Fraser Forster

Fraser Gerard Forster (born 17 March 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team.

Forster started his career with Newcastle United and had brief loan spells with Stockport County and Bristol Rovers.

He then spent a successful season on loan at Norwich City, helping the club win the League One title and promotion to the Championship.

Forster earned his first professional contract with Newcastle United, signing for their Academy in 2005.

Forster was Newcastle's third choice goalkeeper in the 2007–08 season while Tim Krul was on loan at Falkirk, and played regularly in the reserves.

However, in the six years he was signed to the club, Fraser never made a first-team appearance for Newcastle, mainly due to the fact that he spent most of his time on loan to other clubs, often lasting entire seasons.

With Krul back for the 2008–09 season and Given back to full fitness, it was the turn of Forster to go on loan.

He was loaned out to Stockport County on 2 October 2008, to deputise for regular goalkeeper Owain Fôn Williams while he was away on international duty with Wales.

Forster started his first match for Stockport on 7 October in the Football League Trophy second round, where they lost 1–0 away to Bury.

He started his first league match for Stockport on 11 October, where his team drew 1–1 away to Southend United.

He returned to Newcastle on 1 November, after completing his loan stint at Stockport playing six league matches and keeping three clean sheets.

Forster, having been on the bench for Newcastle on over 20 occasions in the Premier League, needed regular playing experience and subsequently signed a month-loan deal with Bristol Rovers on 31 July 2009.

He kept two clean sheets in the four league matches he played for them.

Bristol Rovers asked to extend the loan but Norwich City made a counter offer which was accepted by Newcastle.

Manager Paul Trollope was disappointed and commented that the team wanted Forster between the sticks.

He stated "Fraser has a great career ahead of him".

Norwich City manager Paul Lambert was keen to sign Forster who he had seen play for both Stockport and Bristol Rovers.

Forster then signed for Norwich City in a one-month loan deal.

Forster received a red card on 26 September 2009 against Gillingham for bringing Curtis Weston down in the penalty area, however this was considered to be a controversial decision.

On 20 November 2009, Norwich announced that they had agreed a deal with Newcastle to extend Forster's loan until the end of the 2009–10 season, after impressing the Norwich faithful with his displays, helping the team shoot up the League One table.

He was also allowed to play in Norwich City's cup matches.

Norwich manager Paul Lambert praised "world class" saves and a terrific contribution to the team.

In November 2009, Forster was awarded Norwich City Player of the Month.

Forster then joined Celtic on loan for the 2010–11 season, and helped them win the Scottish Cup.

It was then extended to the end of January 2010 after making an impressive debut against Hartlepool in the 2–0 victory at Victoria Park.

On 17 April 2010, Norwich secured promotion to the Championship with a hard-fought 1–0 win over Charlton Athletic, with Forster pulling off excellent saves to deny Nicky Bailey and Deon Burton.

One week later, Norwich's 2–0 win over Gillingham saw them win the League One title.

He spent a further season on loan there, winning the Scottish Premier League before becoming a permanent squad member in 2012 for a transfer fee of £2.2 million.

Forster won many plaudits for his performances at Celtic and holds the Scottish top division record of 1,256 minutes without conceding a goal.

Forster was selected for several England squads during 2012 and 2013 before finally making his first international appearance in November 2013.

In August 2014, he joined Southampton for a reported £10 million.

He was named in England's squads for the 2014 World Cup and Euro 2016.

Forster was born in Hexham, Northumberland, the son of Brian Clive Forster QC (who later became a circuit judge), and attended the Royal Grammar School, Newcastle, but did not begin playing as a goalkeeper until he was 13 years old.

Before then he had mainly played either rugby union or cricket.

Coaches initially thought Forster might be too small to play as a goalkeeper, although he played for local junior team Stocksfield before joining the renowned Wallsend Boys Club.

However, he entered a significant growth spurt at 15 years of age and later signed with Newcastle United.

Forster had a generally impressive debut season in the Premier League, but sustained a serious knee injury in March 2015 which ruled him out for the rest of the year.

On his return in January 2016, he quickly found form again and went on to set a club record of 708 minutes without conceding a goal.

Forster's return aided Southampton's rise from thirteenth in the league to a sixth-place finish, earning them qualification for the following season's UEFA Europa League.

He made a blunder in a 2–1 defeat against Leeds United on 19 October, with a 90th-minute goal kick going straight to Jermaine Beckford who scored.