Ben Foster Biography

From Ben Foster at www.contacttheplayers.com

Ben Foster is a goalkeeper for England and Manchester United in the English Premier League. He has proven himself to be a good shot-stopper whilst at relegation threatened Watford, but has been unable to prove himself for United because of the stunning form of veteran Edwin van der Sar. He has struggled with injury problems in recent seasons limiting his England a performances to a single game in February 2007.

Ben Foster was born on 3rd April 1983 in Leamington Spa. Ben has not always played as goalkeeper, but settled into the role at the age of 12, when his height gave him a crucial advantage over his peers. He was signed up to the Stoke youth academy after some impressive games in his Sunday League team.

Stoke City signed Ben Foster on his 17th birthday, seeing the enormous potential in the tall Englishman. Ben was loaned out to Racing Club Warwick, and returned to the Stoke set-up to learn from the more experienced goalkeepers at the club. More loan spells followed, to gain first-team experience, and it was whilst he playing for Wrexham on loan that he made a big impression on Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson – who was there watching his son!

Manchester United signed Ben Foster for £1m in July 2005, with Foster never having played a league match for Stoke. Foster was definitely bought with the future in mind, so Sir Alex loaned him out to Premiership strugglers Watford. With shots raining down on him from all over the pitch, Ben managed to save Watford’s blushes on many occasions, prompting the Watford manager Aidy Boothroyd to tip foster to become the World’s best goalkeeper.

Ben spent another season on loan at Watford, and returned to fight for a first-team spot at United in June 2007. Sadly, just days later, Ben suffered a cruciate ligament injury, and was ruled out for most of the double-winning season. With Kuszczak deputising for van der Sar all season, Ferguson was loyal to the young Polish keeper when Foster returned to fitness.

More injuries stopped Foster’s 08/09 campaign from getting off to the right start, though with Edwin van der Sar marshalling a record-breaking defence his chances of breaking into the first team were low. Foster remains on the sidelines, and will fight it out with Kuszczak to become the first-choice keeper once van der Sar steps down.