Ex-Watford and England goalkeeper Ben Foster retires from football

Former Watford, West Bromwich Albion and Manchester United goalkeeper Ben Foster has announced his retirement from football.

Foster, 39, left Watford in the summer following the expiration of his contract and their relegation to the Championship.

Upon announcing his retirement, Foster revealed he had an offer from Newcastle United over the summer but rejected the opportunity to move to the north east for family reasons after the club eventually matched his demands. Newcastle later signed Lorius Karius on a free transfer as goalkeeper cover.

Foster also turned down an offer from Atlanta United earlier in the summer and held discussions with Nice to become understudy to Kasper Schmeichel.

It is thought Foster is content with his decision but he has left the door open to potentially playing on if the right offer were to arrive from MLS.

He had made 125 league appearances during his four-year spell at Vicarage Road, having previously enjoyed two loan spells there over a decade before.

Foster joined Manchester United from Stoke City in 2005, making 23 appearances in all competitions amid loan moves to Watford before leaving for Birmingham City in 2010.

He only spent one season at Birmingham, before joining West Brom initially on loan in 2011 and then permanently a year later. Foster returned to Watford in 2018.

He retires from football having played 536 appearances in his professional career.

Foster also played eight times for England between 2007 and 2014, playing the final match of the 2014 World Cup group stage when they had already failed to advance to the last 16.