Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson has admitted to The Leader that he was wary about whether former England goalkeeper Ben Foster would “fit” into his squad, before insisting that signing the former England international was an excellent piece of business.
The 40-year-old former Watford and West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper came out of retirement to play the final eight games for Wrexham in order to help the Welsh club achieve their aim of returning to the Football League for the first time in 15 years.
Who is Ben Foster?
Ben Foster has certainly had a decorated football career, earning eight caps for the England national team, as well as playing for Premier League sides like Manchester United, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and his most recent club, Watford.
Following the conclusion of the 2021/22 season, Foster decided it would be a good time to hang up the gloves for good, which has seen the 40-year-old spend more time running his own successful YouTube channel ‘Ben Foster – The Cycling GK’, as well as taking up more media opportunities along the way.
Even in the later stages of his time with Watford, Foster would usually place a GoPro camera behind the goal and record the action to which he would then post on his YouTube channel to his 1.4 million subscribers, something he enjoyed great success at doing.
From retirement to promotion hero
Following an injury to Wrexham’s first-choice goalkeeper Rob Lainton, Foster would come out of retirement to sign a short-term deal with the club until the end of the season in March, despite having previous interest to come out of retirement earlier in the season with Newcastle United.
18 years since Foster last played for Wrexham following a loan spell with the club from Stoke City in 2005, the 40-year-old would make his second debut at the Racecourse Ground in the club’s 3-0 victory over York City, in which he kept a clean sheet.
Foster would go on to play another seven games for Phil Parkinson’s side, keeping a further two clean sheets as Wrexham would go on to achieve automatic promotion, pipping Notts County for the only automatic promotion place to the EFL.
The former England shot-stopper’s highlight in North Wales would come in Wrexham’s game against Notts County at the Racecourse on Easter Monday, with Foster saving a last-minute penalty to deny Magpies forward Cedwyn Scott to win the fixture 3-2 and for Wrexham to take a huge leap towards returning to the Football League.
SUPER BEN FOSTER IN GOAL!
🔴⚪️#WxmAFC pic.twitter.com/bCdfn9mYyw
— Wrexham AFC (@Wrexham_AFC) April 22, 2023
What’s been said?
Speaking to The Leader about Ben Foster’s contribution to the cause since re-joining Wrexham, manager Phil Parkinson has expressed that bringing in a goalkeeper of Foster’s quality and experience was simply a no-brainer, but has admitted there was an element of gamble with bringing Foster in, with the 40-year-old being a former Premier League and England goalkeeper.
“You can’t turn down the opportunity to bring in a goalkeeper of that level,” said Parkinson.
“Goalkeepers are like strikers, there can be moments which can define the season; a striker taking a chance or a goalkeeper making a big save, and the Notts County penalty save from Ben will go down in history at Wrexham Football Club.
“When we were signing in him, I thought how is bringing an England international into the group going to fit but I have got to say he has been outstanding as a person.
“There is always an element of gamble because we have got a very grounded group of people despite the exposure we have had. and Ben has been amazing. His standards in training are amazing and that’s been the biggest thing for me.
“I just want to enjoy that we’ve had Ben for these games and for him to be at Wrexham as a youngster, get his move to Manchester United and come back and get promotion, for his family and all he has done in the game, I would imagine this will rank up there with his greatest achievements in his career.”
Writers View
At the time, the pull of Wrexham to bring Ben Foster out of retirement was for me, perfect. Wrexham were getting a former staple Premier League goalkeeper and a former England international in their squad, alongside the growth in the PR department thanks to Foster’s huge social media following. It just made perfect sense.
As much as there was always that doubt that he could look out of place with the rest of the squad, Foster has been onside with the project that Wrexham have going and with his short-term deal at the Racecourse Ground expiring, no matter what happens, he will go down in Wrexham folklore for playing his part in an extraordinary season, as well as his last-minute penalty save against Notts County that will never be forgotten by the Wrexham faithful.
