Ben Foster (footballer)

**Ben Foster** (born 3 April 1983) is an English footballer. He is a former England national team goalkeeper who has now retired . He holds the record for having done the most number of saves (1178) in premier league history.

Foster started his football career at Racing Club Warwick and in 2001, secured his first transfer to Stoke City. Although considered promising, Foster struggled and could not get regular game-time in his youth days.

In 2005, he departed, without playing a single match, from Stoke City after a series of loan spells and joined Manchester United where he played as a back-up to Edwin van der Sar. He was loaned twice, consecutively, for the years 2005-06 and 2006-07 to Watford before spending three more seasons at Manchester United as a substitute goalkeeper. He finally left Manchester United for Birmingham City in 2010.

It was from this time that Foster started to get regular starts in all the teams he played till now. At Birmingham City, he instantly established himself in the main eleven for the 2010-11 season. The next season, West Bromwich Albion successfully managed to seal a loan deal with Birmingham City for Foster before finalising the transfer in 2012. He spent a total of seasons at West Brom before leaving the club for Watford in 2018. Since joining Watford, he has been praised several times by analysts for his calm presence in the goal behind a considerably weak Watford defense and has won back-to-back Premier league goalkeeper of the year awards at the _London Football Awards_.

## Personal life

Born in Leamington Spa, Ben Foster used to work as a chef before he started his career as a footballer. He is currently married to Kate Foster with whom he has 2 children. The family lives in a self-designed house at Tiddington, Warwickshire. Besides football, Foster has deep interest in cycling and has taken part in various cycling tours.

### Club

|rowspan=2|Club|rowspan=2|Season|colspan=3|League|colspan=2|FA Cup|colspan=2|League Cup|colspan=2|Europe|colspan=2|Other|colspan=2|Total|
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan=5|Stoke City|2001–02|Second Division|0|0|0|0|0|0|—|0|0|0|0||
|2002–03|First Division|0|0|—|0|0|—|—|0|0||||||
|2003–04|First Division|0|0|0|0|0|0|—|—|0|0|||||
|2004–05|Championship|0|0|0|0|0|0|—|—|0|0|||||
|Bristol City (loan)|2002–03|Second Division|0|0|0|0|—|—|0|0|0|0||||
|Tiverton Town (loan)|2002–03|Southern League Premier Division|16|0|—|—|—|—|16|0||||||
|Stafford Rangers (loan)|2003–04|Southern League Premier Division|1|0|—|—|—|—|1|0||||||
|Kidderminster Harriers (loan)|2004–05|League Two|2|0|—|—|—|—|2|0||||||
|Wrexham (loan)|2004–05|League One|17|0|—|—|—|4|0|21|0|||||
|rowspan=4|Manchester United|2007–08|Premier League|1|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|0|1|0|
|2008–09|Premier League|2|0|3|0|3|0|1|0|0|0|9|0|||
|2009–10|Premier League|9|0|0|0|1|0|2|0|1|0|13|0|||
|rowspan=3|Watford (loan)|2005–06|Championship|44|0|1|0|0|0|—|3|0|48|0||
|2006–07|Premier League|29|0|3|0|1|0|—|—|33|0|||||
|Birmingham City|2010–11|Premier League|38|0|1|0|4|0|—|—|43|0||||
|West Bromwich Albion (loan)|2011–12|Premier League|37|0|2|0|0|0|—|—|39|0||||
|rowspan=7|West Bromwich Albion|2012–13|Premier League|30|0|0|0|1|0|—|—|31|0|||
|2013–14|Premier League|24|0|1|0|0|0|—|—|25|0|||||
|2014–15|Premier League|28|0|2|0|0|0|—|—|30|0|||||
|2015–16|Premier League|15|0|4|0|0|0|—|—|19|0|||||
|2016–17|Premier League|38|0|0|0|0|0|—|—|38|0|||||
|2017–18|Premier League|37|0|3|0|1|0|—|—|41|0|||||
|rowspan=3|Watford|2018–19|Premier League|38|0|0|0|0|0|—|—|38|0|||
|2019–20|Premier League|38|0|0|0|0|0|—|—|38|0|||||

### International

Source:

|National team|Year|Apps|Goals||
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
|rowspan=5|England|2007|1|0|
|2009|3|0|||
|2010|1|0|||
|2013|1|0|||
|2014|2|0|||

## Honours

**Wrexham**
- Football League Trophy: 2004–05

**Watford**
- Football League Championship play-offs: 2006
- FA Cup runner-up: 2018–19

**Manchester United**
- Football League Cup: 2008–09, 2009–10

**Birmingham City**
- Football League Cup: 2010–11

**Individual**
- Watford Player of the Season: 2006–07
- Alan Hardaker Trophy: 2009, 2011
- Birmingham City Player of the Season: 2010–11
- Birmingham City Players' Player of the Season: 2010–11
- West Bromwich Albion Supporters' Player of the Season: 2011–12, 2013–14
- West Bromwich Albion Players' Player of the Season: 2011–12, 2013–14
- London Football Awards Goalkeeper of the Year: 2018, 2019

## Other websites

- Profile  at the Watford F.C. website

## Infobox (football biography)

- **name**: Ben Foster
- **image**: Ben Foster Manchester United v West Bromwich Albion 2017.jpg
- **image size**: 200
- **caption**: Foster playing for West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion in 2017
- **fullname**: Ben Anthony Foster
- **birth place**: Leamington Spa, England
- **position**: Goalkeeper (association football), Goalkeeper
- **clubnumber**: 14
- **youthyears1**: –2000
- **youthclubs1**: Racing Club Warwick F.C., Racing Club Warwick
- **years1**: 2000–2001
- **clubs1**: Racing Club Warwick F.C., Racing Club Warwick
- **years2**: 2001–2005
- **clubs2**: Stoke City F.C., Stoke City
- **caps2**: 0
- **goals2**: 0
- **years3**: 2002
- **clubs3**: → Bristol City F.C., Bristol City (loan)
- **caps3**: 0
- **goals3**: 0
- **years4**: 2002–2003
- **clubs4**: → Tiverton Town F.C., Tiverton Town (loan)
- **caps4**: 16
- **goals4**: 0
- **years5**: 2004
- **clubs5**: → Stafford Rangers F.C., Stafford Rangers (loan)
- **caps5**: 1
- **goals5**: 0
- **years6**: 2004
- **clubs6**: → Kidderminster Harriers F.C., Kidderminster Harriers (loan)
- **caps6**: 2
- **goals6**: 0
- **years7**: 2005
- **clubs7**: → Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham (loan)
- **caps7**: 17
- **goals7**: 0
- **years8**: 2005–2010
- **clubs8**: Manchester United F.C., Manchester United
- **caps8**: 12
- **goals8**: 0
- **years9**: 2005–2006
- **clubs9**: → Watford F.C., Watford (loan)
- **caps9**: 44
- **goals9**: 0
- **years10**: 2006–2007
- **clubs10**: → Watford F.C., Watford (loan)
- **caps10**: 29
- **goals10**: 0
- **years11**: 2010–2012
- **clubs11**: Birmingham City F.C., Birmingham City
- **caps11**: 38
- **goals11**: 0
- **years12**: 2011–2012
- **clubs12**: → West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion (loan)
- **caps12**: 37
- **goals12**: 0
- **years13**: 2012–2018
- **clubs13**: West Bromwich Albion F.C., West Bromwich Albion
- **caps13**: 172
- **goals13**: 0
- **years14**: 2018–2022
- **clubs14**: Watford F.C., Watford
- **caps14**: 93
- **goals14**: 0
- **years15**: 2023
- **clubs15**: Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham
- **apps15**: 13
- **goals15**: 0
- **nationalyears1**: 2007–
- **nationalteam1**: England national football team, England
- **nationalcaps1**: 8
- **nationalgoals1**: 0
- **club-update**: 21:38, 8 December 2020 (UTC)
- **nationalteam-update**: 20:47, 8 November 2019 (UTC)