Stephen Brian Foster (born 24 September 1957) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

Football career

Born in

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

Hampshire Hampshire (, ; abbreviated to Hants.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Berkshire to the north, Surrey and West Sussex to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south, ...

, Foster was an associate schoolboy with

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, but was not offered a professional contract. He started his professional career at

in 1973 as a centre forward. After a season, manager

Ian St John John "Ian" St John (; 7 June 1938 – 1 March 2021) was a Scottish professional football player, coach and broadcaster. St John played as a forward for Liverpool throughout most of the 1960s. Signed by Bill Shankly in 1961, St John was a key m ...

converted Foster to a centre back and he marked his debut in that position with an own goal against Bury in November 1976. He played for his home town club until 1979 when he joined

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. While at Brighton, Foster won three caps for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, was a member of England's 1982 World Cup squad, and reached the final of the 1983

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, where they held

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

to a 2–2 draw before losing 4–0 in the replay. Foster was suspended for the original game but played in the replay. Despite Brighton's relegation that season, Foster remained at the

Goldstone Ground The Goldstone Ground (or The Goldstone) was a football stadium in Hove, East Sussex that was the home ground of Brighton & Hove Albion between 1902 and 1997. History The Goldstone Ground stood on Old Shoreham Road, Hove, opposite Hove Pa ...

. After five seasons at Brighton, Foster was sold to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

in March 1984. However, after only eight largely unsuccessful months at Villa Park, he was transferred to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in November 1984. At Luton, he became a rock in central defence, and captained the Hatters to the 1988 League Cup. He left Luton in 1989, and later played for

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

, before returning to Brighton, where he spent the last four years of his career. However, Brighton's fortunes during his second spell were quite different to those they experienced during his first spell a decade earlier. He arrived as they had been relegated to the new Division Two (known as the Third Division until the creation of the

FA Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football ...

) and were having to sell many players due to rising debt. By the time of his retirement four years later, they were being relegated again (this time to Division Three) and the financial crisis had got so bad that they were in the process of selling off their stadium. In January 2008 he was named as a member of an Anglo-American consortium, which includes BBC presenter

Nick Owen Nicholas Corbishley Owen (born 1 November 1947) is an English television presenter and newsreader, best known for presenting the ITV breakfast programme '' Good Morning Britain, Good Morning with Anne and Nick, ITV Sport,'' and the BBC's re ...

, bidding to buy his former club

.Luton legend named in takeover bid – Luton on Sunday

References

External links

*
England profile on www.englandfc.comBeards In Football
{{DEFAULTSORT:Foster, Steve 1957 births Footballers from Portsmouth Living people English men's footballers England men's international footballers England men's under-21 international footballers 1982 FIFA World Cup players Men's association football defenders English Football League players Aston Villa F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Oxford United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players People educated at St John's College, Portsmouth