Ben Foster faces abuse playing for Wrexham he never heard at Man Utd
Wrexham goalkeeper Ben Foster has opened up on the extent of abuse he's received since re-joining Wrexham.
In 2022, the veteran shot-stopper came out of retirement to sign a short-term contract following an injury to Rob Lainton. He played a pivotal role in the final stages of the club’s campaign and saved a penalty in stoppage time to secure a 3–2 win over automatic promotion rivals Notts County last season.
Foster won the National League championship and secured promotion to League Two with Wrexham for the first time since 2008. But despite all the positives at the Welsh club, Foster revealed just how unforgiving crowds can be in the lower leagues compared to the top flight.
"You hear everything shouted at you when playing at this level," he told The Athletic. "That just doesn’t happen at Manchester United, where the stands are just too big. It means any individual voices are lost. But at places like Halifax, you hear every word. And I mean every single word of abuse, as those shouting it were about two metres behind me. Literally hanging over the (pitch-side) railings.
"There will be 50-100 lads behind the goal, calling me this, that and the other. Absolute dog’s abuse. If I slip, there’ll be this big, ‘Wahey!’. Or there’ll be the ‘You fat b*****d’ shouts. That’s just how it goes. I’m expecting it at every game this season, as League Two will be no different."
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Over the course of his long career, Foster spent time playing for Manchester United, as well as Birmingham, West Brom and two spells at Watford. He admitted losing some of the passion he had for football which is why he decided to hang up his gloves last September. But after his season-defining save against Notts County, Foster knew he wanted his second spell at Wrexham to continue.
“I decided probably after the Notts County game that I wanted to keep playing for Wrexham,” he added. “It was such a special day. For me personally, the 30 seconds of saving the penalty, the ball going out for a corner and then Elliot Lee clearing it off the line — that’s probably as good as it gets.
Foster helped Wrexham win the National League and earn automatic promotion to League Two (Offside via Getty Images)“Honestly, if you could bottle those 30 seconds as adrenaline, you’d have the best time of your life. The highs and lows were just phenomenal. So, after that, I always thought I’d stay but I knew for definite after Boreham Wood (the game when Wrexham clinched promotion)."
Wrexham recently concluded their US pre-season tour and in the four matches they played, the club recorded two victories, the first being a 4-0 victory over LA Galaxy , before beating Manchester United 3-1.
They did suffer a 5-0 loss to Chelsea in the Florida Cup but concluded their tour with a 1-1 draw against Philadelphia Union II. Wrexham’s first game back in League Two will take place on August 5 against MK Dons at the Racecourse Ground.
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