John Edgar Roberts (15 March 1910 – 1 June 1985) was an English

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 lea ...

and international

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

player. He had the nickname of "Nipper" Roberts. A

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, he played amateur football for Marine, Orrell, Blundellsands, and the Northern Nomads. He represented England amateurs before entering the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Southport Southport is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton in Merseyside, England. It lies on the West Lancashire Coastal Plain, West Lancashire coastal plain and the east coast of the Irish Sea, approximately north of ...

. He joined

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in May 1933 but left the club the following June after playing just one league game. He spent 18 months with Cheshire League champions

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

, scoring 54 goals in 59 league appearances. He returned to the Football League with

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

in December 1935. He twice finished as the club's top-scorer and no Football League player scored more league goals than Roberts in the 1937–38 season. He retired as a professional player to serve in the

Irish Guards The Irish Guards (IG) is one of the Foot guards#United Kingdom, Foot Guards regiments of the British Army and is part of the Guards Division. Together with the Royal Irish Regiment (1992), Royal Irish Regiment, it is one of the two Irish infant ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. He was captured by enemy forces but escaped from captivity to walk back to Allied territory in 1944.

Football career

Early career

Roberts played for

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

amateur sides Marine, Orrell, Blundellsands, and Northern Nomads, before signing with professional club

. During his amateur days he also represented the England national amateur team. He made his

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

debut for Southport on 21 November 1931, in a 1–1 draw with

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

. He scored his first goal in the

on 28 January 1933, in a 4–1 win over

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Haig Avenue Haig Avenue (originally known as Ash Lane) is a football stadium in Blowick, Southport, Merseyside, England, that holds 6,008 people (1,537 seated, 4,471 standing). Since its opening in 1905 it has been the home ground of Southport. Location T ...

. He played in the 1933

Liverpool Senior Cup The Liverpool County Football Association Senior Cup, commonly known as the Liverpool Senior Cup, is a Football (soccer), football knockout tournament involving teams from the city of Liverpool, England and surrounding areas. It is the County cu ...

final defeat to New Brighton, scoring Southport's goal in the 6–1 loss.

Liverpool

Roberts signed with

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

giants

in May 1933 and made his debut on 4 September 1933, in a 1–1 draw with

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

. This was his only appearance of the "Reds" highly disappointing 1933–34 campaign – which saw Liverpool narrowly avoiding the

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

zone – and he departed

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

for Cheshire League side

in June 1934.

Wigan Athletic

Forming a deadly partnership with Georgie Scott, Roberts proved to be a revelation for

Charlie Spencer Charles William Spencer (4 December 1899 – 9 February 1953) was an English football player and manager. Club career After service with the Royal Engineers during the First World War, Spencer joined Newcastle United from non-league football in ...

's "Latics". He scored 46 goals in 42 league games in 1934–35, as Wigan won the Cheshire League title. He also hit six goals in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, as the

side reached the Third Round of the competition, where they bowed out with a defeat at

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 Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

. He added eight goals in 15 league games the following season, but had already ensured himself a return to the

Port Vale

He joined Second Division side

for a large fee in December 1935. He hit 12 goals in 21 appearances in 1935–36, becoming the club's top-scorer despite playing only half of the season. His arrival proved to have come too late, however, and the "Valiants" failed to escape the relegation zone, finishing one point behind

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

in 20th place. Roberts nevertheless proved himself to be a forward of some promise, scoring a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

past

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in a 4–0 win at the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

on 2 March, and also finding the net twice at

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales, and was the home ground of Swansea City A.F.C. from the club’s founding until 2005. Following its closure, the club relocated to a newly constructed stadium, originally named the Libert ...

and once at

St James' Park St James' Park is a Association football, football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Newcastle United F.C., Newcastle United. With a seating capacity of 52,305, it is the List of football stadiums in England, 8th la ...

. Roberts was dropped from the first team in November of the 1936–37 season but still scored eight goals in 16 appearances. Vale finished the season in 11th-place in the Third Division North under the stewardship of former

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

international Warney Cresswell. Cresswell instead favoured a forward partnership of Tom Nolan and Tommy Ward, and also tried Syd Goodfellow in the number ten role. Cresswell soon left the club for another management post, allowing Roberts to return to the

first XI The First XI (or, less commonly, First 11) are the eleven primary players in an organisation's leading team, particularly a football or cricket team. A player who is considered a core part of the starting line-up in a First XI team is often the ...

at the start of the 1937–38 campaign. He was once again prolific, scoring 28 league and two FA Cup goals in 40 competitive appearances. This record made him not only Port Vale's top-scorer but also the Football League's joint-highest scorer, along with Everton's

Tommy Lawton Thomas Lawton (6 October 1919 – 6 November 1996) was an English football player and manager. Born in Farnworth and raised in Bolton, he played amateur football at Rossendale United, before he turned professional at Burnley on his 17t ...

. During the campaign, Roberts hit all four goals in a home win over Barrow on 25 September, and also hit a hat-trick past

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

in a 4–1 home win on 8 January. Despite his exploits in front of goal, Port Vale could only manage a 15th-place finish, and won just one of their 21 away games. Port Vale were placed in the Third Division South in the 1938–39 season. Roberts scored only ten goals in 21 games, having been forced to miss much of the season after dislocating his shoulder in a 4–0 win over

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

on New Year's Eve. The club could only manage an 18th-place finish, they lost six of their next eight games following Roberts's injury, finding the net just four times. Nolan finished as the club's top-scorer with 17 goals, though outside of Nolan and Roberts, there were no players with more than five league goals. He guested for

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

in the autumn of 1939. He left Port Vale for good the following year to fight for the

Allies An alliance is a relationship among people, groups, or states that have joined together for mutual benefit or to achieve some common purpose, whether or not an explicit agreement has been worked out among them. Members of an alliance are calle ...

. He scored 74 goals in 118 competitive games in five years at the club.

Baseball career

Roberts was also a

player and captained the England team.

World War II

During the war, Roberts enlisted in the

and was captured in

Tunisia Tunisia, officially the Republic of Tunisia, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It is bordered by Algeria to the west and southwest, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Tunisia also shares m ...

on 25 March 1943. He managed to escape from an Italian

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

in November 1943, walking to freedom with a broken neck.

Career statistics

Source:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, Jack 1910 births 1985 deaths Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers England men's amateur international footballers Men's association football forwards Northern Nomads F.C. players Marine A.F.C. players Southport F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Wrexham F.C. wartime guest players English Football League players Players of British baseball British Army personnel of World War II Irish Guards soldiers British World War II prisoners of war World War II prisoners of war held by Germany Military personnel from Liverpool