One of Wrexham’s main priorities after earning its promotion back to League Two was to re-sign goalkeeper Ben Foster.
The 40-year-old ultimately agreed last week to return for another season, and the former England and Manchester United keeper revealed the lengths that Wrexham owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney went to bring him back.
“They basically sort of like pinned me into a corner like right, ‘Next season, what’s happening next?'” Foster said on his Fozcast podcast, according to multiple reports.
Foster came out of retirement in March to play in eight games. That included a critical late penalty save to preserve a 3-2 win over Notts County and help Wrexham seal promotion.
After the push by Reynolds and McElhenney during the team’s bus parade after winning the National League title, they set up a WhatsApp group called “Hands of Fozz” to continue their sales pitch.
“I was like, I don’t know and they were like, ‘listen, we want you to be back. We need you back’,” Foster said. “And I went, ‘yeah, I’m going to have to think about it, I’ve loved it so much and I will put so much thought into it.
“It was it was a foregone conclusion, it really was.”
Foster said the co-owners agreed to allow him to arrive later to preseason training, following a family vacation that was planned before coming out of retirement.
He also called the pair of Hollywood stars “top of the class” owners, and said Reynolds and McElhenney have gone about it the right way while making their passion for the team clear.
“It means so much to them, they care so much, they do it properly,” Foster said on the podcast. “I’ve been here for what, three weeks now, and it’s ran so professionally you would not believe. It is ridiculous how they run it, so fair play to them, they deserve all they get.’
–Field Level Media