Osian Roberts is a Welsh

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

coach and former player who was most recently assistant manager at

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

. In 2014 he was described in the media as "the most influential man in Welsh football."

Early life

Roberts was born in

Anglesey Anglesey (; cy, (Ynys) Môn ) is an island off the north-west coast of Wales. It forms a principal area known as the Isle of Anglesey, that includes Holy Island across the narrow Cymyran Strait and some islets and skerries. Anglesey island ...

, and was brought up in

Bodffordd Bodffordd () is a village and community in central Anglesey, Wales. As of the 2011 census, the community's population was 960. The community includes the hamlets of Trefor, Heneglwys and Bodwrog. Description and history Bodffordd is located ...

on the island.

Career

Roberts was a

central midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

, and captained the Welsh Schools side. He played in North Wales for

Bangor City Bangor City Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Dinas Bangor) are an inactive Welsh football club from the City of Bangor, Gwynedd. They started the 2021–22 season in the Cymru North the second level of the Welsh football league system, but ...

, Bethesda Athletic and Llangefni Town, before moving to the United States at the age of 19 after receiving a scholarship to attend

Furman University Furman University is a private liberal arts university in Greenville, South Carolina. Founded in 1826 and named for the clergyman Richard Furman, Furman University is the oldest private institution of higher learning in South Carolina. It became ...

. At Furman, he was named Southern Conference player of the year in 1986 and 1988. He later played in the

American Professional Soccer League The American Professional Soccer League (APSL) was a professional men's soccer league with teams from the United States and later Canada. It was formed in 1990 by the merger of the third American Soccer League with the Western Soccer League. It ...

for the

New Mexico Chiles The New Mexico Chiles were an American soccer club established in 1990 which competed in the American Professional Soccer League. In 1991, the team merged with the New Mexico Roadrunners and moved to the USISL until its disestablishment in 1996. ...

, where he was player-manager. After returning to Wales, he became

Football Development Officer in 1991. In June 2007 Roberts resigned as manager of

Porthmadog Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ffest ...

to take up the position of

Football Association of Wales The Football Association of Wales (FAW; cy, Cymdeithas Bêl-droed Cymru) is the Governing bodies of sports in Wales, governing body of association football and futsal in Wales, and controls the Wales national football team, Welsh national foo ...

technical director. He has also coached the Wales under-16, Wales under-18 and Wales B teams, as well as helping coach the women's under-17 team. In 2014, he was the subject of documentary series called ''Byd Pêl-droed Osian Roberts''; it was shown on S4C. On 21 July 2015, Roberts was promoted to assistant manager of the Wales national team under team manager Chris Coleman. Coleman resigned the manager role in November 2017 and Roberts stated that he wished to become the new national team manager. Roberts was retained as assistant manager following the appointment of

Ryan Giggs Ryan Joseph Giggs (né Wilson; 29 November 1973) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player. Regarded as one of the greatest players of his generation, Giggs played his List of one-club men in association football, entir ...

as Wales manager On 1 August 2019 it was announced that Roberts had become technical director of the Morocco national team. He resigned in July 2021. In August 2021 he became assistant manager to

Patrick Viera Patrick Vieira (born 23 June 1976) is a French professional association football, football manager (association football), manager and former player who is the manager of club Crystal Palace F.C., Crystal Palace. He is widely considered as one ...

. Viera was sacked by Crystal Palace in March 2023 with Roberts and other coaching staff also being released.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Osian 1960s births Living people Welsh footballers Welsh football managers Sportspeople from Anglesey Bangor City F.C. players Bethesda Athletic F.C. players New Mexico Chiles players American Professional Soccer League players Association football midfielders Association football coaches Crystal Palace F.C. non-playing staff Welsh expatriate footballers Welsh expatriate football managers Welsh expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer managers in the United States British expatriates in Morocco Expatriate football managers in Morocco Llangefni Town F.C. players