Ex-England international reveals he ‘needed to ESCAPE’ Man United after suffering ‘a big breakdown’ as former star opens up on mental health battle

A former Manchester United star has opened up about the mental health struggles they endured during his time at the club.

Ben Foster spent five years at Old Trafford under Sir Alex Ferguson‘s stewardship between 2005 and 2010.

The now 41-year-old only featured 23 times in all competitions for United and was sent out on a two-year loan to Watford during his spell in Manchester.

Upon his return, Foster largely played second fiddle to Red Devils legend Edwin van der Sar, before leaving the club to join Birmingham City.

And now the retired shot-stopper has revealed that the pressure of living up to expectations at the 20-time English champions led to issues with his mental health.

‘(My mindset was) look at these absolute legends,’ Foster explained on an episode of Fozcast. ‘They’re used to playing with Edwin van der Sar, Tim Howard, Peter Schmeichel and proper goalkeepers. They’ve now got Ben Foster behind them from Lillington.

The former England goalkeeper spent five years at the Red Devils between 2005 and 2010

Foster played second fiddle to Edwin van der Sar (right) during his time at Old Trafford

‘I told nobody except my wife towards the end. I remember having a big breakdown and going, “I just can’t do this. I need to get out of this football club and I need to escape from it”.

The pressure led to Foster telling the United hierarchy of his mental battle, however, they did little to help him.

Even when Ferguson did call upon the former England international, he felt he could never display his true ability due to the burden he felt.

‘The club knew that I was struggling,’ Foster continued. ‘They could see it physically, emotionally and with the way my demeanour was around the place. It just wasn’t working and it was the wrong place at the wrong time.

‘When I was at United, I used to go into the game thinking, ‘don’t make a mistake’. I’d be thinking it all game long, but then you start to try and keep it safe which means that you don’t really get to showcase your abilities and your skills.’

Foster did win two League Cups at Old Trafford, however, he could truly feel the success of lifting silverware when adorning the shirt of Birmingham.

The goalkeeper won the competition for a third time in his first season at the club, impressing between the sticks in a shock 2-1 victory over Arsenal.

He would later feature for West Brom and Watford, before retiring after helping Wrexham reach the Football League in 2023.

Foster did win two League Cup’s while at United, playing a leading role in the 2009 triumph

The now 41-year-old left the club for Birmingham City where he won yet another League Cup

Foster added: ‘It kind of worked out for everybody, but I actually learned from those experiences.

‘There’s a lot of people that get buried by it though, and they struggle with it, and that can really impact them for the rest of their lives.

‘I took it into the rest of my career with Birmingham City, West Brom and Watford and it helped stand me in real good stead. When I did come to those bad moments, I had some resilience already built up.

‘I never had those feelings to that deep, dark extent again, because once you get into, it’s very hard to get out of it.’