• Football
  • Boxing
  • UFC
  • Home
  • Football
    • England
    • Transfer News
    • Premier League
    • Champions League
    • Lionel Messi
    • Cristiano Ronaldo
    • EA FC 25
    • Wrexham
  • Boxing
    • Tyson Fury
    • Anthony Joshua
    • Oleksandr Usyk
    • Mike Tyson
    • Jake Paul
    • Logan Paul
  • UFC
    • Dana White
    • Conor McGregor
    • Khabib Nurmagomedov
    • Jon Jones
    • Paddy Pimblett
    • Joe Rogan
  • Other Sport
    • Athletics
    • Formula 1
    • MMA
    • Motorsport
    • NBA
    • Darts
    • NFL
    • Snooker
    • Wrestling
    • Tennis
    • Cricket
    • Golf
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • UNILAD
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Ben Foster explains why he turned down offer from 'richest club in the world' and chose retirement instead

Home> Football

Published 21:10 15 Sep 2022 GMT+1

Ben Foster explains why he turned down offer from 'richest club in the world' and chose retirement instead

Ben Foster has called time on football after leaving Watford at the end of last season.

Josh Lawless

Josh Lawless

Ben Foster has explained why he turned down a lucrative offer from Newcastle United and elected to retire from the game altogether.

The 39-year-old, who was capped eight times for England, announced he is hanging up the gloves for good on his latest podcast.

Foster had been without a club since leaving Watford following their relegation to the Championship last season.

But he did have a huge proposal from Newcastle, who became the richest club in the world after a £300 million takeover from a Saudi Arabia led consortium was completed back in October.

The Magpies found themselves in a bit of a goalkeeping crisis, having let Martin Dubravka head to Manchester United as David De Gea's understudy.

Advert

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

Karl Darlow picked up an injury and so the club wanted another goalkeeper in the ranks in the event No.1 Nick Pope was unavailable.

Former Manchester United, Birmingham and West Brom shotstopper Foster considered Newcastle's offer but decided it would not be worthwhile given he lives four hours away in the Midlands with his family.


Advert

"Deep down I didn't want to do it [turn down Newcastle]," Foster said on Fozcast.

"It sounds mad and it's such a hard thing to explain because there'll be millions of people up and down the country that will say 'you've just been offered a contract, a really good contract, by the richest team in the world to go and be second-choice goalkeeper and be part of something'.

"But I just didn't want to do it, I had this deep feeling, and the wrench of it was that I'd have to move away from home, that would kill me.

"If I'm in an apartment in Newcastle by myself, away from my family, I don't think people can understand. That's hard to do, especially at the age I am and with everything else I've got going on.

Advert

"I know for a fact if I'd have gone there I'd have had an amazing time, the lads would have been absolutely brilliant and I'd have buzzed off the stadium, the fans, all that kind of stuff, but the overriding sinking feeling was 'I don't want to do this.'

“I was just eating my dinner and I thought ‘no, I’m not doing it’. I’ve got to be happy and comfortable and I wouldn’t be able to do that so far away from my family. It would kill me.'

In the end, Newcastle snapped up former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius on a free transfer.

Foster, who started out at local side Racing Club Warwick, made a total of 536 appearances in his career, including 390 in the Premier League.

Advert

Image: Alamy
Image: Alamy

He's become immensely popular online thanks to his Cycling GK YouTube channel, which began with incredible behind-scenes content during lockdown football.

Featured Image Credit: Image: Alamy & Fozcast

Topics: Ben Foster, Watford, Premier League, Newcastle United

Josh Lawless
Josh Lawless

Josh is a sports journalist who specialises in football and WWE. He has been published by Curzon Ashton FC, Late Tackle, Manchester City FC, The Mirror, Read Man City and Manchester Evening News. He provides coverage of professional wrestling and has covered two WrestleMania events for SPORTbible.

X

@joshlawless_

Advert

Advert

Advert

Choose your content:

2 hours ago
4 hours ago
5 hours ago
  • 2 hours ago

    Cole Palmer linked with move that would break the world transfer record and rock football to its core

    Cole Palmer has been linked with a move away from Chelsea.

    Football
  • 4 hours ago

    PSG could let 11 players leave in brutal clearout after Club World Cup final defeat to Chelsea as top target revealed

    Paris Saint Germain were beaten by Chelsea in the FIFA Club World Cup final.

    Football
  • 4 hours ago

    Liverpool targets Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike's records compared aged 23 and there's a clear winner

    Isak and Ekitike have both been linked with big-money moves to Liverpool this summer.

    Football
  • 5 hours ago

    Steven Gerrard names shock pick for Premier League's greatest midfielder as GOAT debate finally settled

    Steven Gerrard is one of the best midfielders in Premier League history.

    Football
  • Ben Foster and Ben Tozer return to Wrexham as surprise club announcement made
  • Ben Foster describes how Sir Alex Ferguson would have reacted to Joshua Zirkzee walking down tunnel if he was Man Utd manager
  • Ben Foster admits he 'hated' playing with 'horrible' Man Utd teammate who scared him
  • Ben Foster details the little-known clause that second-choice goalkeepers have in their contracts