When Ben Foster was lured out of retirement by Wrexham in March, a lot of fans thought his decision was influenced by money.
After all, this is a former England goalkeeper who was playing in the Premier League a year ago and has Manchester United on his CV. Yet as it turns out, Foster's desire for one last dance was born out of a willingness to play for a "special club" for "peanuts".
The three-time League Cup winner enjoyed one of the greatest days of his career last Saturday when Wrexham, who are co-owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, achieved promotion to the English Football League - ending a 15-year absence.
Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney want to achieve more success with Wrexham (Getty)Foster's short-term deal at Wrexham expires in the summer. The 40-year-old, who was linked with moves to Newcastle and Tottenham earlier this season, was initially planning on retiring for good after his swansong in north Wales. Yet he may just change his mind.
Foster has admitted: "You have to contemplate it [carrying on] because to be part of this team, to be part of Wrexham is a special thing. It really is. It's nice to be a man of leisure and freedom and stuff like that and I've really enjoyed my retirement, I've had a great time. What I will say is that I've enjoyed this so much - Wrexham is a really special club.
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"The lads that we've got are absolutely top class and it's a pleasure to come to work with every single one of them, every single day.
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"None of them moan and there's no big times - and in football there's so many big times - there's none of them in our dressing room and that's the bit for me that made me go 'I've really enjoyed this' so much so that I will have to think about it."
The fact that Foster, who couldn't be lured out of retirement by a Premier League club, is considering carrying on for the minnows speaks volumes of what Reynolds and McElhenney have achieved since finalising their takeover in February 2021 and the "special" culture they have created.
Wrexham have become one of British football's most talked about clubs thanks to their Hollywood story. Much of this is down to the success of their docuseries, Welcome to Wrexham, which has helped the club establish a solid fanbase in the United States.
The fact that Wrexham aren't paying Foster a huge wage is also telling. He would've surely commanded a much bigger salary if he joined a Premier League club, but he believed in the Wrexham project. Foster told his Fozcast podcast: "I don’t need much [money].
"To be honest, the negotiations took about five minutes. Wages wise, it’s literally peanuts... the part for me is getting the team over the line and getting them promoted. I'm a very low maintenance player. Just wheel me out, I'll do a job."
Foster has become part of the furniture at the Racecourse under Reynolds and McElhenney... and it'll be hard for him to turn his back on them now. A tough decision awaits.
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