Ben Foster won the League Cup twice in as many seasons at Man United – but those successes masked what was a difficult time for the former goalkeeper.
It was on April 10, 2005, that Sir Alex Ferguson’s son, Darren, etched his name into the Wrexham history books.
After Spanish forward Juan Ugarte had fired the Welsh outfit into a 1-0 lead in the ninth minute of extra-time of the 2005 EFL Trophy Final at the Millennium Stadium, Ferguson Jr added a second with two minutes left on the clock. It clinched Wrexham their first and only EFL Trophy crown to date.
Celebrating with his teammates as father Sir Alex watched from the stands, little did one of Ferguson Jr’s colleagues know the legendary Scot had been impressed by his performance. The man in question was former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster.
Foster was on loan at Wrexham from Stoke City, having joined on an initial month’s loan in January that year. The deal was eventually extended until the end of the season.
No doubt to Foster’s disbelief, he returned to Stoke after the conclusion of his loan spell at the Racecourse Ground and was sold to United in July, signing for a reported fee of £1million. Ferguson was impressed by what he had seen from the shot-stopper when watching him play alongside his son.
Foster, who was 22 at the time, made the switch to Old Trafford without having made a single first-team appearance during his four-year spell at Stoke, which featured a catalogue of loan moves. The goalkeeper soon added another loan spell to his collection, being shipped out to Championship side Watford for the 2005/06 season, making 48 appearances as they clinched promotion to the Premier League via the play-offs.
Watford borrowed him again the following season, giving him a full season’s worth of Premier League football that featured him infamously being beaten by Tottenham Hotspur goalkeeper Paul Robinson from a free-kick around 75 yards from goal. Despite being powerless to stop Watford from suffering an immediate return to the second tier, 29 Premier League appearances served him well.
Back at United, the 2007/08 campaign was nothing more than a write-off for the goalkeeper, with a serious injury restricting him to just one appearance. That one outing, however, saw him mark his United debut with a clean sheet in a 1-0 away win at Derby County. United won the Premier League title that season, but in making just one appearance, he did not qualify for a medal.
The following season, Foster did experience the buzz of having a winner’s medal draped around his neck while donning United colours. He won the Man of the Match award as the Reds beat Tottenham Hotspur on penalties in the 2009 League Cup final at Wembley.
After a goalless 120 minutes, United prevailed on spot kicks, winning 4-1. Foster saved one penalty, thwarting Jamie O’Hara with what was Spurs’ first penalty of the shootout.
United and Foster were back at Wembley again for the 2010 League Cup final 12 months later. On that occasion, however, Foster watched from the bench as Tomasz Kuszczak started between the sticks, helping United come from behind to beat Aston Villa 2-1.
Foster had played once on the road to Wembley, keeping a clean sheet in a 2-0 away win at Barnsley in the fourth round, meaning he secured a second League Cup winner’s medal. He featured more prominently for United that season, earning 13 appearances.
Despite helping United win two League Cup crowns in as many seasons, Foster never felt comfortable at Old Trafford, so much so that he admitted earlier this year he “hated every second” of his time at the club.
“It was at a time in my life, mid-20s, 24, 25, I look back at that person who played for United then, and it’s not me,” he revealed, speaking to talkSPORT. “I was so wet behind the ears, I didn’t understand how anything worked in life.
“But I did [suffer from impostor syndrome]. I hated every second of it. I didn’t enjoy it. I was nervous, I was petrified of making a mistake, petrified of what the outside world would say about it.
“That’s a bad way to go about it. When you go into games thinking the worst, or fearing the worst, you’re off to a bad start straight away. I’d look around at some of these big names behind me and think, ‘how have I got here?’.”
After clasping his hands on the League Cup for a second time, Foster, who made 23 appearances for United in total, departed Old Trafford on a permanent basis in May 2010, joining Birmingham City. It was an opportunity for him to earn regular football.
Spending just one season at St Andrew’s, Foster helped Birmingham beat Arsenal 2-1 in the 2011 League Cup final, with Obafemi Martins famously scoring a last-gasp winner. It marked Foster’s third League Cup triumph.
Birmingham were relegated from the Premier League a few months later, meaning Foster moved on and joined West Bromwich Albion, initially on a season-long loan deal. He ended up spending seven years at The Hawthorns, making more than 200 appearances.
A four-year return to Watford followed, ahead of Foster deciding to hang up his boots in September 2022. However, he was tempted out of retirement by Wrexham in March 2023, helping them end their 15-year absence from the Football League by saving a penalty in stoppage time to secure a 3–2 win over Notts County, which helped them move three points clear at the top in the race for promotion.
Having played non-league football at the beginning of his career, it was somewhat fitting that his last career highlight was a historic penalty save that helped Wrexham escape the clutches of non-league football.
Despite what Foster made of his time at United, nobody can ever take those League Cup winner’s medals away from him, nor that penalty save at Wembley to deny O’Hara.
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