Name: Colin Foster
Born: 16 July 1964, Chislehurst, England
Clubs: Leyton Orient, Nottingham Forest, West Ham United, Notts County, Watford, Cambridge United
Former West Ham United defender Colin Foster is today celebrating his 51st birthday.
The 6'4 centre-half started out life at Leyton Orient, for whom he made his senior bow in January 1982. Nottingham Forest's Brian Clough came calling some five years later, paving the way for a £50,000 switch to the City Ground.
Foster, however, would return to London just two seasons later, signing for Lou Macari's Hammers in September 1989. In his first season at the Boleyn Ground, Foster made 22 league appearances, as West Ham finished seventh in the Second Division, narrowly missing out on a Play-Off spot.
Under the stewardship of Billy Bonds, Foster would become a mainstay of the Hammers' back-four in the following two campaigns, as the Club yo-yoed between the top two tiers of English football.
His crowning moment, meanwhile, in claret and blue duly arrived on 11 March 1991, in an FA Cup sixth-round tie against Everton at the Boleyn Ground. Having scored just twice previously for the Club, Foster was perhaps an unlikely hero as his right-foot volley flew beyond Neville Southall.
Stuart Slater's subsequent strike fired the Hammers into the last four, though Foster and his teammates would suffer a humbling 4-0 reverse against his former employers Forest at Villa Park.
As his West Ham career ground to an unfortunate halt, Foster initially joined Notts County on loan, before making a permanent move to Watford. The Hammers' No5 left the Club with 112 appearances and six goals to his name.