Birmingham City's £6m deal with Man Utd was worth every penny: View | OneFootball

Birmingham City fans are definitely longing for the days when they were an established side between the top end of the Championship and mid-table in the Premier League.

Those days were between 2002 and 2011, where the club won promotion on three occasions, and proved to be a match for some of the country's biggest sides in the league and in cup competitions.

Ben Foster's move to Birmingham City

In the midst of said era, Blues fans had the pleasure of watching a number of high-calibre goalkeepers who would go on to have successful careers at the highest level of English football, as well as representing the England national team on a multitude of occasions.

Joe Hart had previously spent a season on loan at St Andrew's in 2009/10, keeping 12 clean sheets across 41 appearances on loan from Manchester City as the club finished ninth - their highest league position since 1959 - before replacing him with Ben Foster from Manchester United for a £6m fee.

Prior to his move to the Second City, Foster was utilised as a squad player at Old Trafford, making just 23 appearances between 2005 and 2010. However, one of those won him the Alan Hardaker award in United's 2009 EFL Cup final success over Tottenham - it wouldn't be much longer until he could add another of those to his mantlepiece either.

However, the one season he spent with Birmingham was critical in Foster's long-term development, which included a spell of 10 unbroken seasons as a Premier League number one, as well as making three of his eight England appearances - one of which came in the 2014 FIFA World Cup.

He would feature in all 38 of Birmingham's Premier League games this campaign, making his debut in a 2-2 draw away to Sunderland before marking his home debut against Blackburn Rovers with a penalty save against Morten Gamst Pedersen in a 2-1 success.

The Leamington Spa-born shot-stopper would accumulate nine clean sheets across the top flight campaign, and despite a number of strong performances, the then 28-year-old was unable to aid Birmingham's survival bid as they were relegated on the final day of the season as a result of a 4-2 away defeat to Tottenham Hotspur.

Ben Foster's EFL Cup heroics

Despite a disappointing ending to Birmingham's league campaign, Foster will always be remembered by supporters for his heroics in the EFL Cup final victory against Arsenal, when the club won it's second major trophy - the first since 1963 - despite being huge underdogs in comparison to Arsene Wenger's star-studded outfit.

The keeper started in every round from the Quarter-Final success against local rivals Aston Villa, and definitely saved his best performance until last on the Wembley turf.

Whilst Obafemi Martins grabbed all the headlines for his dramatic winner after a mishap in the Gunners' defence, Foster's exploits from that day in February 2011 cannot be underestimated, as yet again he went home with the Alan Hardaker award for the second time in three seasons - becoming the first player in history to do so.

In what felt like an onslaught of Arsenal attacks throughout the 90 minutes, Foster was on hand on numerous occasions, as the Gunners recorded 12 shots on target from 20 overall, only getting past the England international once as Robin Van Persie equalised on 39 minutes.

Foster also began the move which led to Martins' famous winner, before going on record to claim that winning the EFL Cup with Blues and picking up the aforementioned award was still the best moment of his career, back in 2020.

Ben Foster's career post-Birmingham City

Despite the club's relegation, it was clear that Foster had a higher ceiling than Championship football back in 2011, and he more than proved that.

After moving to local rivals West Bromwich Albion on loan, he would make the move permanent for an estimated £4m fee in 2012, before going on to make 223 appearances and keep 57 clean sheets for the Baggies between then and their relegation in 2018, before returning to Watford.

Foster continued as a regular for the Hornets whilst beginning his YouTube career in the background, before initially announcing his retirement.

However, he would soon return to another old club in the form of Wrexham, aiding their National League title-winning success last term, which included a dramatic penalty save against Notts County from Cedwyn Scott.

Despite the club's return to League Two, Foster would permanently retire from football in August 2022 as the Red Dragons conceded 13 goals in their first four league games, with his last game being a 5-5 draw with Swindon Town.