Fraser FORSTER
Goalkeeper 2022-
Full name : – Fraser FORSTER
Born on 17th March 1988 in Hexham, Northumberland, England.
Height : 2.11m (6′ 7″)
Weight : -kg (-st -lbs)
As Antonio Conte rebuilt the Spurs squad, the need for a back-up keeper to Hugo Lloris became apparent and with Fraser Forster not being offered a new deal at Southampton, he was snapped up on a free transfer. At 34, he came with a huge amount of experience in the Premier League, Europe and international football with 350 appearances under his belt.
Huge by most goalkeeper standards, the 6′ 7″ Northumbrian defied those who initially had thought him too short to play in goal when he was a youngster. At 15, he shot up in height and was spotted playing for the Wallsend Boys Club (where Michael Carrick had played) by Newcastle United, who signed him. Turned pro with the Magpies in 2005 when in their Academy, but he failed to be selected for the first team mainly being given playing time elsewhere on loan spells at Stockport County and Bristol Rovers. The Pirates had wanted him to extend the loan, but an offer from Norwich City was accepted by Newcastle and he replaced injured Ben Alnwick, who was on loan from Spurs and it was at Carrow Road where he enjoyed a successful run in the team that won the League One title.
Most notably his time at Glasgow Celtic saw him shine, joining initially on a season long loan for 2010-2011, he only missed two matches all campaign, keeping 21 clean sheets with the team winning the Scottish Cup and finishing runners-up in the League and the League Cup. He returned to Newcastle to play in the pre-season matches for the following season and was on the bench for their first Premier League match, but re-joined Celtic for another season’s loan.
This loan included his first taste of European Football with the Scottish side playing in the Europa League, with clean sheets in 27 matches and a Scottish Premier League winners medal to add to his collection of honours. It was the following season when he showed the watching millions what he was capable of when he almost single (or double) handedly kept out Barcelona to help Celtic to a historic 2-1 home win over the Spanish Champions in a Champions League match. Such was the magnitude of his performance that the Spanish media christened him “The Great Wall”. His good form continued and was instrumental in Celtic taking the league and cup double for 2012-2013.
Qualification for the Champions League once more pitched Celtic in with Barcelona and although they lost the home group match 0-1, Fraser turned in another fine display and maintained his level of performance across the season, being called up into the England squad and prompting speculation that both Manchester clubs were interested in signing him. He smashed records with 13 clean sheets in consecutive Celtic league matches before going 1,256 minutes without conceding a goal for his club to set a new Scottish League record. Unsurprisingly, his excellent goalkeeping assisted in another League title arriving at Parkhead.
Turning out for Celtic in the Champions League qualifying rounds in the run up to the season, his abilities were brought to the Premier League when Celtic accepted £10 million for the goalie. His start at St. Marys was impressive with 11 clean sheets taking Southampton to third place, but late in the season, he was carried off at Burnley after suffering a bad knee injury when kicking away a back-pass that turned out to be a broken kneecap. He was out recovering from the injury until January 2016 and soon after, a 0-0 draw at the Emirates was mainly down to a fantastic series of saves Forster made to keep Arsenal out. On a run of six shut-outs, he recorded a club record of 708 minutes without conceding a goal. Days before the final game of the season, the keeper signed a new deal with Southampton that would run until 2021 and the club finished in a place to qualify for the Europa League with a club Premier League record points total.
The Saints endured a poor start to the season under new manager Claude Puel, but Forster out together a run of six clean sheets to help the club up to eighth, but losing form Southampton began to drop back down the table, including a poor performance by the keeper in a 1-4 home defeat by Tottenham. In the League Cup, the team reached the final without letting in a goal (the first team to do so), but were beaten 2-3 by Manchester United. Personally, Fraser recorded 14 clean sheets that season, earning an extended contract adding another year to his existing deal.
His form at the start of the 2017-2018 season was erratic and costly in some matches, with the manager standing by him until December, when he was replaced by Alex McCarthy. The arrival of Angus Gunn in the close season in 2018 meant more competition and effectively made him the third choice at St. Marys. His only game of that season came in May 2019, being his first match for the club in 15 months.
Celtic made a loan move for their former keeper and a season in the Scottish Premier League was agreed. He put in a Man of the Match performance with Glasgow Rangers dominating the League Cup Final, bringing a string of outstanding stops from Fraser, with his Celtic side going on to win 1-0. The Covid-19 pandemic caused football to be suspended in Scotland and the League Board decided that the remaining games could not be completed, so, with Celtic 13 points clear at the time, they were awarded the League title.
Another loan was rumoured, but he returned to Southampton and only got back in the side when McCarthy tested positive for Covid-19 in January 2021, but four successive clean sheets brought 13 appearances before the end of the campaign. The following season saw football return to “normal” and Forster’s appearances were limited to League Cup games until he returned to the side on Boxing Day following injury.
Fraser had been called up a few times in 2012 before making his England debut in 0-2 defeat at home to Chile. He was in the England squad for both the 2014 World Cup in Brazil and the Euro 2016 tournaments, but was kept on the bench by future Spurs and Celtic keeper Joe Hart. After being dropped in 2017, he was recalled out of the wilderness into the national squad in 2022 for friendlies against Ivory Coast and Switzerland but replacing Sam Johnstone, who pulled out, he was not used.
Making a name for himself with some stunning saves, with the advantage of a long reach and good reflexes, some had questions about his handling ability in the air, which is surprising for such a big man. It was hoped that his arrival at Tottenham would provide strong competition for Hugo and while he may not be his natural successor, with four competitions to play in during the 2022-2023 season, he hopefully would provide a safe pair of hands when Lloris was rested. An injury to Lloris let him into the side during that season, when he did pretty well, but as soon as Hugo was fit again, he was re-instated in goal, meaning Fraser only featured in 20 matches. The following campaign saw him get the gloves on in anger only once, when he performed well in a 1-1 League Cup draw at Fulham, but Tottenham lost on penalties and when he was injured around February with a broken foot, he missed the remainder of the season.
NICKNAME : – “The Great Wall”;
Career Record
Club | Signed | Fee | Debut | Apps | Goals |
Newcastle United | 2003 | – | – | 0 | 0 |
Stockport County | 2nd October 2008 | Loan | 7th October 2009 v Bury (Football League Trophy) (away) lost 0-1 | 7 | 0 |
Bristol Rovers | 31 July 2009 | Loan | 8th August 2009 v Leyton Orient (League One) (home) Lost 1-2 | 4 | 0 |
Norwich City | 28th August 2009 | Loan | 29th August 2009 v Hartlepool (League One) (away) Won 2-0 | 42 | 0 |
Glasgow Celtic | 24th August 2010 | Loan | 29th August 2010 v Motherwell (Scottish Premier League) (away) Won 1-0 | 87 | 0 |
Glasgow Celtic | 29th June 2012 | £2,000,000 | 1st August 2012 v HJK Helsinki (Champions League Third qualifying round) Won 2-1 | 106 | 0 |
Southampton | 9th August 2014 | £10,000,000 | 8th August 2014 v Liverpool (Premier League) (away) Won 1-2 | 162 | 0 |
Glasgow Celtic | 22nd August 2019 | Loan | 25th August 2019 v Heart of Midlothian (Scottish Premier League) (home) Won 3-1 | 39 | 0 |
TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR | 6th August 2022 | Free | – | – | – |
Tottenham Hotspur career
– League appearances; – goals
– FA Cup appearances; – goal
– League Cup appearances; – goals
– European appearances; – goals
Honours (as of 11.07.2022)
England international
9 full caps; 0 goals
Debut : – 15.11.2013 v Chile (Friendly) (Wembley) Lost 0-2
League One winner – 2009-2010 (Norwich City)
League Cup runner-up – 2016-2017 (Southampton)
Scottish Premier League winner – 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014, 2019-2020 (Glasgow Celtic)
Scottish Cup winner – 2011-2012, 2012-2013 (Glasgow Celtic)
Scottish League Cup winner – 2019-2020 (Glasgow Celtic)
Players’ Player of the Season 2009-2010 (Norwich City)
Supporters’ Player of the Season 2009-2010 (Norwich City)
Players’ Player of the Season 2012-2013; 2013-2014 (shared) (Glasgow Celtic)
Macron Golden Gloves award for most clean sheets (18 in 38 games) 2009-2010 (Norwich City)
Football League Golden Gloves award – League One 2009-2010 (Norwich City)
SPL Save of the Season 2012-2013 (Glasgow Celtic)
SPL most clean sheets 2011-2012, 2012-2013, 2013-2014 (Glasgow Celtic)
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