| Arthur Foster | |
| Fullname: | Arthur Webster Foster |
| Position: | Forward |
| Birth Date: | 12 November 1894 |
| Birth Place: | Birmingham, England |
| Death Place: | Birmingham, England |
| Years1: | 1913–1914 |
| Clubs1: | Birmingham |
| Caps1: | 2 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Years2: | 1914–191x |
| Clubs2: | Acocks Green |
| Caps2: | ? |
| Goals2: | ? |
Arthur Webster Foster (12 November 1894 – 9 January 1954) was an English footballer who played in the Football League for Birmingham[1] and cricketer who played for Warwickshire.
Foster was born in the Deritend area of Birmingham, and educated at Repton and Downing College, Cambridge.[2] [3] He was the younger brother of Warwickshire and England cricketer Frank Foster.[2] [4] He died in Acocks Green, Birmingham, in 1954 at the age of 59.[2]
The majority of Foster's football was played for Cambridge University and for clubs and representative teams under the auspices of the Amateur Football Association (A.F.A.) His performance in a Cambridge freshmen's match received a favourable report in The Times: He scored the decisive goal in the 1914 University Match,[5] and was appointed secretary of the university club for the 1914–15 season.[6]
In March 1914, he was selected for a combined Oxford and Cambridge Universities team which beat Chelsea in "the first game in London between an A.F.A. side and a professional team for many years", though he was not at his best: "his shooting was poor, and he passed too much to the left wing".[7] That same month he assisted Old Reptonians to victory in the final of the Arthur Dunn Cup; he contributed many of the 33 goals they scored in reaching that stage, though his playing style had developed an element of selfishness:
Foster played for the major amateur clubs of the time, both Casuals, for whom he took part in the final of the 1913 A.F.A. Cup,[8] and Corinthians, touring Brazil[9] and scoring twice in a losing cause on the club's return to first-class football against the English Wanderers, an amateur eleven selected by the Football Association.[10]
He found time to turn out twice for Birmingham in the Second Division of the Football League. He made his debut on 4 October 1913 playing at inside left in a 1–1 draw at home to Hull City, and in his second and last game, on Christmas Day of the same year, he scored in a 6–0 defeat of Glossop.[11]
Foster appeared once for Warwickshire in a County Championship match in July 1914.[2] [4] He kept wicket against Northamptonshire, taking two catches, and made 0 and 1 not out with the bat; the match was drawn.[12]