William Roberts (18 March 1859 – 12 June 1945) was a Welsh

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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; cy, Wrecsam; ) is a city and the administrative centre of Wrexham County Borough in Wales. It is located between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley, near the border with Cheshire in England. Historically in the count ...

, Wrexham Olympic and Rhostyllen Victoria in the 1880s and made four appearances for

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

, scoring once. He was the brother of

Bob Roberts ''Bob Roberts'' is a 1992 American Satire, satirical mockumentary film written, directed by, and starring Tim Robbins. It depicts the rise of Robert "Bob" Roberts Jr., a right-wing politician who is a candidate for an upcoming United States Senat ...

who also played for the two Wrexham clubs and twice for Wales.

Football career

Roberts was "always in the thickest of the fight", and was described as "tricky and comical, and occasionally brilliant". His playing career came before the advent of League football and his greatest success at club level was in the

Welsh Cup The FAW Welsh Cup ( cy, Cwpan Cymdeithas Pêl-droed Cymru), currently known as the JD Welsh Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams in the Welsh football league system. It is considered the most ...

, where he scored the only goal in the final of the 1882–83 tournament, thus enabling Wrexham to defeat

Druids A druid was a member of the high-ranking class in ancient Celtic cultures. Druids were religious leaders as well as legal authorities, adjudicators, lorekeepers, medical professionals and political advisors. Druids left no written accounts. Whi ...

and claim the trophy for the second time. He and his brother,

Bob Bob, BOB, or B.O.B. may refer to: Places *Mount Bob, New York, United States *Bob Island, Palmer Archipelago, Antarctica People, fictional characters, and named animals *Bob (given name), a list of people and fictional characters *Bob (surname) ...

, made their international debuts on 27 February 1886 against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in the opening match of the

1886 British Home Championship Events January–March * January 1 – Upper Burma is formally annexed to British Burma, following its conquest in the Third Anglo-Burmese War of November 1885. * January 5– 9 – Robert Louis Stevenson's novella '' Strang ...

. The match ended as a 5–0 victory for the Welsh, with Bill Roberts scoring the opening goal. After defeats against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

and

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, Roberts was not called up for the February 1887 match against England. After an injury to

Robert Mills-Roberts Dr. Robert Herbert Mills-Roberts (5 August 1862 – 27 November 1935) was a Welsh footballer. A Welsh international, he was a member of the Preston North End side which became known as "The Invincibles". He was born at Ffestiniog on 5 August 18 ...

in the warm-up for that match (which Wales lost 4–0) the Roberts brothers were both recalled for the match against Ireland in March 1887, with Bob serving as an emergency goalkeeper. This match was the finale to the brothers' international careers with Bob conceding four goals.

International appearances

Roberts made four appearances for Wales in official international matches, as follows:

Career outside football

Roberts worked as coal-miner in his youth, but was later employed in a leather works.

Honours

;

winners:

1883 Events January–March * January 4 – ''Life'' magazine is founded in Los Angeles, California, United States. * January 10 – A fire at the Newhall Hotel in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States, kills 73 people. * Ja ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Bill 1859 births Footballers from Wrexham 1945 deaths Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wrexham A.F.C. players Wales men's international footballers Rhostyllen Victoria F.C. players