Cheryl "Fozzy" Foster (born 4 October 1980) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

football

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...

and former player. She became the all-time record appearance holder for the

Wales women's national football team The Wales national women's football team ( cy, Tîm pêl-droed merched cenedlaethol Cymru) represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales (FAW), the governing body for football in Wales and the ...

in 2009, after making her senior international debut in 1997. At club level Foster spent nine years with

Liverpool Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...

, playing in the first two seasons of the

FA WSL The Women's Super League (WSL), currently known as the Barclays Women's Super League (BWSL) for sponsorship reasons, is the highest league of women's football in England. Established in 2010, it is run by the Football Association and features ...

in 2011 and

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. She signed for Liverpool's FA WSL rivals

Doncaster Rovers Belles Doncaster Rovers Belles Ladies Football Club, previously Doncaster Belles, is an England, English women's association football, women's football club that currently plays in the , the fourth tier of women's football in England. The club's admin ...

in January 2013, before retiring later that season.

Playing career

Club career

After starting her career at Conwy Devils, Foster moved to Bangor City and was the club's

Northern Division Northern Division or North Division can refer to: Sports * Northern Division (Rugby Union) Leagues of England * Queensland Rugby League Northern Division * Southern League Northern Division of the Southern Football League in England * FA Women's ...

top-scorer in every season from 1999–00 to 2002–03. She also represented the club in the

UEFA Women's Cup The UEFA Women's Champions League, previously called the UEFA Women's Cup (2001–2009), is a European women's association football competition. It involves the top club teams from countries affiliated with the European governing body UEFA. The ...

. In summer 2003 Foster joined an exodus of players leaving Bangor City for

. By season 2009–10, she was Liverpool Ladies' longest serving player. That season she was the

top goalscorer with 16 goals as Liverpool romped to the title. Foster and Liverpool teammate Kelly Jones joined

FAI Women's Cup The Football Association of Ireland Women's Cup is the senior cup competition for women's association football in the Republic of Ireland. It is commonly known as the Women's FAI Cup, the WFAI Cup, or prior to 2001, the Ladies FAI Cup or the LFAI ...

winners St Francis on loan for a

2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League The 2010–11 UEFA Women's Champions League was the tenth edition of the European women's championship for football clubs. The final was held in London, England on 26 May 2011 at Craven Cottage. French side Olympique Lyon won the competition aft ...

qualifying tournament in August 2010. Foster had planned to retire at the age of 30 years, but changed her mind in order to play in the

. She then scored Liverpool's first goal in the new competition, helping them to a 3–3 opening day draw against local rivals Everton. In October 2012 Foster was amongst ten players to be released by Liverpool. She signed for

in January 2013. During the

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment ...

mid-season break Foster left Doncaster after struggling to balance the demands of travel and training with her career outside football. She announced her intention to start

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

and that she would consider whether to continue playing.

International career

Foster represented

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

at youth level, winning five U16 caps, four U18 caps and scoring one goal in a single U20 appearance. Her full debut was in 1997 and she captained the side on her 50th appearance, a 3–0 friendly win over

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, and ...

Llanelli Llanelli ("St Elli's llan (placename element), Parish"; ) is a market town and the largest community in Carmarthenshire and the Preserved counties of Wales, preserved county of Dyfed, Wales. It is located on the Loughor estuary north-west of ...

in August 2009. Foster won a record 52nd cap in Wales' 2–1 defeat in

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

in October 2009. In May 2014, the

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Welsh national football team, its corresponding women's team, as well as the Welsh ...

(FAW) recognised Foster's 63 appearances with the award of a golden

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

at half-time of Wales' 4–0 win over

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = ...

in Bangor.

Refereeing

After deciding not to extend her career as a player in 2013, Foster instead started training as a

. She was an assistant referee at the

2013–14 Welsh Women's Cup The 2013–14 FAW Women's Cup was the 22nd season of Wales' national association football knock-out competition. It saw 25 clubs apply for entry, three less than previous season. Cardiff City Ladies were the defending champions. Cardiff Met. L ...

final. In December 2015, during her third season as a referee, Foster was named on the FIFA international list. On 18 August 2018, she became the first female referee to take charge of a

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to ...

game.

Personal life

Foster is a

Liverpool FC Liverpool Football Club is a professional football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Founded in 1892, the club joined the Football League the following year and has ...

supporter and works as a P.E. teacher at Bishops' Blue Coat Church of England High School,

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

Honours

Club

;Liverpool *

FA Women's Premier League Northern Division The FA Women's National League Northern Premier Division is a league at the third-level in the women's football league pyramid in England, along with the Southern division. These two divisions are part of the FA Women's National League and bel ...

: 2003–04, 2006–07, 2009–10

References

External links

Cheryl Foster
at

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs foo ...

Cheryl Foster
at FAW {{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Cheryl Living people 1980 births Footballers from Bangor, Gwynedd Welsh women's footballers Wales women's international footballers Liverpool F.C. Women players Doncaster Rovers Belles L.F.C. players Expatriate women's footballers in England Women's Super League players FA Women's National League players St Francis L.F.C. players Welsh football referees Women association football referees Women's association football forwards British women referees and umpires Expatriate women's association footballers in Ireland UEFA Women's Euro 2022 referees