REVEALED: Ben Foster was one of four Wrexham stars refused entry into a San Diego bar just 24 hours before 3-1 win over Man United, despite his manager insisting players wouldn’t be allowed out
REVEALED: Ben Foster was one of four Wrexham stars refused entry into a San Diego bar just 24 hours before their win over Man United, despite his manager insisting players wouldn’t be allowed out
- Phil Parkinson had insisted that his players would not be going to any bars
- Staff confirmed the players were turned away after failing to produce ID cards
- Fuming Parkinson tells Man United goalkeeper to ‘steer clear’ of Wrexham
Ben Foster played in goal for Wrexham against his old club Manchester United in San Diego after being out in town 24 hours earlier.
Foster was among a group of Wrexham players who were refused entry to the Barleymash nightspot just hours after manager Phil Parkinson insisted his squad would not be going to any bars.
The four-man Wrexham contingent were turned away from the downtown venue on Monday night, and door staff later confirmed that the players showed attitude after failing to produce ID cards.
Foster played in Wrexham’s 3-1 win over a young United side at the Snapdragon Stadium on Tuesday, with Erik ten Hag holding back his senior side to face Real Madrid in Houston on Wednesday night.
Wrexham manager Phil Parkinson had claimed in his pre-match press conference at the University of California in San Diego earlier on Tuesday that the players would be encouraged to enjoy the trip but would not be allowed to go out drinking.
Foster was among a group of Wrexham players who were refused entry to Barleymash hours after Phil Parkinson insisted his squad would not be going to any bars
Foster was in the squad that faced Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United in a pre-season friendly
Wrexham boss Parkinson has encouraged his side to enjoy their pre-season tour of the US
‘We have tried to give the lads an experience everywhere we’ve been,’ said Parkinson. ‘They had a coach trip around Hollywood and Beverly Hills. We don’t want the lads to come on this trip, be in the hotel and say, “lads, you’ve just got to sleep”.
‘We’ve tried to let them go out into the local area. Not the bars, I hasten to add, but the local areas to get a feel for everything. We’re trying to give them an experience of the tour, as well as football.’
Foster came out of retirement to sign for Wrexham in March at the age of 39 and made eight appearances to help the Welsh club – owned by Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney – to win promotion back to the Football League.
Parkinson paid tribute to Foster’s professionalism before the incident adding: ‘Ben’s obviously a player who played for his country. He’s top-class, but more importantly, he epitomises what we want.
‘His professionalism, day-to-day, is incredible. He adds to the group, in the way he conducts himself as a professional, so that’s very important for us, because we’ve got a lot of younger players in the building and so anyone who comes in – of that ilk – has got to set the right example and be a good role model, and Ben’s definitely that.’
