Who is Fraser Forster? Inside the life of Tottenham Hotspur’s back-up goalkeeper
Fraser Forster might be closer to the end of his career than the start, but the goalkeeper has not yet finished writing his final chapter and could have a key role to play in helping Tottenham Hotspur achieve success under Ange Postecoglou.
Who is Fraser Forster? Tottenham’s back-up goalkeeper
The role of a backup goalkeeper in the squad is quite a unique one in football.
Not only do teams need someone who is capable of stepping in and performing when needed, but they also require someone with the right attitude who continues being professional and a good teammate despite knowing he will very rarely play.
In Forster, Spurs have certainly found someone who is the right fit, with the experienced goalkeeper often seen chatting to his teammates on the bench and calming them down.
He is an extremely popular figure in the changing room and Ange Postecoglou has spoken in glowing terms about the example he sets with the way he trains.
However, the Tottenham man has had a distinguished career in his own right and at times, has been considered among the best goalkeepers in the Premier League.
Here is all you need to know about Forster’s career, his height, his salary and other details:
Fraser Forster’s Tottenham career so far
Forster joined Spurs as a free agent in the summer of 2022 after his contract at Southampton ran out, with the goalkeeper being signed to serve as Hugo Lloris‘ understudy.
He initially signed a two-year deal before signing a one-year contract extension in December of 2023, with his current deal taking him until the end of this season.
He made his competitive debut for the club on 9 November 2022 in their EFL Cup third-round defeat at Nottingham Forest and played his first Premier League game for Tottenham in their 2–2 draw at Brentford on 26 December.
Forster played quite a lot in the latter stages of the 2022-23 season, owing to Hugo Lloris’ injury woes, with the Englishman ending his first campaign at the North London club with 20 appearances.
His fortunes changed in his second season at the club after he made just one competitive in the Tottenham first team across the 2023-24 season after Tottenham were not involved in any European competitions and exited both domestic cups in the early stages.
However, with Guglielmo Vicario suffering an ankle fracture in November, Tottenham’s second-choice goalkeeper once again had an important role to play this season.
Fraser Forster’s professional football career highlights
Forster was born in Hexham, England and joined Newcastle’s academy at a young age. He did manage to be part of their first team, serving as the club’s third-choice goalkeeper in the 2007–08 season.
However, he never managed to make a senior appearance for his boyhood club, having several spells out on loan in League One.
It was during his loan spell at Celtic in the 2010-11 season that Forster first started hitting the limelight, with the goalkeeper impressing between the sticks at Glasgow.
Forster would go on to spend two seasons on loan at the Scottish giants, who then decided to sign him permanently in 2012, with the goalkeeper going on to play for the club for another two years, making 197 appearances in total in his first spell with the Hoops.
Then in 2014, Forster made the move from up North to way down South, sealing a return to the Premier League by signing for Southampton.
He established a reputation as one of the best shot-stoppers in the Premier League during his first three years at St Mary’s and was a regular part of the England squad during that time.
However, he was never the number one for the Three Lions, winning a total of just six caps for his country, the last of which came back in 2016.
Forster would return on loan to Celtic for the 2019-20 season before spending two more seasons with the Saints until his contract eventually ran out in 2022, making a total of 162 appearances for the South Coast club.
What did Lionel Messi say about Fraser Forster?
Back in 2012, Fraser Forster came up against Lionel Messi twice in the Champions League as Celtic took on Barcelona. At Celtic Park, the Scottish side managed to pull off a historic 2-1 victory, largely thanks to the goalkeeping heroics of Forster himself. After the game, Messi was full of praise for the shot-stopper, who made 13 saves that night.
He said (Mirror): “The performances of Fraser Forster against us were talked about for a long time.
“There was one game in Scotland where he was not human, it is the best goalkeeping performance I have seen. When Victor Valdes said he was leaving, we even talked about him playing here. I was sure that he would end up at Arsenal, Chelsea or Manchester United.”
Reacting to the comments years later, Forster told SpursPlay: “It’s impossible to put into words. We’d played them away, I think, two weeks earlier and we lost 2-1 in the last minute and I’d made saves, but the performance we’d put in away from home really carried us into the home one because we knew we’d have the fans with us.
“But yeah, it was just one of those nights where everything, you know. You make a couple of saves early and you’re like, come on, bring it on. That team as well, if you don’t enjoy playing those games, do you know what I mean?
“But the noise that night as well – obviously we ended up going 2-0 up and they scored right at the end but it was just, kind of, unbelievable. It was just one of those days when you’re in the zone and everything goes your way. You’re seeing the ball like it’s a gym ball and it’s just amazing.
“I think that after that night I didn’t sleep after the game, it was just amazing. I’m obviously fortunate to have played in those types of games and like I said before, half of my memories in that game are the atmosphere and the fans and lots of it is that rather than that save or this save. It was just – the occasion.
“It’s always nice when it’s someone in the game as well, it carries a lot more weight. But like I say, as well, that period put me in the England squad and it was an amazing time that I’ll remember forever.”
Fraser Forster’s trophies and honours
Forster’s first trophy in senior football was the League One triumph at Norwich City in 2009-10.
The most successful time of his career was unsurprisingly his spell in Scotland, being part of three title-winning sides at Celtic, while also winning the Scottish Cup twice and the Scottish League Cup once.
Forster also has several individual honours under his belt, being the Players’ Player of the Year at Norwich in 2009-10 and winning the same honour twice with Celtic during the 2012-13 and 2013-14 seasons.
The Tottenham man also holds the record for the most consecutive league clean sheets for Celtic with 13 and won the Premier League Player of the Month award with Southampton back in February 2016.
Fraser Forster’s personal details
Forster was born on 17 March 1988. He is one of the tallest players in the Premier League, standing at over 2 meters (2.01m), and weighs 93 kg.
His full name is Fraser Gerard Forster, he is married to Leah Totton, and they have two kids: Izzy Sr and Jr. Forster also has two dogs, which are both Maltese Shih Tzus.
Speaking to Tottenham’s official website, he revealed that ‘Billions’ is his favourite TV show of all time and named Denzel Washington as his favourite actor.
Tottenham’s number 20 has 209k followers on Instagram.
What is Forster’s net worth and salary?
According to OneFootball, Forster has a net worth of £31,876,000.
Much of it is due to his current huge contract with Tottenham Hotspur, which includes impressive wages of around £3,900,000 per year, which amounts to around £75,000 per week.
Will this be Forster’s final year at Tottenham?
Forster’s current contract at Spurs runs out at the end of the current season and with the goalkeeper turning 37 in a few months, this might well be his final season in the Premier League.
However, the Tottenham man could finish on an extremely high note and add to his trophy cabinet as Postecoglou‘s men aim to end their silverware drought this season.
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