Barry Foster (born 21 September 1951) is an English retired

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 le ...

who spent his entire

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

career at

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they ...

, where he played as a left-back. Foster graduated through Mansfield's youth team, and signed a professional contract in July 1970, after first completing his apprenticeship as a mining electrician. He made his first-team debut for the Stags shortly before his 19th birthday, on 4 September 1971 against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

. Incidentally, his unrelated namesake

Colin Foster Colin Foster (born 16 July 1964) is an English retired football defender. Career Starting out at non-League club Elmstead,Clu ...

made his debut in the same game. At first, Foster had to bide his time in a reserve role, but when first-choice left-back Clive Walker went down with an injury, Foster took advantage of the opportunity, and secured a regular place in the side. He was a member of the Mansfield side that finished top of

Division Four The Football League Fourth Division was the fourth-highest division in the English football league system from the 1958–59 season until the creation of the Premier League prior to the 1992–93 season. Whilst the division disappeared in name ...

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

, and also won Division Three two years later. However, Foster broke his leg against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

on the day promotion was confirmed, causing him to miss most of the club's

Division Two NCL Division Two The NCL or National Conference League Division Two (known as the Kingstone Press NCL Division Two) League winners {, class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;" , - , colspan=4 style="text-align:center;" , NCL DIVISION TWO , ...

campaign the following season. In total, Foster played 343 matches for Mansfield in all competitions, without ever scoring a single goal for the club. He was released at the end of the 1981-82 season, and finished his career with a season at non-league

Boston United Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...

. After retiring from the game, he joined his family's market-trading business.

References

1951 births Living people English men's footballers Mansfield Town F.C. players Boston United F.C. players Footballers from Worksop Men's association football defenders English Football League players {{England-footy-defender-1950s-stub