Ben James Roberts (born 22 June 1975) is an English former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

. Since being forced into early retirement in 2005 at the age of 29 through injury, he has become a goalkeeping

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. He is currently employed in this capacity at Chelsea.

Early Career at Middlesbrough

Roberts began his career at Middlesbrough F.C. on the Youth Training Scheme in 1991, aged 16, and quickly graduated through the ranks, making his first team debut aged 19 in the Anglo Italia Cup in

Ancona Ancona (, also , ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region in central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona and of the region. The city is located northeast of Rome, on the Adriatic S ...

. Loan spells at

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They were founded in 1908 as Hartle ...

in 1994,

Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play their home ...

during the 1994/1995 season and

Bradford City Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes. Th ...

in 1996 preceded his

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

debut against

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

in February 1997. Also in 1997, Roberts made one appearance for England at under-21 level. After an injury to Mark Schwarzer, Roberts finished the ill-fated 1996/97 season as Middlesbrough's first-choice goalkeeper, notably playing in the

1997 FA Cup Final The 1997 FA Cup Final was the 116th final of the FA Cup. It took place on 17 May 1997 at Wembley Stadium and was contested by Chelsea and Middlesbrough, the North East club appearing in its first FA Cup Final. Chelsea won 2–0 to win the FA C ...

, League Cup final replay and the club's remaining Premier League games (Schwarzer was cup-tied for the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

run anyway). He is remembered among Middlesbrough supporters for conceding a goal after only 43 seconds by Roberto Di Matteo of Chelsea in the FA Cup Final. Roberts' remaining time with Middlesbrough saw him struggle with fitness and injuries, and between back operations he spent time on loan at Millwall and Luton Town in 1999 and 2000. He helped Millwall reach the 1999 Football League Trophy Final, where they lost to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

Later career

Roberts transferred to

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

in the summer of 2000. While with Charlton, he had further loan spells at

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, Luton and Brighton & Hove Albion, before making a permanent move to Brighton in 2003. His only appearance for Charlton had come on the last day of the 2002/2003 season, Roberts playing as a substitute against

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

after

Dean Kiely Dean Laurence Kiely (born 10 October 1970) is a former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the goalkeeping coach at Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Republic of Ireland national team. Born in England, he won elev ...

was sent off. Roberts contributed to Brighton's promotion-winning season in 2003–04, making 35 appearances as first-choice goalkeeper, the season culminating in victory in the 2004 Second Division play-off final at the

Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm y Mileniwm), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium ( cy, Stadiwm Principality) for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it is the home of the Wales national rug ...

against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

. However, in 2005, a recurrent back injury forced him to retire from playing at the age of 29.

After retirement

After retiring, Roberts went to

university A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

, graduating from Roehampton University with a first class honours degree in

sports science Sports science is a discipline that studies how the healthy human body works during exercise, and how sport and physical activity promote health and performance from cellular to whole body perspectives. The study of sports science traditionally inc ...

and coaching, and won the Adidas 'Pursuit of Excellence' award for his dissertation, which was entitled 'A Biomechanical Analysis of a Football Goalkeeper's Jumping Technique'.

Coaching career

In June 2009, having briefly come out of retirement to join

Derry City Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

in 2007, Roberts was appointed the goalkeeper coach and chief scout at

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

. During the two seasons he spent at Yeovil Town, he assisted in the development of goalkeepers

Alex McCarthy Alex Simon McCarthy (born 3 December 1989) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for club Southampton F.C., Southampton. A product of Reading's Reading F.C. Un ...

and Stephen Henderson, making a substitute appearance himself in a 3–3 draw with Swindon Town in October 2010, his first league match in six years. On 29 December 2010, he left Yeovil Town to return to their League One rivals Charlton Athletic. During his tenure at Charlton, Roberts oversaw the early careers of

Rob Elliot Robert Elliot (born 30 April 1986) is a professional footballer who is currently a technical director and goalkeeper for Gateshead. Elliot also played for the Republic of Ireland national team. Elliot began his career with Erith Town, befo ...

Ben Hamer Benjamin John Hamer (; born 20 November 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Championship side Watford. Career Early career Hamer was born in Chard, Somerset, and is a Bristol City fan. His family moved to G ...

Neil Etheridge Neil Leonard Dula Etheridge (born 7 February 1990) is a Filipino-English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Birmingham City. Born in England, he captains the Philippines national team. He joined the Fulham Academy af ...

Marko Dmitrovic Marko may refer to: * Marko (given name) * Marko (surname) * Márkó, a village in Hungary See also *Marco (disambiguation) *Markko (disambiguation) *Marka (disambiguation) *Markov *Marku Marku is an Albanian surname. Notable people with the ...

Dillon Phillips Dillon Phillips (born 11 June 1995) is an English professional association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for K.V. Oostende, KV Oostende on loan from Cardiff City F.C., Cardiff City. He had brie ...

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and Nick Pope. On 23 June 2015, Roberts returned to Brighton & Hove Albion as goalkeeping coach, replacing Antti Niemi, who had left for Finland that summer. During the last four seasons he has played a pivotal role in the careers of the Goalkeepers at the Sussex club. Amongst those that Roberts has coached and developed during this period are Mat Ryan,

David Stockdale David Adam Stockdale (born 20 September 1985) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for York City F.C., York City. Stockdale started his career with the Huddersf ...

Christian Walton Christian Timothy Walton (born 9 November 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Ipswich Town. Walton began his professional career at Brighton & Hove Albion after graduating from the club’s academy, h ...

and Robert Sanchez. On 8 September 2022, Roberts followed

Graham Potter Graham Stephen Potter (born 20 May 1975) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current head coach of club Chelsea. In a 13-year playing career, Potter, who played as a left-back, made 307 appearances in the ...

on a move to Chelsea.

Outside football

After retiring from football in 2005, Roberts took a year out before university to backpack around the world, which included a 6-month spell living in Brazil where he closely studied Brazilian training methods. He is also a keen runner, taking part in the London Marathon and Great North Run for the Asthma UK charity.

References

External links

*
Roberts on ''Zanziball''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Ben 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Bishop Auckland Footballers from County Durham English footballers Association football goalkeepers England under-21 international footballers Premier League players English Football League players Middlesbrough F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Reading F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. non-playing staff Yeovil Town F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. non-playing staff Derry City F.C. players Association football goalkeeping coaches FA Cup Final players