Craig Foster

He was the 419th Socceroo, and the 40th captain of the national team.

Foster is also known for his human rights advocacies, and is a vocal critic of the Australian Government's treatment of asylum seekers.

Craig Andrew Foster (born 1969), nicknamed Fozzy or Fozz, is an Australian retired soccer player, human rights activist and sports analyst for the Stan streaming service in Australia.

Craig Andrew Foster was born in 1969 in Lismore, New South Wales.

Both sides of his family are of Anglo-Celtic descent.

He attended Kadina High School, periodically returning to speak and motivate students.

Foster holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Football Business and a Master in Sport Management degree from the Johan Cruyff Institute.

Foster represented Australia at under-16 level, reaching the quarter finals at the 1985 FIFA U-16 World Championship in China.

Foster played soccer professionally from 1988 to 2003, including for the national team, the Socceroos, from 1996 to 2000, and was chief soccer analyst for SBS from around 2002 until June 2020.

Playing as a midfielder, Foster debuted with Sydney Croatia in 1988, playing in a losing grand final in his first season.

Foster has said his time at Sydney Croatia is what began his interest in multiculturalism.

He moved to Victorian club Sunshine George Cross in 1989 before returning to Sydney to play for Avala in the NSW Super League in 1992.

In 1992/3, Foster played for Ernest Borel in Hong Kong, before returning to Australia to play for Adelaide City in 1994 and then Marconi in the NSL in 1996/7.

He was the 419th player for the Australia national team (the Socceroos) from 1996 to 2000, earning 29 caps, and was the team's 40th captain, and scoring nine goals.

As a Socceroo, he played in the following competitions and games:

Foster still plays for Waverley Old Boys Over 35s.

Foster started his on-air career with the Seven Network, serving as a soccer analyst and principal commentator on their then pay TV sport channel, C7 Sport, as well as regularly appearing as a panellist on SBS' weekly soccer program On The Ball.

He later joined SBS full-time, working with Les Murray and the Johnny Warren at the helm of SBS' hugely successful soccer broadcasts.

He became known as "Fozz" or "Fozzy".

As a 28-year-old he moved to England, linking up with Terry Venables firstly at Portsmouth in 1997/98, before moving to Crystal Palace as a free agent from 1998 to 2000.

Following his retirement from professional soccer, Foster became the chief soccer analyst for the SBS show The World Game, from around 2002 until June 2020.

He returned to Australia to play with Northern Spirit, based in North Sydney, until his retirement from the game in 2003.

He is remembered for his commentary during the World Cup Qualifier in November 2005 against Uruguay, and during the 2006 FIFA World Cup, Foster was part of the SBS commentary team from Germany.

He advocated for a more Spanish/South American style of play, as opposed to the constant use of the long ball in soccer, and was also known for his outspoken stance on the need for soccer in Australia to mature.

In 2007, Foster was invited to be the Australian representative to judge the Ballon d'Or, the highest award given to an individual soccer player.

Also in 2007, he was a coach for the team assembled by the SBS television show Nerds FC in their second season.

In 2013 he was listed as a player for the Belmore United Over 35s along with Paul Okon and Francis Awaritefe.

Foster was vocal in campaigning on behalf of Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi, who was granted protection as a political refugee in Australia in 2014 but was detained upon arrival in Thailand in November 2018 while on his honeymoon with his wife owing to an Interpol red notice put out by Bahrain.

He is a life member of the PFA, and in 2016 was appointed interim chairman of the PFA.

He played a high-profile role in the campaign to free Bahraini footballer Hakeem al-Araibi from detention in Thailand in from late 2018 to early 2019, later co-writing a book about it, Fighting for Hakeem, which became the working title of a 2023 documentary film (renamed The Defenders).

Foster was elected chair of the Australian Republic Movement in November 2022.

Other roles include being an Ambassador for the Johan Cruyff Institute (since 2018, ) and a co-director/ board member of John Moriarty Football.

Foster is a member of the Australian Multicultural Council, since 2018 and.

He has long been an advocate for footballers and has been human rights and refugee ambassador for Amnesty International.

He has often used his position as presenter and chief football analyst at SBS to criticise unethical practices in the game.

He works in a range of social programs, including Indigenous rights and self-determination; homelessness in Australia; climate change; and advocacy for refugees.

In 2019, he earned a Bachelor of Laws degree from the Central Queensland University Australia.

In June 2020, it was announced that Foster would be leaving SBS, after working for 18 years as a sports presenter.

He joined Stan Sport in August 2020, in time to co-present, along with UK presenter Max Rushden, several big UEFA competitions: the Champions League the Europa League, and the Conference League.

Foster has been a strong advocate for players' rights, having served for five years on Professional Footballers Australia (PFA) Executive, as a Director of the PFA's commercial wing, PFAM (PFA Management), and formerly as Interim Chief Executive of the Australian Soccer Players' Association (PFA's former name).