Haydon Cameron Roberts (born 10 May 2002) is an English 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 plays as a left back & centre back for Championship side

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 ...

Club career

Brighton & Hove Albion

Roberts made his professional and first team debut for Brighton & Hove Albion, whose academy he had progressed from, on 25 September 2019 in the

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

at home against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

where he scored Brighton's only goal in a 3–1 defeat. His next appearance for ''The Seagulls'' came almost a year later, on 17 September 2020. This appearance again came in the

, this time coming on as a substitute in the 4–0 home victory over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Rochdale (loan)

Roberts signed a season long loan deal with League One side

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 16 October 2020. He made his debut for ''The Dale'' four days later in which was also his professional league debut, playing the full match and helping keep a clean sheet in the 1–0 away win over Burton Albion. Roberts made 25 appearances in the league and in all competitions for ''The Dale'' finishing in 21st place, thus being relegated from the third tier.

Return to the Albion

He made his first appearance in the 2021–22 season on 24 August, in the EFL Cup second round fixture away at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Caerdydd) 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 R ...

where he helped keep a clean sheet in the 2–0 victory. He featured in a

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 ...

matchday squad for the first time on 11 September, remaining as an unused substitute in the 1–0 away win over

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

Derby (loan)

On 9 July 2022, Roberts joined

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club Derby County on loan for the 2022–23 season. He scored his first goal for Derby and first ever in a league game on 12 November, heading home from a

Conor Hourihane Conor Geraroid Hourihane () (born 2 February 1991) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Derby County and the Republic of Ireland national team. His previous clubs include Aston Villa, Barnsley, Plymout ...

corner in the 3–1 away win over

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. For reward for scoring the goal, Roberts' bizarrely received a mug by head coach Paul Warne. Under Warne, Roberts played in central defence for Derby and stated Roberts was ''"his kind of player"'' and hinted interest at wanting Roberts to stay at Pride Park beyond his loan spell. Roberts scored two goals in 44 appearances as Derby fell short of the League One play-offs.

Bristol City

On 14 June 2023, it was announced that Roberts had signed a three-year deal with Championship side

, officially joining on 1 July 2023. He made his ''Robins'' debut on 9 August in the

second round fixture against League One outfit

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

at Ashton Gate. Roberts' started the match and set up Harry Cornick's opener goal and later went on to assist Jason Knight's second goal of the evening in the 5–1 victory. Three days later, he made his Championship debut, coming on as a 76th minute substitute away at Millwall as Bristol City went on to score a 90+4th minute winner with a

Matty James Matthew Lee James (born 22 July 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays for Championship club Bristol City. His regular position is in midfield, but he can play in defence when required. James began his career with Manchester Unit ...

strike to score the only goal of the game.

International career

Roberts was included in the England squad for the

2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-17 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-17 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (37th edition if the Under-16 era is also included), the annual international youth football cham ...

Career statistics

References

2002 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football defenders Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Rochdale A.F.C. players Derby County F.C. players England men's youth international footballers Footballers from Brighton {{England-footy-defender-2000s-stub