William Roberts (born 1859) 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 lea ...

who played as a forward in the 1870s and 1880s and made six appearances for

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

, scoring twice.

Football career

Roberts was born in

Llangollen Llangollen () is a town and community (Wales), community, situated on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, in Denbighshire, Wales. Its riverside location forms the edge of the Berwyn range, and the Dee Valley section of the Clwydian Range and Dee Val ...

in north-east Wales and started his football career at his local club. His international debut came when he was selected in place of his Llangollen colleague, Jack Roberts, for the first international match between

and

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 ...

on 18 January 1879. Roberts was one of only two of the Welsh team who were not associated with the

Oswestry Oswestry ( ; ) is a market town, civil parish and historic railway town in Shropshire, England, close to the England–Wales border, Welsh border. It is at the junction of the A5 road (Great Britain), A5, A483 road, A483 and A495 road, A495 ro ...

club, the other being John Price. The match was played at the

Kennington Oval Kennington is a district in south London, England. It is mainly within the London Borough of Lambeth, running along the boundary with the London Borough of Southwark, a boundary which can be discerned from the early medieval period between th ...

and was shortened to two halves of only 30 minutes each because of the heavy snowfall. Roberts, playing at outside-left, "scored" against England, but the goal was ruled out for an earlier infringement; England won the match 2–1. Roberts became a regular in the Welsh side, missing only one match over the next two years. In the match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 27 March 1880, Roberts scored a late consolation goal in a 5–1 defeat. Roberts was described in the match report as "conspicuous throughout for his clever play" and received "loud applause" for his goal. This was the first Welsh goal scored in an international against Scotland. He had a brief foray into professional football, playing for English clubs

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' ...

and

Northwich Victoria Northwich is a market town and civil parish in the Cheshire West and Chester borough of Cheshire, England. It lies on the Cheshire Plain, at the confluence of the rivers River Weaver, Weaver and River Dane, Dane, east of Chester, south of Warr ...

in 1880 and 1881, before returning to his hometown with Berwyn Rangers.

International appearances

Roberts made six appearances for Wales in official international matches, as follows:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Roberts, William 1859 births People from Llangollen Footballers from Denbighshire Year of death missing Welsh men's footballers Men's association football forwards Wales men's international footballers Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Northwich Victoria F.C. players Berwyn Rangers F.C. players