Liam Joseph Roberts (born 21 November 1994) 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

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 ...

for

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 ...

side

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

, on loan from

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

. He was named Northampton Town Player of the Season and Player's Player of the Season 2021–22.

Career

Walsall

Roberts began his career at Walsall's

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if t ...

before joining

Romulus Romulus () was the legendary foundation of Rome, founder and King of Rome, first king of Ancient Rome, Rome. Various traditions attribute the establishment of many of Rome's oldest legal, political, religious, and social institutions to Romulus ...

on a work experience loan on 4 December 2012. He was released by Walsall on 7 May 2014. However, Roberts subsequently re-signed for the club on 22 July 2014 as cover for

Richard O'Donnell Richard Mark O'Donnell (born 12 September 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Blackpool. Having started his career with Sheffield Wednesday's youth system, O'Donnell progressed to the first team where he ...

and Craig MacGillivray. Roberts was immediately sent out on loan to

Rushall Olympic Rushall Olympic Football Club is an English football club based in Rushall, a former mining village now forming part of the northern suburbs of Walsall. The team plays in the . History Early years Although football had been played in the villa ...

. His loan deal with the Pics was terminated early to allow him to join Rainworth Miners Welfare on 9 September 2014. Roberts then joined

Conference A conference is a meeting of two or more experts to discuss and exchange opinions or new information about a particular topic. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always decisions, are the main p ...

side

Southport Southport is a seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. At the 2001 census, it had a population of 90,336, making it the eleventh most populous settlement in North West England. Southport lies on the Irish ...

on 27 November 2014, alongside teammate

Amadou Bakayoko Amadou Bakayoko (born 1 January 1996) is a Sierra Leonean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Scottish Premiership club Dundee, on loan from club Forest Green Rovers, and the Sierra Leone national team. Club career Bakayoko ...

. After failing to make an appearance for Southport, Roberts enjoyed a successful spell with Gresley in the second half of the season after joining on 16 January 2015. Roberts made eighteen appearances for Gresley as they challenged for a play-off place in the

Northern Premier League Division One South The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

. He was handed a new one-year contract by Walsall on 5 June 2015. Roberts returned to Gresley on a three-month loan on 14 August 2015. He was recalled by Walsall in October, joining the matchday squad for the first time as an unused substitute in the Saddlers' victory over Burton on 10 October 2015. Six days later, Roberts joined

Rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

on a one-month loan. He made six appearances for the club before returning to Walsall. Roberts finally made his debut for Walsall on 6 February 2016 in a 3–0 home defeat against

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Limehouse, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east ...

, following injuries to both

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 ...

and Craig MacGillivray. In July 2016, after signing a new one-year contract with Walsall, he joined

Chester Chester is a cathedral city and the county town of Cheshire, England. It is located on the River Dee, close to the English–Welsh border. With a population of 79,645 in 2011,"2011 Census results: People and Population Profile: Chester Loca ...

on a season-long loan. He made 15 appearances in the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

, including a run of six consecutive clean sheets between September and October. Roberts finally established himself as Walsall's first-choice goalkeeper during the 2017–18 season, making 28 appearances in all competitions and being rewarded with a new two-and-a-half-year contract on 20 February 2018. He signed a new contract in November 2019.

Northampton Town

On 22 June 2021, Roberts signed for

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

for an undisclosed fee. He was named in the PFA

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

Team of the Year after keeping 20 clean sheets throughout the season. At the end of his contract, Roberts was offered a new deal by the club but declined and left as a free agent.

Middlesbrough

On 21 June 2022, Roberts signed for

on a two-year contract. On 18 July 2023, Roberts joined

on a season-long loan.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual *

EFL Golden Glove The EFL Golden Glove, formerly Football League Golden Glove, is an annual association football award, given to the goalkeeper who has kept the most clean sheets in each of the three EFL divisions. Originally, clean sheets in the league (Champion ...

: League Two 2021–22 * Northampton Town Player of the Year: 2021–22 *

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...

: League Two 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Liam 1994 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Walsall F.C. players Romulus F.C. players Rushall Olympic F.C. players Rainworth Miners Welfare F.C. players Southport F.C. players Gresley Rovers F.C. players Rugby Town F.C. players Chester F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players English Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players Footballers from Walsall Middlesbrough F.C. players