Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Stephen Brian Foster | ||
Date of birth | 24 September 1957 | ||
Place of birth | Portsmouth, England | ||
Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) [1] | ||
Position(s) | Central defender | ||
Youth career | |||
1972–1975 | Southampton | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
1975–1979 | Portsmouth | 109 | (6) |
1979–1984 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 172 | (6) |
1984 | Aston Villa | 15 | (3) |
1984–1989 | Luton Town | 163 | (11) |
1989–1992 | Oxford United | 95 | (9) |
1992–1996 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 115 | (7) |
Total | 669 | (42) | |
International career | |||
1980 | England U21 | 1 | (0) |
1982 | England | 3 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals |
Stephen Brian Foster (born 24 September 1957) is an English former footballer.
Born in Portsmouth, Hampshire, Foster was an associate schoolboy with Southampton, but was not offered a professional contract. [2] He started his professional career at Portsmouth in 1973 as a centre forward. After a season, manager Ian St John 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. While at Brighton, Foster won three caps for England, was a member of England's 1982 World Cup squad, and reached the final of the 1983 FA Cup, where they held Manchester United to a 2–2 draw before losing 4–0 in the replay. Foster was suspended for the original game but played in the replay. [3] Despite Brighton's relegation that season, Foster remained at the Goldstone Ground.
After five seasons at Brighton, Foster was sold to Aston Villa in March 1984. However, after only eight largely unsuccessful months at Villa Park, he was transferred to Luton Town 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, 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) 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, bidding to buy his former club Luton Town. [4]
John Charles Gregory is an English former football player and manager.
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive association football in England.
Neil John Webb is an English football manager, former footballer and television pundit.
Steven Charles Williams is an English former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
The 1986–87 season was the 107th season of competitive football in England.
The 1987–88 season was the 108th season of competitive football in England.
The 1988–89 season was the 109th season of competitive football in England.
The 1989–90 season was the 110th season of competitive football in England.
The 1990–91 season was the 111th season of competitive football in England. In the Football League First Division, Arsenal emerged victorious as champions.
The 1991–92 season was the 112th season of competitive football in England.
The 1985–86 season was the 106th season of competitive football in England.
The 1984–85 season was the 105th season of competitive football in England.
The 1983–84 season was the 104th season of competitive football in England.
The 1982–83 season was the 103rd season of competitive football in England.
The 1981–82 season was the 102nd season of competitive football in England. It was also the first season that the three-points-for-a-win system was introduced.
The 1980–81 season was the 101st season of competitive football in England.
The 1979–80 season was the 100th season of competitive football in England.
The 1999–2000 FA Cup was the 119th staging of the FA Cup. Both the semifinals and final of the competition were played at Wembley Stadium for the last time before reconstruction work began. The competition culminated with the final between Chelsea and Aston Villa. The game was won by a goal from Chelsea's Roberto Di Matteo, giving them a 1–0 victory.
The 1986–87 season was the 88th completed season of The Football League.
The 1987–88 season was the 89th completed season of The Football League.