Michael Foster

Early career

Foster began his career around 2003 at Mopi, a club based in his hometown of Lae. The side had won the inaugural Papua New Guinea National Club Championship in 1976 and again in 1981. When Foster joined the club, the side had been readmitted to the local Lae Premier League, but the club finished bottom of the league. For the 2004 season, Foster moved to Port Moresby to play for Cosmos in the Port Moresby Premier League. The club reached the Preliminary Final on 24 October, but lost to Rapatona, meaning they finished third.

Titles with Hekari United

Foster was part of the Hekari United squad for the 2008–09 Papua New Guinea National Soccer League. He scored the only goal in the side's 1–0 semi-final victory over Welgris Highlanders, before the playoffs were called off and Hekari declared champions as the best regular season team. As champions, the club qualified for the 2009–10 OFC Champions League, and Foster was retained ahead of the new season. The club ended up winning the Champions League, becoming the first club outside of Australia and New Zealand to do so, and Foster was an unused substitute in the second leg of the final against Waitakere United. Hekari United went on to win the domestic title in the 2010–11 National Soccer League, beating Eastern Stars 4–0 in the Grand Final.

Domestic journeyman

In July 2010, it was announced that Foster was one of three players released by Hekari United to make way for new recruits ahead of…

U20s

Aged 17, Foster was called up to the U20s side for the 2002 OFC U-20 Championship in December 2002, which doubled as qualifying for the 2003 World Youth Championship. Foster played in both of the matches in the group stages before the side's elimination.

Senior squad

Still just 17, Foster was called up to the full senior squad in July 2003 for the 2003 South Pacific Games. Foster made his international debut on 7 July 2003 against Micronesia, scoring one goal in a 10–0 victory. It would be another eight years before he would play for the national side again. Foster earned a recall to the senior squad for the 2011 Pacific Games. He played in all four of the country's fixtures, coming on as a substitute in all but one match: on 3 September 2011, he started and scored his second senior international goal in the 17–1 victory over Kiribati. Papua New Guinea failed to progress from the group stages of the competition. Since then, Foster has played in all but two of Papua New Guinea's senior international matches: at the 2012 OFC Nations Cup, he started in all three of the nation's fixtures before their group stage elimination. In 2016, a busy year for the country, he started nine and was subbed on in the tenth of ten fixtures for the national team, including the five which saw them finish as 2016 OFC Nations Cup runners-up, having scored one of the goals in the crucial semi-final against the Solomon Islands. He played in all four of the side's qualifiers for…

International

As of 27 March 2022

International goals

As of 20 July 2019. Scores and results list Papua New Guinea's result first.

Foster was born in Lae, in the Momase Region of the country. He is the son of former international goalkeeper Max Foster.