town, Stafford Rangers, Kidderminster Harriers and Wrexham.
| Senior career | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2000–2001 | Racing Club Warwick | ||
| 2001–2005 | Stoke City | 0 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Bristol City (loan) | 0 | (0) |
| 2002–2003 | → Tiverton Town (loan) | 16 | (2) |
| 2004 | → Stafford Rangers (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2004 | → Kidderminster Harriers (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 2005 | → Wrexham (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2005–2010 | Manchester United | 12 | (0) |
| 2005–2006 | → Watford (loan) | 44 | (0) |
| 2006–2007 | → Watford (loan) | 29 | (0) |
| 2010–2012 | Birmingham City | 38 | (0) |
| 2011–2012 | → West Bromwich Albion (loan) | 37 | (0) |
| 2012–2018 | West Bromwich Albion | 172 | (0) |
| 2018–2022 | Watford | 125 | (0) |
| Total | 493 | (0) | |
He switched permanently to Manchester United in July 2005, but again struggled to break into the first team, and he spent two successive seasons on loan to Watford from August 2005 until the end of the 2006–07 season.
Having played just 23 times for Manchester United (although he also played in the League Cup-winning teams of 2009 and 2010), Foster switched to Birmingham City in May 2010.
An ever-present in the league for Birmingham, Foster was also part of the Birmingham team that won the 2011 League Cup; he made a total of 43 appearances in that season.
Following Birmingham’s relegation to the Championship at the end of the season, Foster was loaned to West Bromwich Albion, and moved there permanently in June 2012. Foster returned to Watford in July 2018.
Foster announced his retirement from football in September 2022, after becoming a free agent that summer and turning down the opportunity of signing for Newcastle United.
Ben foster Transfermarkt
On 26 May 2006, Foster was named on the stand-by list for England’s 2006 World Cup squad, because of Robert Green’s injury in a “B” international against Belarus.
After Foster re-signed on loan for Watford, he was called up to Steve McClaren’s first England squad as one of three goalkeepers for the friendly against Greece.
Since his first call-up but prior to his injury, Foster was named in every England squad, and made his England debut in the 1–0 defeat against Spain on 7 February 2007.
After not playing for England for two years and never being called to the first team, he was finally selected by Fabio Capello after his performance during the League Cup Final and was a second-half substitute against Slovakia in a 4–0 victory to earn his second cap.
Inconsistent performances in Manchester United’s first fixtures of the 2009–10 season, as well as bruised ribs, meant that Foster was left out of Capello’s initial squad for their final two World Cup qualifiers.
However, after Rob Green was sent off in the match against Ukraine on 10 October, Foster was recalled in his place for the following match against Belarus.
It had been expected that David James would take Green’s place in the starting line-up, but James was injured in the warm-up and Foster was given his third England cap instead.
Wife
Friends turned partners! Laura Prepon and Ben Foster may have married when they were in their late thirties, but the actors met when they were just teenagers.
The Orange Is the New Black alum and the 3:10 to Yuma star share a mutual longtime friend in Danny Masterson, who worked with Prepon for years on That ’70s Show.
The couple — who were first romantically linked in 2016, having been spotted engaging in heavy PDA across the tri-state area — have been married since 2018. They share two children together: a daughter and a son.
In May 2018, the PrepOn cookware founder spoke to Us Weekly about how difficult it is to be a working mom — but how important it is to her, too.
Ahead of her son’s birth, Prepon wrote You and I, as Mothers: A Raw and Honest Guide to Motherhood, in which she “shar[ed] all of these different viewpoints … for mothers of all ages,” she told Us in April 2020, noting, “I really did learn so much about that experience I was going through [while pregnant with my second] and how to prepare for the next time and the fact that every situation is different from child to child.”
Prepon gave birth to the couple’s second child, a baby boy, in February 2020, and explained to Us that they would not be announcing their son’s name for a while due to privacy reasons.
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