Roger Charles Osborne (born 9 March 1950) is a 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 ...

who is best known for scoring the winning goal in the

1978 FA Cup Final The 1978 FA Cup Final was an association football match between Arsenal and Ipswich Town on 6 May 1978 at the old Wembley Stadium, London. It was the final match of the 1977–78 FA Cup, the 97th season of the world's oldest football knockout com ...

Biography

Born in

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

, East Suffolk in 1950, Osborne was signed by

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

from Suffolk & Ipswich League club Westerfield United in October 1970. He made his league debut on 27 October 1973 against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Portman Road, Ipswich Town winning 2–0. In 1978, he was part of the Ipswich team that won the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

, scoring the winning goal in the 77th minute, in a 1–0 victory. His celebration upon scoring the winning goal caused him to faint and be substituted with only ten minutes of the match remaining. In 1979, he was loaned to NASL side

Detroit Express The Detroit Express was a soccer team based in suburban Detroit that played in the now defunct North American Soccer League (NASL) from 1978 to 1980. Its home field was the Pontiac Silverdome. The Express were co-owned by Jimmy Hill, Roger ...

, for whom he played 22 matches. Osborne played his final game for Ipswich on 15 November 1980 in a league match against

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

. In 1981, he moved to

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

where he played out until 1986, making over 200 appearances. After retiring from professional football, he worked as a lorry driver and at the Willis Faber Sports Centre in

Rushmere St Andrew Rushmere St Andrew is a village, civil parish and electoral ward adjacent to part of the eastern edge of the borough of Ipswich in the East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England. The parish includes most of Rushmere Heath and parts of the Ipsw ...

, which was run by former

Colchester Colchester ( ) is a city in Essex, in the East of England. It had a population of 122,000 in 2011. The demonym is Colcestrian. Colchester occupies the site of Camulodunum, the first major city in Roman Britain and its first capital. Colches ...

manager

Dick Graham Richard D. Graham (6 May 1922 – 7 March 2013) was an English footballer and football manager who played and coached in the Football League. He played as a goalkeeper for Crystal Palace, making over 150 league appearances. He went on to manage ...

. He also played for non-League clubs Sudbury Town,

Braintree Town Braintree Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Braintree, Essex, England. They are currently members of and play at Cressing Road. History The club was formed on 24 September 1898 as Manor Works, the works team o ...

, Felixstowe Port & Town and SIL club

Westerfield Westerfield is a village in Suffolk, England. It lies about two miles north of the centre of Ipswich in the East Suffolk District, and is served by Westerfield railway station on the Ipswich–Lowestoft East Suffolk Line. Amenities Westerfield ...

, whom he also managed.Soccer: Osborne is proof that dreams do come true
Echo, 2 July 2001 Osborne became the manager of the sports centre, now known as the Ipswich School Sports Centre (ISSC) Sports Centre but is now retired.

Honours

Ipswich Town *

: 1977–78 Individual *

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 ...

: 1981–82 Fourth Division * Colchester United Player of the Year: 1985–86 * Ipswich Town Hall of Fame: Inducted 2010

References

External links

Ipswich Town F.C. review of '77-'78 season
{{DEFAULTSORT:Osborne, Roger 1950 births People from Suffolk Coastal (district) Living people Ipswich Town F.C. players Detroit Express players Colchester United F.C. players Sudbury Town F.C. players Braintree Town F.C. players Felixstowe & Walton United F.C. players North American Soccer League (1968–1984) players Association football midfielders English footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate soccer players in the United States English expatriate footballers FA Cup Final players