The former Manchester United star has opened up about the moment he decided to quit Old Trafford
Ben Foster departed Manchester United just weeks after receiving the infamous “hairdryer treatment” from Sir Alex Ferguson. The retired goalkeeper spent five years at Old Trafford with two loan spells at Watford during his time there.
Foster made just 23 appearances for United following his transfer from Stoke City in 2005 for a £1 million fee. One of those outings was a 1-1 draw with Sunderland towards the conclusion of his spell at United that didn’t go as he’d anticipated.
In fact, the shot-stopper informed his wife Kate that United was “not for me” after receiving one of Fergie’s infamous dressing room tirades regarding his display. During an appearance on The Managers with Mick McCarthy and Tony Pulis, Foster discussed his final curtain call at Old Trafford.
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He said: “Yeah we played Kenwyne [Jones] for Sunderland, a one-all draw at Old Trafford and I hadn’t played in a little while and he put me in. He said, ‘Listen, I’m going to give you a go against Sunderland. You know, they’re struggling a bit. I think it’ll be a good game for you.’
“Anyway, I’ve made a mistake for the goal, come out and tried to punch it. Big Kenwyne, b***** hell he’s strong and he’s just beat me to the header and headed it in. Patrice Evra thankfully scored a last-second goal, a last-minute equaliser.
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“We got away with a one-all draw but [when] come in at full time, God, has he given me, honestly, absolute pelters, full-on hairdryer and in front of all the lads.
“But when Sir Alex is going at it, all the other lads just keep their heads down because they don’t want anything [to do with it]. They don’t want none of the smoke.”
Following the verbal battering from Fergie, Foster turned immediately to his partner for comfort. He added: “I just remember coming away from that, I remember talking to my wife about it and just saying, ‘This isn’t for me. I can’t deal with this, it’s not for me, I really can’t,’ and that was it, that was genuinely it.”
In May 2010, Foster secured his exit from United, putting pen to paper at Birmingham City for a fee understood to be in the region of £6m. Reflecting on his departure, he said: “I remember going in a few weeks later, we still had probably about six weeks left of the season to go.
“Sir Alex said, ‘Birmingham have made a bid for you, it’s a really good deal, £6million, it’s great for the club, but also really good for you,’ because I think even he knew anyway. He said, ‘I think it is probably just too big for you.’ And I was like, ‘Thank you so much. I was buzzing. I’m so happy.’”
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