Jamil Roberts (born 14 June 1998) 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 ...

who currently plays for Australian club

Peninsula Power FC Peninsula Power is an Australian soccer club from Redcliffe, Queensland. It was formed in 2000 following a merger of the Redcliffe City and Margate clubs. It competes in the National Premier Leagues Queensland. History Redcliffe City Soccer C ...

in the

National Premier Leagues Queensland The National Premier League Queensland, run by Football Queensland, is the top tier state-level football (soccer) competition in Queensland. The conference is a sub division of the National Premier Leagues. The inaugural season kicked off in Marc ...

. He previously played

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Kingd ...

for

Marshall University Marshall University is a public research university in Huntington, West Virginia. It was founded in 1837 and is named after John Marshall, the fourth Chief Justice of the United States. The university is currently composed of nine colleges: L ...

Youth career

Prior to college, Roberts played in England for the

Plymouth Argyle F.C. Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

under-18 team. He also attended

Ivybridge Community College Ivybridge Community College is a state-funded secondary school and academy in Ivybridge, Devon, England. Located on the southern slopes of Dartmoor, it takes students from the surrounding of the South Hams, from 14 contributory primary schools ...

College and amateur career

In 2017, his first season, Roberts appeared in 18 matches as a freshman, and became a mainstay in the starting lineup as a freshman. As a sophomore in 2018, Roberts scored five goals in 18 appearances for the Thundering Herd. He was also named the

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

Offensive Player of the Week in early November. In 2019, Roberts played in 18 matches, scoring eight times. He was named to the All-Conference USA second team. As a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, the 2020 season was postponed to the spring, with the NCAA Tournament also to be played in the spring. Ahead of the spring season, Roberts was drafted by

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City, often shortened to Sporting KC, is an American men's professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The administrative offices are located in Downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and t ...

77th overall in the 2021 MLS SuperDraft. However, he decided to stay at Marshall for his senior season. In the spring 2020 season, Roberts scored 2 goals in 13 regular season games. However, he came alive in the NCAA Tournament, scoring a goal in three straight games for Marshall (vs. Georgetown, vs. North Carolina, and vs. Indiana) to propel them to their first ever National Championship win. Whilst at college, Roberts also played in the

USL League Two USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

, appearing for West Virginia Alliance FC in 2019.

Professional career

Sporting Kansas City II

selected Roberts with the 77th overall pick in the 2021 MLS Draft. After deferring joining the organization until after his senior season at Marshall, Roberts signed with the club's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

affiliate

Sporting Kansas City II Sporting Kansas City II is a MLS Next Pro club affiliated with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. For the 2022 season they will play their home games at Rock Chalk Park at the University of Kansas in Lawrence, Kansas, as well as Swope S ...

on 1 July 2021. Roberts made his professional debut with the club on 10 July 2021 in a 1–0 victory over

Atlanta United 2 Atlanta United 2 are the reserve team of the Major League Soccer club Atlanta United FC. The team plays in the USL Championship, the second tier of American soccer. The team was established on November 14, 2017 and began their first professional ...

when he subbed in during the 67th minute. He scored his first professional goal on 12 August 2021 in a 4–2 loss vs.

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birmin ...

. He went on to make 16 appearances and scored 2 goals for the club. Following the 2021 season, Kansas City opted to declined their contract option on Roberts.

Tormenta FC

On 25 March 2022,

Tormenta FC South Georgia Tormenta FC is an American soccer organization based in Statesboro, Georgia, United States. Founded in 2015, the club fields a professional team in USL League One, the third tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, as well as a pre-pr ...

announced that it had signed Roberts for the 2022 USL League One season. Roberts made his debut for Tormenta coming on for Alex Morrell in the 69th minute of a 1–0 loss to

North Carolina FC North Carolina FC is an American professional soccer team in Cary, North Carolina, a suburb of Raleigh. Founded in 2006, the team plays in USL League One, the third tier of the American league system. The team has played its home games a ...

. Roberts gained his first assist for the club in a 2–0 win against

Birmingham Legion Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birmingh ...

in the U.S. Open Cup. On 6 November 2022, Roberts came on in the 78th minute in the 2022 USL League One Final against the Chattanooga Red Wolves to score the winning goal in a 2–1 victory. On 7 December 2022, it was announced that Tormenta FC had declined Roberts option to bring him back for the 2023 season.

Peninsula Power

After leaving

, Roberts joined

side Peninsula Power in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

on a two-year deal ahead of the 2023 season. Roberts made his debut for Peninsula Power in a 2–1 loss against

Sunshine Coast Wanderers Sunshine Coast Wanderers FC is an Australian association football, football club based in the Buderim, Australia that plays in the second tier NPL Queensland. The club was founded in 1972 as Buderim Wanderers FC. They continue to operate teams i ...

, starting and playing 58 minutes.

Career statistics

Honours

College

Marshall Thundering Herd *

regular season: 2019, 2020 * Conference USA Men's Soccer Tournament:

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Tournament The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champi ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Individual

* NCAA Men's Division I Offensive MOP Award: 2020

Professional

South Georgia Tormenta

* USL League One Championship: 2022

References

External links

Marshall Thundering Herd bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Jamil 1998 births Living people English expatriate sportspeople in Australia English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Footballers from Somerset Marshall Thundering Herd men's soccer players Men's association football forwards National Premier Leagues players People from Langport Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Sporting Kansas City draft picks Sporting Kansas City II players Tormenta FC players USL League Two players English expatriate men's footballers