HARIANHALUAN.COM Former Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has officially retired from football at the age of 39. Foster decided to end his professional career which he had lived for 21 years.
The player whose full name is Ben Anthony Foster started his professional career at Stoke City in April 2001. During nearly four years at Stoke City, Foster was loaned out to a number of clubs in Great Britain, one of which was Wrexham.
Ben Foster, then 22 years old, looked impressive with the Wales team. Lucky for Foster as Manchester United scout team were very keen to sign him.
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Manchester United were struggling to find a suitable replacement for Peter Schmeichel, but Sir Alex Ferguson actually brought in Ben Foster in the summer of 2005. The team management also managed to sign Edwin van der Sar from Fulham a month before Ben Foster moved to Old Trafford. In June 2005.
But Ben Foster once again had to fight for a place in the Manchester United starting line-up as Ferguson preferred Edwin van der Sar to defend the Red Devils’ goal. The team decided to loan Ben Foster to Watford for two seasons until 2007.
The player wanted to show his best form at Manchester United after two seasons at Watford, but his desire was hampered by an ACL injury which kept him out until February 2008. He finally made his Manchester United debut in March 2008 when they faced Sir Alex Ferguson’s side. Portsmouth in the FA Cup.
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Foster got a golden opportunity to become Manchester United’s main goalkeeper in the 2009–10 season when Edwin van der Sar suffered injury problems. However, this opportunity could not be utilized properly as the player often made mistakes which cost Manchester United.