Buckley&District Reds

Stoke City have seen a few legendary England goalkeepers between their sticks over the years such as Gordon Banks and Peter Shilton.

 

In the case of Ben Foster though, they possibly let slip a future legend, a player that never made a first-team appearance for the Potteries club, a player that first came to prominence with Wrexham FC instead.

Within two years of signing for Wrexham on loan Ben had won an England cap and made a £1 million plus move to one of the biggest clubs in the world. Ben’s story is astonishing.

 

Foster’s potential was missed by scouts as a youngster. Upon leaving school he had begun training to be a chef, starting out by washing dishes in his hometown Leamington Spa’s Café Rouge. Whilst pursuing this career he turned out for non-league minnows Racing Club Warwick. Eventually, in his late teens at the end of the 2000-2001 season he was finally noticed and signed by Stoke City.

 

Over the next three-and-a-half years at the Britannia Stadium Foster was unable to come close to getting a game for the Championship side as the experienced Ed De Goey and Steve Simonson were preferred. Instead he was sent out on loan back to non-league football with Tiverton Town and Stafford Rangers. He had a loan spell with Bristol City, without appearing for their first-team, and in late 2004 he finally made his Football League debut. He managed a few games on loan at Kidderminster Harriers, doomed to be relegated to the Conference at the end of the season.

 

His big chance to impress finally came when a beleaguered Denis Smith called on his former club to help him out through a goalkeeper crisis. Matt Baker had left for MK Dons a month earlier, Andy Dibble had picked up another long-term injury and Xavi Valero had proved disastrous leaving us with 17 year-old Carrots as the only fit goalkeeper on the club’s books. At the same time the club was in turmoil off the field.

 

In January 2005 Foster joined a club that had just entered administration, unsure whether it would see out the year and had ten points unfairly docked plunging us into a nightmare relegation battle. The only shaft of light for Wrexham fans was the LDV Vans Trophy. Ben made his Wrexham debut in the competition in the Area Quarter-Final visit to Hereford. Though the home side took the lead we came back to win it and go through for a two-legged tie v Oldham, with no small thanks to the performance of our new goalkeeper.

 

Over the next few games, though we still conceded goals, if it hadn’t have been for Foster we’d have conceded even more. He was flawless; a superb shot-stopper, a great catcher of the ball, a good organiser, had presence, brilliant reflexes, near perfect timing, was good with his judgement. He had many attributes and Wrexham fans started to realise that we there was a top goalkeeper in our midst. After the disaster of Valero we’d struck lucky. During his spell with us Ben conceded three at Oldham and four at Hartlepool yet the only time he was criticised was by Denis Smith, somewhat harshly, for a goal that he conceded against Colchester.

 

Though we were losing the relegation battle, we’d made it to the final of the LDV Vans Trophy at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff. On a legendary day in the club’s history we beat Southend United 2-0 and though Ugarte and Ferguson got the goals, many plaudits also went Foster’s way. In another perfect performance he kept out everything that came his way particularly with his superb range of shot-stopping. It’s rare that fans can have such confidence in a goalkeeper but you just felt that Ben wouldn’t let us down, that he wouldn’t make a mistake that day despite the pressure.

 

The win at the Millennium not only gave us our first major trophy and a day to remember, but also the prize money that helped to keep the club alive until we could exit administration. Ben Foster had more than paid us back for giving him a chance in the game. Legend has it that it was at that game that Sir Alex Ferguson, there to watch his son Darren, first noticed Foster and expressed an interest in signing him for Manchester United. In truth Darren had tipped his dad off about Foster’s potential some weeks earlier. It was no surprise that at the end of the season Foster made the dream move to Man.U.

 

For the 2005-06 season he was loaned out to Championship side Watford. Under progressive young manager Aidy Boothroyd the Hornets were challenging at the top of their division for most of the season. A surprise package, considering how little had been spent on their squad, Watford made it to the play-off final where they faced Leeds United. It meant a return to the Millennium Stadium for Foster just over a year after he’d appeared there for Wrexham. He left with another winner’s medal and more great memories as the underdogs clinched promotion to the Premiership in a 3-0 victory. Foster earned praise for his performance not only in that game but throughout Watford’s season, and the club were successful in securing his services on loan for another year. Just a year after suffering the heartache of relegation to League 2 with Wrexham, Foster would be a Premiership player.

 

Just as Foster was preparing to go on holiday following Watford’s promotion he received a shock call-up to the England squad ahead of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, following an injury to Norwich’s Robert Green. He trained with the squad but was only named on standby as fourth choice goalkeeper behind Paul Robinson, David James and Scott Carson. In the end he didn’t get to join his former team-mates Carlos Edwards and Dennis Lawrence at the tournament, but his first international cap would not be far away.

 

At the time of his surprise call-up for many it was a case of ‘Ben who?’ Not many had heard of the newcomer prior to his astronomical rise to the top in the previous year but now the media and general public were starting to take notice. The 2006-07 season was a difficult one in general for Watford fans as they were rooted to the bottom of the Premiership never looking capable of staying up. However they made it to the semi-finals of the FA Cup only losing to Manchester United (with Foster denied the chance to play against the club that owned him), and the form of their on loan goalkeeper brought them something to smile about.

 

Foster often helped to keep the score down for the Hornets and these displays kept him in the England squad. He was finally awarded his first England cap in a friendly at Old Trafford against Spain in February 2007. In a good all-round performance he was only beaten by a brilliant Andres Iniesta strike. It has to be said that Foster wasn’t helped much by England’s overall defending that night.

 

With Spurs keeper Paul Robinson’s general shakiness when playing for England becoming a problem for Steve McClaren, there was talk that Foster could be England’s No.1 sooner rather than later. Unfortunately shortly after his international debut Foster’s rival Robinson scored against him in bizarre fashion at White Hart Lane. Taking a free-kick in his own half Robinson thumped the ball up-field where it bounced in front of Foster just as he was leaving his six yard box, and dropped into the back of the net. The incident may have cost Foster his England place and some embarrassment but he was brave enough to face the Match of the Day cameras after the game to talk about it.

 

At the end of the season with Watford relegated and Foster on his way back to Old Trafford he was given an outstanding ovation by the Watford fans in his final appearance for them. He seemed all set to push Edwin Van Der Saar and Tomasz Kusczak for the role of Man.Utd’s first-choice goalkeeper as well as continuing to push Paul Robinson for a place in the England team.

 

Unfortunately in June 2007 Foster had to undergo cruciate ligament surgery on his knee and has so far been ruled out of the 2007-08 season. Given England’s goalkeeping problems being one of the many reasons that they failed to qualify for Euro 2008, there are many hoping that Foster is able to recover and be back at his best soon.

 

The injury will have given Foster some time to look back on a remarkable few years. He’s gone from non-league goalkeeper and working in a kitchen, to young unknown reserve goalkeeper at Stoke, to Premiership and international footballer. It’s the sort of journey that is rarely seen in football these days. His spell at Wrexham launched him on his way. As well as playing his part in securing our club’s future through the LDV triumph he has achieved the remarkable feat of being an England player Wrexham fans are genuinely happy to see go all the way in the game.

 

The likeable Foster recently spoke to Wrexham fanzine ‘C’mon the Town!’ about his time at the club. It’s clear that he enjoyed his time at Wrexham and was grateful for the opportunity our club gave him. I’m sure Wrexham fans are just as grateful for what he helped us to achieve and continue to wish him well in the future.