Ben Foster enjoyed a brief but prolific spell with Wrexham, which included winning promotion from the National League.
When Rob McElhenney and Ryan Reynolds bought Wrexham in February 2021, the club had been stuck in the fifth tier of English football for over a decade.
Their first few months at the Racecourse Ground did not go to plan as the Red Dragons missed out on a play-off spot on the final day.
This saw Dean Keates sacked as manager before Phil Parkinson replaced him in the summer of 2021.
Wrexham improved under Parkinson but also failed to secure promotion in his debut campaign, tasting defeat in the play-offs.
But with such a high outlay on player wages and transfers, there could be no room for error at the second time of asking.
Wrexham were losing £1m for every season they stayed in the National League and simply had to get promoted in 2022/23 and this is where Ben Foster came in.
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Ben Foster did something for first time during Wrexham win over Notts County
Foster lined out for Wrexham for the first time all the way back in 2005 and returned to the club 18 years later on a free transfer.
The Englishman had been without a club since leaving Watford in 2022 but dug out his boots one last time to return to the Racecourse on March 23rd, 2023.
Wrexham were in a tight battle for automatic promotion alongside Notts County and needed a steady hand to get them over the line in their final eight league fixtures.
That is exactly what they got from Foster, who made a crucial penalty save on April 10th, 2023, versus their promotion rivals.
It was a last minute spot-kick and a goal would have seen Notts County draw 3-3 and potentially go up as champions.
However, Foster saved from 12 yards, and Wrexham ended up winning the league that season by four points.
Following his save, the former Manchester United goalkeeper revealed at the time, as per BBC Sport, that it was the first time in his storied career that he had saved a last-minute penalty to win a match.
He said: “I’ve never done that before, never saved a penalty last minute to win the game.
“So that’s just vindicated my decision to come out and carry on playing.”
Ben Foster continues to back Wrexham
After initially only signing until the end of the 2022/23 season, the now 41-year-old agreed to stay at Wrexham for 2023/24.
However, Foster retired in August 2023, less than a month into the new campaign.
But despite only having two very brief spells at the club that saw him play a total of 35 games, the former shot-stopper continues to show his support for the Red Dragons.
Amid some rumbling around his tactics during a bad spell of form, Foster praised Parkinson and Wrexham as a club last month.
He said: “They’ve invested solidly in really good, solid players that know that league really well. The manager Phil has done a really incredible job as well
“They’re still one of the football clubs that, if you could let a Premier League team, a big team, a proper team, have a manager with that much control, I think you’ll see clubs thriving again. I really do.
“Their model is fantastic. Phil Parkinson has his say from top to bottom in that football club.
“Every single player that comes in, he finds out, does due diligence, knows if they’ll work well within the group. Even if they’re a fantastic player but the other boxes aren’t ticked, he’s not signing them. It’s as simple as that.
“If big Premier League clubs could take note and follow suit like that, we’d have some unbelievable teams in this Premier League.”