Ben Foster - Watford (On Loan) & England

Ben Foster (born 3 April 1983 in Leamington Spa) is an English football player. He is 6 feet 2 inches in height, and he joined Manchester United on July 19, 2005.

Foster was signed from Stoke City and had previously played for Racing Club Warwick, Tiverton Town, Bristol City, Stafford Rangers, Kidderminster Harriers and Wrexham. He was spotted by Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson whilst he was watching his son, Darren Ferguson, playing in the LDV Vans Trophy Final (2005), which Wrexham won. Manchester United had been struggling for many years to replace goalkeeping legend Peter Schmeichel, and after latest attempt Tim Howard failed to impress, Sir Alex decided to move for young Ben Foster (paying £1 million despite Ben never making a first team appearance for Stoke City), in the hope that he would one day fill the gap.

He was sent on loan to the Championship team Watford having a very impressive season, attracting plaudits from all around the country. His long goal-kick was a particular asset for Watford as many of the goals came via so called 'route one' football, with a long clearance from Foster collected by strikers Marlon King and Darius Henderson in promising positions. His imposing stature, confidence at set-pieces and excellent shot-stopping ability also stood out in what was his first full professional season. Foster he helped Watford reach the Premiership, by beating Leeds United 3-0 in the Championship Play-Off Final.

On 26 May 2006, he was named on the stand-by list for England's World Cup squad, because of Robert Green's injury in a "B" match against Belarus.

On 10 August 2006 after months of speculation Foster re-signed on loan for Watford after Man Utd secured the services of Tomasz Kuszczak on loan. Foster will remain at Vicarage Road for the entire 2006/2007 season as Man Utd have no option to recall him. The day after this transfer he was called up to Steve McClaren's first England squad as one of three goalkeepers for the friendly against Greece. He has been selected for every squad since, but has yet to make his debut for the national side.

Source: Wikipedia, Ben Foster (footballer), http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Foster_%28footballer%29