At the age of 40, Ben Foster is buzzing to be back... and adamant his return to football is not just a social media stunt.
The former England goalkeeper has become an unlikely YouTube influencer with his popular 'The Cycling GK' channel, which has almost 1.5m subscribers. And now he can add to his media popularity by an inevitable starring presence in the latest 'Welcome to Wrexham' sports docu-series, which has proved an unlikely hit on both sides of the Atlantic.
His stunning penalty save in the sixth and final minute of stoppage time at the end of a titanic National League showdown with rivals Notts County put Wrexham back on top of the table... and on course for promotion to the Football League after a 15-year absence.
It will be the main plot twist of the TV series, but for Foster Wrexham was about getting his love for the game back, which he lost in his final season at Watford. "I didn’t want to come and be a bit of a circus - it’s not about that I promise you," he explained.
"I didn't want to come and it would be, 'Oh he played in the Premier League last year and he does his YouTube and it’s all about getting content'. It’s really not that.
"As a goalkeeper, it was always about the adrenalin buzz when the kick off comes, and the reason I retired was because I wasn’t getting that any more. Towards the end of my final season at Watford I realised ‘this doesn’t feel like it used to feel’. I wasn’t really enjoying it so much.
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"And honestly, the buzz at Wrexham is incredible. That penalty save, I’ve played over 500 games and I probably had two of those moments in my career - never done that before, never saved a penalty last minute to win the game. So that just vindicated my decision to carry on playing!"
So too has the presence of Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney as the club's high-profile owners.
Foster admitted, like most people, he thought it was just a gimmick. But after experiencing his own incredible welcome to Wrexham, he has changed his mind.
"They’re so happy, if you could order an absolute bob on, top of the class, top of the range owner, then you would just package them two up because they are as good as it gets," added the former Manchester United goalkeeper.
"It means so much to them, they were buzzing at the end, they care so much. You can feel it. I was probably the same as everybody else. You're a cynic, you're sceptical, thinking it's a bit of a gimmick.
"But honestly I've been here three or four weeks now and the way they do things is so professional and so proper. It is ridiculous how they run it, so fair play to them they deserve all they get."
