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Stratford Club enjoy visit from England goalkeeper and trip to Edgbaston

It’s been a busy period for our Stratford Sporting Memories Club as they have welcomed a special guest and enjoyed a visit to one of the England’s biggest cricket grounds recently.

Taking a trip to Edgbaston

In late July, our Club members and volunteers from Stratford were kindly invited by Warwickshire Cricket Foundation to see the final day of their County Championship local derby against near rival Worcestershire.

It was a beautiful day at Edgbaston for the conclusion of the match, with the hosts needing over 380 runs on the day to take the victory. Most of the travelling contingent from the Stratford Sports Club were not confident of a home success.

However, following some prudent batting from the hosts, particularly from middle-order batsman Zen Malik and Beau Webster, they managed to achieve the required target just after tea.

During the lunch break, everyone in attendance at Edgbaston had the chance to get pitchside and have a walk around the famous ground – with our members taking the opportunity to have a good look around and get a closer inspection of the playing surface!

Meeting a former England goalkeeper

Shortly after their trip to Edgbaston, the Stratford Sporting Memories Club had another special event, when they welcomed former Watford and England goalkeeper Ben Foster to their session.

It was an exciting day not just for our usual members – a young boy named Oscar was also in attendance to hear from Ben and got him to sign his goalie shirt too!

Ben is a notable figure currently in the football media scene, having his own ‘Fozcast’ podcast where he speaks about his career in the game as well as interviewing some of the most high-profile figures from the sport.

It was then no surprised that Ben kept our Club members and volunteers, as well as Oscar, entertained for well over an hour with some of his stories and anecdotes from his career in the game which stretched across the decades of the 2000s.

During his time with us, Ben detailed the preparation that modern goalkeepers do before every Match, including research on the penalty takers, free kicks and corners routines of opposition. The members also learnt what large hands David Seaman has and how nervous many of the best players in the world get days before a match!

It was then the turn of the audience to grill Ben on his career and he brilliantly answered all of their questions honestly, including how social media can impact players, particularly those starting their careers, before staying with everyone once the session had come to a formal end to sign shirts and autographs.

Reflecting on recent activities

Anne Tubb, Club facilitator at Stratford Sporting Memories, spoke to us about the enjoyment the recent activities have brought.

“It’s certainly been a busy few weeks for us, but we’re grateful for the opportunity to go and watch some live cricket at Edgbaston and welcome Ben along recently.

“It was a thoroughly entertaining day for everyone at Edgbaston and we are grateful to Warwickshire Cricket Foundation and Stratford Town Trust for making the trip possible.

“Also to have such a well-known name like Ben visit us earlier this month was brilliant. He speaks so candidly, which really gave everyone an insight into the demands of footballers in today’s world. We were really grateful for Ben’s time and hope to see him again in the future.”