Stephen Foster (footballer)

Stephen John Foster (born 10 September 1980) is an English footballer who is currently a free agent.

Stephen Foster

Foster playing for Barnsley
Personal information
Full name	Stephen John Foster[1]
Date of birth	(1980-09-10) 10 September 1980[1]
Place of birth	Warrington, England
Height	5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[1]
Playing position(s)	Defender
Youth career
000?–1998	Crewe Alexandra
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1998–2006	Crewe Alexandra	217	(15)
2006–2007	Burnley	17	(0)
2007–2013	Barnsley	226	(10)
2013	Tranmere Rovers	4	(0)
Total		464	(25)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Career

Born in Warrington, Cheshire, Foster signed for local club Crewe Alexandra as a trainee in August 1997 and made his debut on the 22nd of that month in Crewe's 1–0 loss to Bury. He made a second appearance in the same season a months later in Crewe's 1–1 draw with Bristol City. Foster however did not play any first team games for Crewe during the next season. A season on and Foster scored his first goal for Crewe in their 2–2 draw with Bury, the goal came in the 84th minute, Mark Rivers scoring the other goal for Crewe two minutes after Foster's goal. It took four seasons before Foster was received his first red card, which he received in Crewe's 2–1 loss at Gresty Road against Oldham Athletic.

After Crewe's relegation from The Championship in the 2005–06 season, Foster, who was out of contract, decided to turn down a new offer by Crewe in favour of joining Championship side Burnley on a free transfer. He spent his first season at Burnley mainly as a squad player or substitute and started the 2007–08 season in similar vein. In August 2007 Foster was transferred to Barnsley for the sum of £100,000 where he signed a two-year contract.[2] He was a long term target for Barnsley[2] and they had been trying to sign the player throughout the summer.[3]

Foster made a positive start to his Barnsley career, enjoying a regular run in the team at right-back. Since his signing, Foster became a valued member of the Barnsley first team squad. His time at Barnsley so far has had one notable setback which came in the form of a sending off for two bookable offences during the 3–3 draw between Barnsley and Stoke at Oakwell on Boxing Day 2007. Two major high points have come in the FA Cup for Foster with him grabbing an equaliser for Barnsley twice in three separate games. First of all came a back heeled goal against Blackpool at Oakwell in the 3rd round, and secondly came a headed goal from Martin Devaney's cross against Liverpool at Anfield in a 5th round match that Barnsley went on to win 2–1.

He bagged his first league goal for Barnsley at Watford in a 3–0 win, heading home Diego León's corner.

Foster was named Barnsley's player of the season in his first year at the club. This honour was voted for by the fans, he beat club captain, Brian Howard, and winger, Jamal Campbell-Ryce into second and third place respectively.

At the start of the 2010/11 season, the captaincy was passed to new signing Jason Shackell, to enable Foster to concentrate on his own game.

Defender Stephen Foster joined Tranmere in June on a two-year deal, but Rovers have confirmed that player and club have already agreed to part company. The 32-year-old's contract has been terminated by mutual consent.

Career statistics

As of 27 August 2011.

Club	Season	League^[A]		FA Cup		League Cup		Other^[B]		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Crewe Alexandra	1998–99[4]	1	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	2	0
	1999–00[5]	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2000–01[6]	29	0	3	0	2	1	0	0	34	1
	2001–02[7]	34	5	3	1	1	0	0	0	38	6
	2002–03[8]	35	4	3	0	1	0	4	0	43	4
	2003–04[9]	45	2	1	0	2	0	0	0	48	2
	2004–05[10]	34	1	1	0	3	1	0	0	38	2
	2005–06[11]	39	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	39	3
	Total	217	15	11	1	10	2	4	0	242	18
Burnley	2006–07[12]	17	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	19	0
	2007–08[13]	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	0
	Total	17	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	20	0
Barnsley	2007–08[14]	41	1	5	2	0	0	0	0	46	3
	2008–09[15]	38	3	1	0	1	0	0	0	40	3
	2009–10[16]	42	2	1	0	4	0	0	0	47	2
	2010–11[17]	33	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	35	1
	2011–12[18]	41	1	1	0	0	0	0	0	42	1
	Total	195	8	9	2	6	0	0	0	210	10
Tranmere Rovers	2013–14[19]	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
	Total	4	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	5	0
Career totals		433	23	21	3	19	2	4	0	477	28

A. ^ The "League" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League.

B. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals (including those as a substitute) in the Football League Trophy.

References

1. Hugman, Barry J. (ed) (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
2. Tykes swoop for Anderson and Foster
3. Foster completes Barnsley move
4. "Crewe 1998/1999 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
5. "Crewe 1999/2000 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
6. "Crewe 2000/2001 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
7. "Crewe 2001/2002 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
8. "Crewe 2002/2003 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
9. "Crewe 2003/2004 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
10. "Crewe 2004/2005 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
11. "Burnley 2005/2006 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
12. "Burnley 2006/2007 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
13. "Burnley 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
14. "Barnsley 2007/2008 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
15. "Barnsley 2008/2009 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
16. "Barnsley 2009/2010 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
17. "Barnsley 2010/2011 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
18. "Barnsley 2011/2012 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
19. "Tranmere 2013/2014 player appearances". Soccerbase. Retrieved 30 August 2013.

External links

• Stephen Foster at Soccerbase