Roger Freestone

Last updated

Roger Freestone
Personal information
Full name Roger Freestone
Date of birth (1968-08-19) 19 August 1968 (age 55)
Place of birth Caerleon, Wales
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) [1]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1986–1987 Newport County 13 (0)
1987–1991 Chelsea 42 (0)
1989 → Swansea City (loan) 14 (0)
1990 → Hereford United (loan) 8 (0)
1991–2004 Swansea City 552 (3)
2004 Newport County 14 (0)
Total643(3)
International career
1990 Wales U21 1 (0)
2000 Wales 1 (0)
Managerial career
2002 Swansea City
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Roger Freestone (born 19 August 1968) is a Welsh former international footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He has the distinction of being one of a relatively small group of British footballers to play 500 English Football League matches for one club, the only other Welshmen being Ryan Giggs, Neville Southall and Len Weare.

Contents

Club career

Born in Caerleon, near Newport, Monmouthshire, Freestone began his career at Newport County as a trainee before moving to Chelsea in 1987 for £95,000. During his time there he was never the established first choice, being behind Eddie Niedzwiecki, Kevin Hitchcock and Dave Beasant, and was loaned out to Swansea City and Hereford United. He eventually joined Swansea on a permanent deal in 1991, for a fee of £45,000, and went on to spend over a decade, the majority of his career, at the Welsh club.

In 2001 a rumoured move to rivals Cardiff City was met with anger from Swansea fans as they did not want to lose him. [2] He left the club after thirteen years and went on to sign for Newport County in 2004, but his contract was cancelled several months later by mutual consent owing to recurring injury problems [3] and he eventually retired.

The way in which he left Swansea City angered a lot of fans. Then-manager Kenny Jackett said he made a tough choice in releasing Roger Freestone and the supporters felt they had missed an opportunity to give a proper send-off that he deserved for his contribution. [4]

Freestone is considered a legend among Swansea fans. In 1995, he briefly became the clubs penalty taker, where he converted three out of three spot-kicks. His talent as a shot stopper lead to him keeping 22 clean sheets in a season, which was a club record, [5] until Dorus de Vries broke the record in the 2009–10 season. [6]

International career

Freestone played for Wales at schoolboy, under-21 and B level before winning his first and only cap against Brazil in 2000. [7]

Management career

Freestone had a short-lived stint as manager at Swansea along with Nick Cusack. [8] He currently manages youth side, Risca & Gelli United in the Islwyn Youth League.

Career statistics

Club performanceLeagueCupTotal
SeasonClubLeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
EnglandLeague FA Cup League CupTotal
1986–87 Newport County Division 3 130--130
1986–87 Chelsea Division 1 60--60
1987–88 15020170
1988–89 Division 2 210--20230
1989–90 Division 1 00--00
1989–90 Hereford United (Loan) Division 4 80--80
1989–90 Swansea City (Loan) Division 3 140--140
1990–91 Chelsea Division 1 00--00
1991–92 Swansea City Division 3 420--420
1992–93 Division 2 460--460
1993–94 460--460
1994–95 451--20471
1995–96 452--–-452
1996–97 Division 3 4500020470
1997–98 4301020460
1998–99 3805020450
1999–2000 4602040520
2000–01 Division 2 4301020460
2001–02 Division 3 4302010460
2002–03 3301010350
2003–04 3705000420
2004–05 Newport County Conference South 140--140
TotalEngland64331901806803
Career total64331901806803

Honours

Chelsea

Swansea City

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Newport County A.F.C.</span> Association football club in Newport, Wales

Newport County Association Football Club is a professional association football club in the city of Newport, South Wales. The team compete in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. The club's usual home colours are amber shirts and black shorts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swansea City A.F.C.</span> Association football club in Swansea, Wales

Swansea City Association Football Club is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their home matches at the Swansea.com Stadium since 2005, having previously played at the Vetch Field since the club was founded.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorus de Vries</span> Dutch former footballer (born 1980)

Dorus de Vries is a Dutch former footballer who played as a goalkeeper.

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

Terence Charles Yorath is a Welsh former football player and manager at both club and international level.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Football in Wales</span>

Association football is one of the most popular sports in Wales, along with rugby union. Wales has produced club teams of varying fortunes since the early birth of football during the Victorian period, and in 1876 a Wales national football team played their first international match. Football has always had a close rivalry with the country's de facto national sport rugby union, and it is much discussed as to which is Wales' more popular game. The Football Association of Wales (FAW), was established in 1876 to oversee the Wales national team and govern the sport in Wales, later creating and running the Welsh football league system.

Nathan Blake is a Welsh former professional footballer, pundit and television presenter.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cardiff City F.C.</span> Association football club in Cardiff, Wales

Cardiff City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1899 as Riverside A.F.C., the club changed its name to Cardiff City in 1908 and entered the Southern Football League in 1910 before joining the English Football League in 1920. The team has spent 17 seasons in the top tier of English football, the longest period being between 1921 and 1929. Their most recent season in the top flight was the 2018–19 Premier League season.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leighton James</span> Welsh footballer (1953–2024)

Leighton James was a Welsh professional footballer who played as a winger. He played almost 400 times for Burnley F.C. in three different spells at the club, being tenth on the club's most appearance list. He was widely regarded as one of Swansea City's finest ever players and his goal for Swansea against Preston North End in the final game of the season in 1981 helped Swansea get promoted to the Football League First Division for the first time in their history. In 1977, he scored a penalty for Wales in a 1-0 win against England, their only victory against England at Wembley. John Toshack described him as "one of the finest wingers that British football has ever produced and we were very very lucky at the fact he was a Welshman".

Edwin Charles May was an English football player and manager. May was born in Epping, and played for Dagenham, Southend United, Wrexham and Swansea City.

Simon Davey is a Welsh former professional footballer and football manager. He is now Head Director of a youth club in America called Southern Soccer Academy. He played for Swansea City, Carlisle United and Preston North End and had a short loan spell with Darlington, making a total of 271 appearances in the Football League. After retiring as a player, he spent eight years as a coach at Preston, before going on to manage Barnsley, Darlington and, until October 2010, Hereford United.

Jason Peter Bowen is a Welsh former international footballer. During his career, he made over 500 league appearances and was capped twice by Wales in a career which started at Swansea City. He made over 100 league appearances for the club and played in their 1994 Football League Trophy final victory over Huddersfield Town. In 1995, he was sold to Birmingham City for £350,000.

Alan Thomas Curtis is a former Wales international footballer, who played as a forward; he is currently the honorary club president of Swansea City.

Mark Aizlewood is a Welsh manager and former professional footballer who manages Cymru South side Carmarthen Town.

Terence David John Boyle is a Welsh former professional footballer. During his career, he made over 500 appearances in the Football League and made two appearances for the Wales national team in 1981. A centre-half, he was highly regarded by supporters for his strong tackling and uncompromising style.

Colin Webster was a Welsh footballer and Wales international. A striker, he played his club football for Manchester United, Swansea Town and Newport County and was part of the Wales squad for the 1958 FIFA World Cup in Sweden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">South Wales derby</span> Football derby between Cardiff City and Swansea City

The South Wales derby is a local derby between Welsh association football clubs Cardiff City and Swansea City. The fixture has been described by The Independent as one of the fiercest rivalries in British football. Although based in Wales, both clubs play in the English football league system and have won English honours: Cardiff the FA Cup in 1927 and Swansea the Football League Cup in 2013.

For other people with the same name see Huw Jenkins (disambiguation)

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Steve Cooper (football manager)</span> Welsh football manager (born 1979)

Steven Daniel Cooper is a Welsh professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Premier League club Leicester City.

References

  1. ↑ Dunk, Peter, ed. (1987). Rothmans Football Yearbook 1987–88. London: Queen Anne Press. p. 122. ISBN   978-0-356-14354-5.
  2. ↑ "Hollins hits out" BBC Sport Retrieved on 3 November 2007
  3. ↑ "Keeper Freestone leaves Newport" BBC Sport Retrieved on 3 November 2007
  4. ↑ "Swansea City - 18 - Roger Freestone". Archived from the original on 24 July 2011. Retrieved 23 October 2009.
  5. ↑ "Centurion de Vries loving Swansea". BBC News. 23 October 2009.
  6. ↑ "Swansea 3–0 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  7. ↑ "Wales vs Brazil match report" Dragonsoccer Retrieved on 3 November 2007
  8. ↑ "Mark Aizlewood:"No cause for celebration" BBC Sport Retrieved on 3 November 2007
  9. ↑ Fox, Norman (25 May 1997). "Football: Swansea run over by Frain". The Independent. Independent Digital News & Media. Archived from the original on 27 October 2018. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
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.