Ben Foster

Ben Foster did not need much persuading to sign for Wrexham and their Hollywood owners - and says his wages will be 'peanuts'

It was on loan at Wrexham, then a League One side, from Stoke City of the Championship for the second half of the 2004-05 season that a 22-year-old Foster got his big break. [put a GoPro in the back of his net](https://theathletic.com/2200364/2020/11/16/ben-foster-youtube-footage/), as he did during the crowd-free COVID-19 pandemic games with Watford. With Lee based in Dubai, it was Winstanley who accompanied Foster to sign the papers at the Racecourse Ground on Thursday morning. After the US takeover in 2021, Foster had dropped Reynolds a message himself asking if he would one day come on his podcast. The conversation between manager and prospective player centred on whether the latter was in the right place physically (his 40th birthday is on April 3) and mentally for the challenge of a promotion run-in. The Manchester United boss was so impressed with Foster that he signed him that summer. Parkinson emerged from it with peace of mind but gave Foster a reality check about the level of football in the National League. At half-time, the anguish on the face of Wrexham goalkeeper Rob Lainton was a clear sign his knee injury was serious and that Mark Howard would be needed to deputise. In September, Lee set up a deal for him to go to top-flight Newcastle United as a reserve, but Foster decided his heart wasn’t in it, It wasn’t too long before Foster’s name came up, and the idea of him coming out of retirement a couple of weeks before turning 40 was floated to the club. “The buzz of playing again inspired him, so we went back to Wrexham,” Lee says. The next morning Winstanley, who has contacts at the Welsh club, followed up on Lainton’s injury to check if a replacement was being sought.