Gareth Roberts playing for Doncaster. |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Gareth Wyn Roberts | ||
| Date of birth | 6 February 1978 | ||
| Place of birth | Wrexham, Wales | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Derby County | ||
| Number | 3 | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1994–1999 | Liverpool | 0 | (0) |
| 1999 | Panionios | 15 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 1999–2006 | Tranmere Rovers | 271 | (11) |
| 2006–2010 | Doncaster Rovers | 144 | (8) |
| 2010– | Derby County | 47 | (0) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2000–2005 | Wales | 9 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:30, 2 January 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Gareth Wyn Roberts (born 6 February 1978 in Wrexham, Clwyd) is a Welsh international footballer who plays for Derby County, where he plays as a left-back. He has played over 400 league games in a career which has taken in five different clubs and was part of the Tranmere Rovers side which reached the club's first major cup final in 2000.
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Roberts started his career as a trainee at Liverpool and played alongside future England internationals Michael Owen and Jamie Carragher in the 1996 FA Youth Cup winning side, who beat a West Ham United side featuring Frank Lampard and Rio Ferdinand. He failed to make the grade at Anfield, however, and was released by the club which led to him being signed up by Ronnie Whelan, then manager of Greek side Panionios. His stay in Greece was very brief however, lasting just 15 league games, and he returned to England with a loan spell to Tranmere Rovers in August 1999, which became permanent in November the same year.
Roberts spend nine years at Prenton Park and made almost 270 league appearances for the club. It was whilst at Tranmere that Roberts came closest to winning a major domestic honour, as he was part of the Tranmere side which reached the club's first ever major cup final, the 2000 Football League Cup Final, where they narrowly lost out 2–1 to Premier League side Leicester City whilst they were still in the second tier. After a midtable finish that campaign, however, Roberts first full season at the club saw Tranmere relegated in bottom place. After three years of narrowly missing out on the playoffs, Tranmere finished third in the 2004–05 season, seven points from automatic promotion, and lost in the playoff semi finals on penalties to Hartlepool United, who had finished sixth. The club failed to recover from the disappointment, finishing a lowly 18th the following year, their lowest finish in Roberts stay at the club, and he left in July 2006 on a Bosman free transfer to join rival Football League One club Doncaster Rovers.[1] Including his loan spell, Roberts appeared for Tranmere 338 times in all competitions, scoring 12 goals.
Roberts won the Football League Trophy in his first season with Doncaster, though he was an unused substitute in the final itself. Roberts also scored his first goal for the Rovers in the final game of the 2006–07 season against Northampton Town – a "quality strike with his left foot, just outside the box."[1] Roberts helped Doncaster earn promotion to the Championship in his second season, playing a key role in Doncaster's season with 36 appearances and 3 goals, including a crucial winner against promotion rivals Nottingham Forest. He then appeared in all three of Doncaster's playoff games, culminating with a 1–0 victory over Leeds United in the final in front of 75, 132; the biggest crowd of Roberts career. Following promotion, Roberts signed a new two-year deal at Doncaster and he played a key role in the Doncaster side that comfortably retained its Championship status over the next two season, despite a much smaller budget than some of its rivals. Roberts appeared in 165 games for Doncaster, with Sean O'Driscoll stating that "Gareth has actually improved as a player since he has been here and I don't think he would want to go anywhere else by choice, unless he was offered terms we couldn't compete with."[2] This scenario became a possibility when he was linked with a move to Championship rivals Derby County upon the expiration of his contract in the summer of 2010.[2] Although Rovers offered Roberts a new deal, he opted to join Derby instead. Of the deal, Doncaster manager Sean O'Driscoll said "We have done what we can to keep him but we are still far away from what he has been offered. Since we (O'Driscoll and his management team) walked through the door, he has been a first class professional and got better. That is football and I think that he has found the decision difficult and at his age you understand that if he wants to move to pastures new, not to push him away as I would love him to have stayed, you have to be practical."[3]
On 13 May 2010, it was announced that Roberts had agreed to join Derby County on a 2-year deal when his contract with Doncaster expires on 1 July.[4] He was given the number 3 shirt, vacated by the departing left back Jay McEveley and was placed straight into the first team during the club's 2010–11 pre season fixtures. He made his Rams debut in their 2–1 win over Leeds United at Elland Road on the first game of the 2010/11 season. Roberts started each of Derby's opening five matches before an injury sustained in a 1–0 home defeat to Sheffield United ruled him out for a month. He returned to action in October 2010, playing the full game in a reserves defeat at Rotherham United.[5] Roberts was kept out of the first team by fellow leftback Dean Moxey on his return to availability until he earned a starting spot against Scunthorpe United when Moxey was unavailable with the flu.[6] Roberts was sent off for two yellow card offences as Derby held on for a 3–2 win.
Roberts won the first of his nine caps for Wales as a substitute against Finland in 2000. His last was as a last minute substitute against Slovenia in 2005.[2][7]
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