Neil Roberts (born 7 April 1978) is a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peop ...

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 ...

and

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 ...

international. He is currently working as a project manager for

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

Career

Roberts started his career in 1994 when he played 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 ...

. After signing for the club as a trainee, he made his debut on 27 September 1997 during a 0–0 draw with

Chesterfield Chesterfield may refer to: Places Canada * Rural Municipality of Chesterfield No. 261, Saskatchewan * Chesterfield Inlet, Nunavut United Kingdom * Chesterfield, Derbyshire, a market town in England ** Chesterfield (UK Parliament constitue ...

before going on to score five goals in his next four games. He became an established first-team player at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground ( cy, Y Cae Ras) is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C. It is the world's oldest international football stadium that still hosts international matches, having hosted Wales' first home i ...

, making 75 appearances and scoring 17 goals. He left Wrexham in 2000 to join

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, ...

, where he made 125 appearances and scoring 19 goals. He also spent time on loan at

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

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 ...

, scoring on his debut for the latter 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 ...

. He then made a permanent move to

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team compete in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club play their home games at ...

in 2004. In 2006 Roberts came back to his hometown club Wrexham, where he became the team captain. He is a

Welsh international The Welsh International is an international badminton championship held in Wales since 1928 and is thereby one of the oldest badminton tournaments in the world. The tournament was halted during World War II and until 1956, between 1960 and 1966, a ...

with four

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. Roberts had a good start to the 2006–07 season by scoring two goals in the first two games. These goals were very important during this period as they were a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in a 2–1 away victory against local rivals Chester City on 20 August 2006 and the opening goal in Wrexham's 4–1

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

victory at Championship side

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 ...

on 23 August 2006. However, in their 2–1 victory against

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

on 9 September 2006, Roberts picked up an injury. He made his comeback in a 2–1 defeat against

Milton Keynes 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 ...

scoring the opening goal. However, Roberts suffered more injuries throughout the course of the season. On 21 April 2007 he came on as a second-half substitute in a game against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...

and scored his first goal since October 2006 and Wrexham's winning goal to ensure a vital 1–0 win in Wrexham's bid for survival in the

Football 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 ...

. He was released by Wrexham in May 2008 following the club's relegation to the

Football Conference The National League (named Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons) is an association football league in England consisting of three divisions, the National League, National League North, and National League South. It was called the ...

. On 24 June 2008, Roberts signed for

Welsh Premier League The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 20 ...

side

Rhyl Rhyl (; cy, Y Rhyl, ) is a seaside town and community (Wales), community in Denbighshire, Wales. The town lies within the Historic counties of Wales, historic boundaries of Flintshire (historic), Flintshire, on the north-east coast of Wales at ...

, where he combined playing with coaching opportunities and his business interests. After one season at Rhyl, Roberts left to take over as a project manager at

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 ...

side

Personal life

Neil's daughter Mia Roberts played for Wrexham A.F.C. Women until she left the team on 11 August 2023.

Honours

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third ti ...

champion, 2002–03 *

Team of the Year: 2008–09

References

External links

*
Welsh Premier profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Neil 1978 births Living people Footballers from Wrexham Welsh men's footballers Wales men's international footballers Wales men's under-21 international footballers Wrexham A.F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Hull City A.F.C. players Doncaster Rovers F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Rhyl F.C. players English Football League players Cymru Premier players Men's association football forwards Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff