William Roberts (born 1863) was a Welsh

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 played as a

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in the 1880s and made one appearance for

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 ...

Football career

Roberts was born in

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 ...

in north-east Wales and started his football career at his local club. At Rhyl, he was a "good dribbler and very tricky" who "combined well with his colleagues". He was an opportunistic player who excelled at "individual runs". As team captain, he helped Rhyl reach the final of the Northern Welsh F.A. in 1883. His solitary international appearance came at the

Kennington Oval The Oval, currently known for sponsorship reasons as the Kia Oval, is an international cricket ground in Kennington, located in the borough of Lambeth, in south London. The Oval has been the home ground of Surrey County Cricket Club since it ...

against

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

on 3 February 1883 when he was a late replacement for Thomas Britten, thus becoming the first international player from Rhyl. His international appearance was not a success as the match finished 5–0 in favour of the home country with three goals from Clement Mitchell. Roberts' performance was criticised for his lack of experience: "He may play fairly well for his own club but cannot be said to have been a success against England".

Later career

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by trade, Roberts moved to

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in 1885, where he turned out for the local Welsh expatriate side.

References

1863 births Sportspeople from Rhyl Year of death missing Welsh footballers Association football forwards Wales international footballers Rhyl F.C. players {{Wales-footy-forward-stub