| Lyle Foster | |
| Fullname: | Lyle Brent Foster[1] |
| Birth Date: | 3 September 2000 |
| Birth Place: | Soweto, South Africa |
| Height: | 1.85m (06.07feet)[2] |
| Position: | Forward |
| Currentclub: | Burnley |
| Clubnumber: | 17 |
| Youthyears1: | –2017 |
| Youthclubs1: | Orlando Pirates |
| Years1: | 2017–2019 |
| Clubs1: | Orlando Pirates |
| Caps1: | 9 |
| Goals1: | 1 |
| Years2: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs2: | Monaco |
| Caps2: | 2 |
| Goals2: | 0 |
| Years3: | 2019 |
| Clubs3: | → Monaco II |
| Caps3: | 8 |
| Goals3: | 2 |
| Years4: | 2019–2020 |
| Clubs4: | → Cercle Brugge (loan) |
| Caps4: | 18 |
| Goals4: | 1 |
| Years5: | 2020–2022 |
| Clubs5: | Vitória de Guimarães |
| Caps5: | 5 |
| Goals5: | 0 |
| Years6: | 2021 |
| Clubs6: | → Vitória de Guimarães B |
| Caps6: | 4 |
| Goals6: | 0 |
| Years7: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs7: | → Westerlo (loan) |
| Caps7: | 23 |
| Goals7: | 4 |
| Years8: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs8: | Westerlo |
| Caps8: | 21 |
| Goals8: | 8 |
| Years9: | 2023– |
| Clubs9: | Burnley |
| Caps9: | 43 |
| Goals9: | 7 |
| Nationalyears1: | 2016 |
| Nationalteam1: | South Africa U17 |
| Nationalcaps1: | 4 |
| Nationalgoals1: | 1 |
| Nationalyears2: | 2017–2019 |
| Nationalteam2: | South Africa U20 |
| Nationalcaps2: | 7 |
| Nationalgoals2: | 5 |
| Nationalyears3: | 2018 |
| Nationalteam3: | South Africa U23 |
| Nationalcaps3: | 2 |
| Nationalgoals3: | 0 |
| Nationalyears4: | 2018– |
| Nationalteam4: | South Africa |
| Nationalcaps4: | 18 |
| Nationalgoals4: | 6 |
| Club-Update: | 21:03, 7 October 2024 (UTC) |
| Nationalteam-Update: | 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 club Burnley and the South Africa national team.
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]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Orlando Pirates | 2017–18 | South African Premier Division | 9 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | |
| Monaco II | 2018–19 | Championnat National 2 | 8 | 2 | — | — | — | 8 | 2 | ||||
| Monaco | 2018–19 | Ligue 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20 | Ligue 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | ||||
| Cercle Brugge (loan) | 2019–20 | Belgian Pro League | 18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 1 | |||
| Vitória de Guimarães B | 2020–21 | Campeonato de Portugal | 4 | 0 | — | — | — | 4 | 0 | ||||
| Vitória de Guimarães | 2020–21 | Primeira Liga | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Westerlo (loan) | 2021–22 | Belgian First Division B | 23 | 4 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 26 | 5 | |||
| Westerlo | 2022–23 | Belgian Pro League | 21 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 8 | |||
| Burnley | 2022–23 | Championship | 11 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 15 | 1 | |||
| 2023–24 | Premier League | 24 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 26 | 5 | |||
| 2024–25 | 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 | |||
| 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 | ||
South Africa score listed first, score column indicates score after each Foster goal
| Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 June 2022 | Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium, Rabat, Morocco | 9 | 1–0 | 1–2 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | [22] | ||
| 2 | 24 March 2023 | Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa | 10 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | [23] | ||
| 3 | 2–0 | ||||||||
| 4 | 12 September 2023 | Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa | 12 | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly | [24] | ||
| 5 | 6 September 2024 | Orlando Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa | 16 | 1–0 | 2–2 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification | |||
| 6 | 11 October 2024 | Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Gqeberha, South Africa | 18 | 4–0 | 5–0 | 2025 Africa Cup of Nations qualification |
Westerlo
Burnley
South Africa U20