The modern fan may know Ben Foster for sticking a GoPro in his goal, partying with Wrexham’s Hollywood owners and interviewing football stars on his ‘Fozcast’ show.
But he was once a top level Premier League and international goalkeeper, playing 23 times for Manchester United, 207 times for Watford, and eight times for the England national team.
Playing careers simply do not last forever. By the time you get to your mid-to-late 30s – if you’re lucky – it’s time to start looking at life after football. Those who are lucky may go into punditry, or coaching. Others may do more ‘normal’ jobs.
For Foster, though, it was the self-made social media, YouTube and podcast landscape that he was interested in. Thus, YouTube channel ‘The Cycling GK’ was born and, later, the ‘Fozcast’.
‘It’s always busy,’ he tells Daily Mail Sport, smiling. ‘I’m just looking forward to the weather picking up again. It’s going to be boiling.’ He had that right.
Foster’s YouTube journey started with vlogs of his Watford days during Covid, when he was playing in the Championship. The idea received mixed reviews – he would put a camera in his goal during competitive games, giving fans an insight into those games from his point of view.
Ben Foster has built an impressive social media career on the back of his retirement in 2023
He rose to fame after putting a GoPro in his goal when he was playing during Covid
Some appreciated the access. Others mocked it – including the players. Jamal Lowe ran straight to the camera when scoring for Swansea against the Hornets in January 2021 – something Foster would later call a ‘ledge celebration’.
After Watford’s promotion to the Premier League, however, the camera was outlawed. ‘The reaction from the fans wasn’t fantastic,’ Foster told the Hampshire Chronicle. ‘They were loving the videos when you win, but as soon as you get a bad result or a bad performance, then the GoPro is the reason.’
That put and end to that, and he would instead produce videos reacting to football news and taking part in other challenges, such as ‘VAR is a shambles’ and ‘ChrisMD vs TBJZL: Ultimate Penalty Forfeit with Ben Foster’.
It became real for Foster upon his retirement, however. In September 2022, at the age of 39, he called it quits on his career, only to come out of retirement to play for Hollywood-owned Wrexham in the fifth tier of English football – a club he had previously played for on loan from Stoke City, just before he joined United.
He was part of the side that helped Wrexham back to the Football League for the first time in 15 years, and signed a new deal until the end of 2024. In September 2023, though, he retired after a 5-5 draw with Swindon, citing his inability to play at his best any longer.
‘I have always got my finger on the pulse of what’s going on with the club,’ Foster, who partied in Las Vegas with owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, says. ‘I have been to quite a few games this season as well. I was gutted for them missing out on the play-offs.
‘I think for them to get on the cusp of the play-offs this year is massive, it really is, but it speaks to what they do as a club. They’re nice and calm with it. They don’t make any rash decisions. Phil Parkinson (the manager) is still very much the man who makes all the decisions and is running that club, and I love the way they do it.’
It was time to kick on with his social media career, so kick on he did. He got on a bike, made football videos and accelerated his podcast. As of today, The Cycling GK has 1.44million subscribers, Fozcast 268,000, and his golf channel, The Golfing GK, 83,000.
Former Swansea player Jamal Lowe famously once celebrated in front of Foster’s camera
He has collaborated with some of YouTube’s biggest named, including The Sidemen
Foster’s last club was Wrexham – co-owned by Hollywood star Ryan Reynolds (left)
‘We’re all just gearing up for the World Cup,’ he says of the big plans ahead. ‘We’re going to be out in New York, me and the lads from the podcast, from about June 13, for the entirety of the tournament.
‘We’re going to be doing a show on the Fozcast YouTube channel every other day, and that’s in between making loads more content while we’re out there, cycling stuff. I’m looking forward to that. It’s going to be a busy one.’
Foster has shared platforms with some of the scene’s biggest creators, from the Sidemen to ChrisMD. And that’s all while working on his own empire. Mission: complete.
Football is still his bread and butter. The day job. ‘He’s really impressed me,’ he says of current United keeper Senne Lammens. ‘He’s calm and controlled and measured. Nothing seems to phase him. We did a podcast with him a few months back up at Carrington, and he is just the nicest guy, and his personality matches what you see on the pitch.’
There’s praise for another goalkeeper, too: ‘David Raya is, without doubt, the goalkeeper of the year. It’s as simple as that. Everything about his performances are calm and controlled and measured. He knows exactly what he needs to do. He doesn’t come and get involved in stuff that he doesn’t need to get involved in, but, when you need a big moment, a big save, there’s nobody better in the Premier League at the minute.’
And what of the World Cup? Foster and his team will have a front row seat of the action, with Thomas Tuchel bidding to deliver England’s first major trophy since 1966.
‘It’s going to be tough, very, very tough. The big boys in the competition, your Spains and your Portugals and your Frances and Brazils, they’re absolutely stacked. But I love big cup competitions. I love them because you really get to see why the big boys are the big boys.
‘England, they’re not going into it in the best of form. I went to the Japan game at Wembley a few months ago, sorry, and it was, it was quite disappointing. I reckon there are going to be a lot of proper good teams and a few shocks. But I think England will be able to deal with the pressure better than a lot of other nations. I still think there are probably six teams who could probably win the thing, and we’re one of them.’
Among his other ventures, Foster is working closely with Kellogg’s to promote their summer football camps
Foster is encouraging parents to sign heir children up for the camps ahead of the summer
It may be full steam ahead to the World Cup, but there are plenty of other pies Foster has his finger in. They include a charity bike ride from London to Paris for Cure Leukaemia, and working closely with Kellogg’s, who, this summer, are offering 39,000 free spots at 73 football club summer caps nationwide.
The camps are giving girls and boys aged five to 15 the chance to get active, build confidence and make new friends in sessions led by FA-qualified coaches, and can be accessed via promotional packs of Kellogg’s cereal.
‘Grassroots is everything in my story,’ Foster says. ‘I never grew up and went straight into an academy. I never had that luxury. I was down the school field with my brothers, and they were just whacking balls at me. And I’d go with my mates after school, and we would just play until it got dark, because that’s all we could do.
‘Sign them up to it, it’s as simple as that. My kids are 16 and 17 now, and, when they were younger, we would sign them up to sports camps, netball camps. They’re not allowed to play on their phones when they’re there, they’re not allowed to do all that kind of rubbish. They are there, they’re outside, they’re getting some fresh air, and they’re learning these invaluable skills of being around people and working as a team.
‘I used to love it. I’d send them off with a packed lunch, they’d come back at five o’clock at night, absolutely knackered, ready for bed, basically, and then go again the next day.’
So there really is no rest for the wicked. A number of footballers are following in Foster’s footsteps – be it Paul Scholes, Nicky Butt, or John Obi Mikel. He has been a trendsetter, if you like, and set his post-playing career up very nicely indeed.
But, in all the melee, there is still time for a little joke to end proceedings.
‘If you want me, I’ll be out my bike, or I’ll be playing golf,’ he quips. ‘Simple as that.’
Ben Foster has teamed up with Kellogg’s and other EFL players to offer more than 39,000 free Kellogg’s Football Camp places in partnership with the EFL, Manchester City, Celtic FC and Rangers FC. Places available via the QR code on selected packs or at www.kelloggsfc.com. T&Cs apply.
