Lyle Foster

Lyle Foster
Personal information
Full name Lyle Brent Foster[1]
Date of birth (2000-09-03) 3 September 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Soweto, South Africa
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[2]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Burnley
Number 17
Youth career
0000–2017 Orlando Pirates
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Orlando Pirates 9 (1)
2019–2020 Monaco 2 (0)
2019 → Monaco II 8 (2)
2019–2020 → Cercle Brugge (loan) 18 (1)
2020–2022 Vitória de Guimarães 5 (0)
2021 → Vitória de Guimarães B 4 (0)
2021–2022 → Westerlo (loan) 23 (4)
2022–2023 Westerlo 21 (8)
2023– Burnley 43 (7)
International career‡
2016 South Africa U17 4 (1)
2017–2019 South Africa U20 7 (5)
2018 South Africa U23 2 (0)
2018– South Africa 18 (6)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21:03, 7 October 2024 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20:37, 12 October 2024 (UTC)

Lyle Brent Foster (born 3 September 2000) is a South African professional footballer who plays as a forward for EFL Championship club Burnley and the South Africa national team.

Club career

Foster was promoted to the Orlando Pirates' first team for the 2017–18 season.[3] On 15 September 2017, he made his professional debut against Maritzburg United.[4] He was named among English newspaper The Guardian's top 60 most promising young players in the world.[5] On 22 January 2018, he scored his first goal for Orlando Pirates in a 1–1 draw against Polokwane City.[6][7]

He signed for Monaco in January 2019 on a deal until June 2023,[8] where he would begin on the reserve team.[9]

On 30 August 2019, Foster joined Monaco's feeder club Cercle Brugge in Belgium on a season-long loan.[10][11]

On 13 August 2020, Foster joined Vitória de Guimarães for a transfer fee of 1.2 million euro.[12] In 2021, he joined Westerlo on a season-long loan with an option-to-buy.[13]

In the summer of 2022, Foster moved to Westerlo on a permanent basis and signed a four-year contract with the club.[14]

In January 2023, Foster signed for EFL Championship club Burnley on a four-and-a-half-year contract.[15] The transfer fee paid to Westerlo was reported as €7 million, a record for a South African player, which rose to €10 million after the Clarets guaranteed promotion to the Premier League.[16][17]

On 26 October 2023, signed a new five-year contract with Burnley.[18] In November 2023, he was ruled out for an indefinite period following the reoccurrence of a mental health issue.[19] He made his return after a two month break when Burnley faced Everton[20] and went on to score in their final fixture of the year against Aston Villa.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 5 October 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Orlando Pirates 2017–18[22] South African Premier Division 9 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 11 1
Monaco II 2018–19[22] Championnat National 2 8 2 — — — 8 2
Monaco 2018–19[22] Ligue 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 — 0 0
2019–20[22] Ligue 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
Total 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
Cercle Brugge (loan) 2019–20[22] Belgian Pro League 18 1 1 0 — — 19 1
Vitória de Guimarães B 2020–21[22] Campeonato de Portugal 4 0 — — — 4 0
Vitória de Guimarães 2020–21[22] Primeira Liga 5 0 1 0 1 0 — 7 0
Westerlo (loan) 2021–22[22] Belgian First Division B 23 4 3 1 — — 26 5
Westerlo 2022–23[22] Belgian Pro League 21 8 0 0 — — 21 8
Burnley 2022–23[22] Championship 11 1 4 0 — — 15 1
2023–24[22] Premier League 24 5 1 0 1 0 — 26 5
2024–25[22] Championship 8 1 0 0 1 0 — 9 1
Total 43 7 5 0 2 0 — 50 7
Career total 133 22 12 1 3 0 0 0 148 24
  1. ^ Includes Nedbank Cup, Belgian Cup, Taça de Portugal, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga, EFL Cup

International

As of match played 11 October 2024[23]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
South Africa 2018 3 0
2020 2 0
2021 1 0
2022 3 1
2023 5 3
2024 4 2
Total 18 6
As of match played 11 October 2024
South Africa score listed first, score column indicates score after each Foster goal[23]
List of international goals scored by Lyle Foster
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition Ref.
1 9 June 2022 Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco 9  Morocco 1–0 1–2 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification [24]
2 24 March 2023 Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 10  Liberia 1–0 2–2 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification [25]
3 2–0
4 12 September 2023 Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 12  DR Congo 1–0 1–0 Friendly [26]
5 6 September 2024 Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa 16  Uganda 1–0 2–2 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
6 11 October 2024 Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha, South Africa 18  Congo 4–0 5–0 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification

Honours

Westerlo

Burnley

South Africa U20

References

  1. ^ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: South Africa" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 20. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. ^ "L. Foster: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 2 September 2022.
  3. ^ "Pirates promote 17-year old Foster - Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 7 September 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  4. ^ "Augustine Mahlonoko - Remember the Name - Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  5. ^ "Pirates youngster named among world's best young talents". The Citizen (Zambia). 10 October 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  6. ^ "Bucs held at home - Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 20 January 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  7. ^ "Foster Opens his account - Orlando Pirates FC". www.orlandopiratesfc.com. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
  8. ^ "Lyle Foster joins AS Monaco". AS Monaco. 2 January 2019. Archived from the original on 15 February 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  9. ^ Okeleji, Oluwashina (2 January 2019). "Lyle Foster: South African teenager signs for Monaco". BBC. Retrieved 30 April 2019.
  10. ^ "Panzo and Foster join Cercle Brugge". AS Monaco. 30 August 2019. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  11. ^ "JONATHAN PANZO EN LYLE FOSTER NAAR CERCLE BRUGGE!" (Press release) (in Dutch). Cercle Brugge. 30 August 2019.
  12. ^ "Foster garantido por 5 épocas" (in Portuguese). Vitória S.C. 13 August 2020. Archived from the original on 15 August 2020. Retrieved 15 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Lyle Foster emprestado ao KVC Westerlo" (in European Portuguese). Vitória Sport Clube. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  14. ^ "Lyle Foster signs for 4 seasons". Westerlo. Retrieved 18 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Clarets-capture-foster". Burnley. Retrieved 25 January 2023.
  16. ^ Dindi, Sithembiso (25 January 2023). "Lyle Foster scores big move to Burnley for reported SA transfer record". Times Live. Retrieved 7 October 2023.
  17. ^ "Burnley promoted to Premier League after Roberts sinks Middlesbrough". The Guardian. 7 April 2023. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  18. ^ "FOSTER SIGNS NEW LONG-TERM DEAL!". Burnley FC. 26 October 2023. Retrieved 26 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Foster ruled out over mental health issue". BBC Sport. 9 November 2023. Retrieved 9 November 2023.
  20. ^ "Burnley vs Everton Match Report". BBC Sport. 16 December 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  21. ^ "Aston Villa vs Burnley Match Report". BBC Sport. 30 December 2023. Retrieved 17 January 2024.
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Lyle Foster at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 November 2017.
  23. ^ a b Lyle Foster at National-Football-Teams.com
  24. ^ "Morocco 2-1 South Africa (9 Jun, 2022) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  25. ^ "South Africa 2-2 Liberia (24 Mar, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 11 August 2023.
  26. ^ "South Africa 1-0 Congo DR (12 Sep, 2023) Final Score". ESPN. Retrieved 20 September 2023.
  27. ^ "Welcome back les Campinois" (in French). Belgian Pro League. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 23 April 2022.
  28. ^ "South Africa retain COSAFA Under-20 Championship title with shoot-out win". 13 December 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2024.