Neil Roberts (Welsh footballer)

Last updated

Neil Roberts
Personal information
Date of birth (1978-04-07) 7 April 1978 (age 46)
Place of birth Wrexham, Wales
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1994–2000 Wrexham 75 (17)
2000–2004 Wigan Athletic 125 (19)
2002 → Hull City (loan) 6 (0)
2004 → Bradford City (loan) 3 (1)
2004–2006 Doncaster Rovers 61 (8)
2006–2008 Wrexham 55 (11)
2008–2009 Rhyl 33 (20)
Total358(76)
International career
Wales U21 3 (0)
1999–2004 Wales 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Neil Roberts (born 7 April 1978) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is currently working as a project manager for Manchester City.

Contents

Roberts started his professional playing career with local Welsh side Wrexham in 1994. He moved to English side Wigan Athletic in 2000, and later from there to Doncaster Rovers in 2004. Roberts was first capped for the Wales national team in 1999, earning four caps for the senior team until 2004. He retired from football in 2009, following the end of his contract with Rhyl F.C.

Career

Roberts started his career in 1994 when he played for Wrexham. After signing for the club as a trainee, he made his debut on 27 September 1997 during a 0–0 draw with Chesterfield before going on to score five goals in his next four games. He became an established first-team player at the Racecourse Ground, making 75 appearances and scoring 17 goals. He left Wrexham in 2000 to join Wigan Athletic, where he made 125 appearances and scoring 19 goals. He also spent time on loan at Hull City [1] and Bradford City, [2] scoring on his debut for the latter against Bristol City. [3] He then made a permanent move to Doncaster Rovers in 2004.

In 2006 Roberts came back to his hometown club Wrexham, where he became the team captain. He is a Welsh international with four caps. [4] [5] Roberts had a good start to the 2006–07 season by scoring two goals in the first two games. These goals were very important during this period as they were a penalty in a 2–1 away victory against local rivals Chester City on 20 August 2006 and the opening goal in Wrexham's 4–1 League Cup victory at Championship side Sheffield Wednesday on 23 August 2006.

However, in their 2–1 victory against Swindon Town on 9 September 2006, Roberts picked up an injury. He made his comeback in a 2–1 defeat against Milton Keynes Dons scoring the opening goal. However, Roberts suffered more injuries throughout the course of the season. On 21 April 2007 he came on as a second-half substitute in a game against Torquay United and scored his first goal since October 2006 and Wrexham's winning goal to ensure a vital 1–0 win in Wrexham's bid for survival in the Football League Two. He was released by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the Football Conference. [6]

On 24 June 2008, Roberts signed for Welsh Premier League side Rhyl, where he combined playing with coaching opportunities and his business interests. [7] After one season at Rhyl, Roberts left to take over as a project manager at Premier League side Manchester City. [4]

Personal life

Neil's daughter Mia Roberts played for Wrexham A.F.C. Women until she left the team on 11 August 2023. Neil is the proprietor of a Wrexham public house known as Vault 33.

Honours

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dean Saunders</span> Welsh footballer and manager

Dean Nicholas Saunders is a Welsh football manager and former professional footballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Jones (footballer, born 1984)</span> English footballer

David Frank Llwyd Jones is an English professional football coach and former player who is currently the first team coach at Welsh club Wrexham. Jones began his playing career at Manchester United, but struggled to get into the first team and was limited to appearances in the FA Cup and League Cup. He spent loan spells at Preston North End, NEC and Derby County, before joining Derby on a permanent basis in 2007 for a fee of £1 million. However, he left Derby after just one season to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in a deal worth £1.2 million. He spent three years with Wolves before joining Wigan Athletic. At the end of his second season there, he went on a brief loan spell with Blackburn Rovers, before joining Burnley. After three years with Burnley, he left for Sheffield Wednesday, where he spent another three years before being released at the end of the 2018–19 season. He joined Oldham Athletic on a free transfer but was released in January 2020. He was without a club while football was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but in August 2021, he signed for Wrexham as a player-coach. In June 2022, he retired from football to become a coach full-time at Wrexham.

Matthew Alan Jackson is an English former professional footballer who is the president of Swiss Super League side Grasshopper Club Zürich.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steven Fletcher (footballer)</span> Footballer (born 1987)

Steven Kenneth Fletcher is a professional footballer who plays as a striker for EFL League One club Wrexham.

Michael Colin Newell is an English football manager and former professional footballer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lee Trundle</span> British footballer

Lee Christopher Trundle is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Cymru South side Trefelin BGC. He also works as the club ambassador and youth team coach for Championship side Swansea City.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Lawrence</span> Trinidad and Tobago footballer

Dennis William Lawrence CM is a Trinidad and Tobago former professional footballer and current assistant coach at Minnesota United. He was the manager of the Trinidad and Tobago national team from 2017 to 2019. Prior to coaching, he had a successful playing career in England, Wales and Trinidad and Tobago. He lifted the Caribbean Cup with the Soca Warriors and won several cup competitions with Wrexham before winning a league title with Swansea City. Before moving to Everton, he had coached for three years at Wigan Athletic during which time he became the first Trinidadian to win the FA Cup.

The 2007–08 season was the 128th season of competitive football in England.

Paul Warhurst is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender, midfielder or striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jason Koumas</span> Welsh footballer (born 1979)

Jason Koumas is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a midfielder for Tranmere Rovers, Cardiff City, West Bromwich Albion and Wigan Athletic, as well as the Wales national team.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gareth Taylor</span> English football manager and former player

Gareth Keith Taylor is a football manager and former player who is the head coach of Manchester City Women.

Hector McLeod Sam is a Trinidadian former international football striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gary Roberts (footballer, born 1984)</span> English footballer

Gareth Michael Roberts is an English professional football coach and former player, who is a first-team coach at EFL League Two side Chesterfield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Llewellyn</span> Welsh footballer

Christopher Mark Llewellyn is a Welsh football coach and former professional footballer.

Daniel Ivor Llewellyn Williams is a former Welsh footballer and Wales under-21 international.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Craig Morgan (footballer)</span> Welsh footballer

Craig Morgan is a Welsh international footballer who plays as a central defender.

Richard "Dixie" McNeil is an English former footballer and manager, who played as a striker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamie Reed (footballer)</span> Welsh association football player

Jamie Lee Reed is a footballer and coach who plays as a striker for Connah’s Quay Town. Born in England, he has represented Wales at semi-professional level.

Conall Francis Murtagh is a Northern Irish sports scientist and professional football coach who is currently Head of Physical Performance department for Premier League club Liverpool. A former footballer, he made over seventy appearances in the Scottish League, Football League and Football Conference, as well as making 226 appearances in the Welsh Premier League, primarily for Bala Town. He played in European competitions for five seasons, representing Bala Town in Europe in three seasons 2012–13, 2014–15 and 2015–16, Rhyl in 2010 and the Champions League with TNS.

Jason Oswell is an English footballer who plays as a striker for Cymru Premier side Newtown.

References

  1. ↑ "Transfers – January, 2002". BBC. 5 September 2002. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  2. ↑ "Roberts in move to Bantams". BBC Sport. 17 September 2004. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  3. ↑ "Bradford 4–1 Bristol City". BBC. 18 September 2004. Retrieved 9 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 "Rhyl FC striker Neil Roberts quits for Manchester City coaching role". Liverpool Daily Post . 10 September 2009. Archived from the original on 14 March 2012. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  5. ↑ "Ex-Wales striker signs for Rhyl". BBC Sport. 25 June 2008. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  6. ↑ "Roberts and Llewellyn leave Reds". BBC Sport. 6 May 2008. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  7. ↑ "Dragons' Neil Roberts signs for Rhyl". Daily Post. 24 June 2008. Archived from the original on 13 October 2008. Retrieved 24 June 2008.
  8. ↑ "Dream team 2008/09". welsh-premier.com. Archived from the original on 12 June 2018. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.