Ben Roberts (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ben James Roberts | ||
| Date of birth | 22 June 1975 | ||
| Place of birth | Bishop Auckland, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Charlton Athletic (Goalkeeper Coach) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1993–2000 | Middlesbrough | 16 | (0) |
| 1995 | → Hartlepool United (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 1995 | → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) | 15 | (0) |
| 1996 | → Bradford City (loan) | 2 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Millwall (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 1999 | → Millwall (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| 2000 | → Luton Town (loan) | 14 | (0) |
| 2000–2003 | Charlton Athletic | 1 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Reading (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 2002 | → Luton Town (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2003 | → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2003–2005 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 32 | (0) |
| 2007 | Derry City | 0 | (0) |
| 2009–2010 | Yeovil Town | 1 | (0) |
| Total | 110 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1997 | England U-21 | 1 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009–2010 | Yeovil Town (Goalkeeper Coach/Chief Scout) | ||
| 2010– | Charlton Athletic (Goalkeeper Coach) | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Ben James Roberts (born 22 June 1975 in Bishop Auckland) is a former English footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is currently goalkeeper coach at Charlton Athletic.
Middlesbrough
Roberts began his career with Middlesbrough, making 16 league appearances in seven seasons. After early loan spells at Hartlepool United, Wycombe Wanderers and Bradford City, his breakthrough came in the 1996-97 season. He began it at Middlesbrough as third choice behind Alan Miller and Gary Walsh.[1] As the season wore on, Miller was sold to West Bromwich Albion and Walsh struggled with form and injury and fell out of favour. However, Boro signed Mark Schwarzer from Bradford City to be no. 1. As Boro marched through to the latter stages of both domestic cups, Schwarzer played in the 1997 League Cup Final against Leicester City. The game ended in a draw and went to a replay. However before the replay came round, Schwarzer was injured in a league game against West Ham United, paving the way for Roberts to play. However they lost 1-0 after extra time after a Steve Claridge goal. Roberts kept his place in FA Cup games as Schwarzer was cup tied. This meant he kept goal in the 1997 FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium, where they lost 2–0 to Chelsea. However Boro's league form was not as good as their cup form and at the end of the season they were relegated from the Premier League. The following season he was mainly second choice behind Schwarzer and made just 6 league appearances, before suffering a serious back injury.[2] The back injury kept him out of the majority of the 1998-99, before ending the season on loan at Millwall (where he played in the 1999 Football League Trophy Final). After a back operation in early 2000, Roberts impressed during the final three months of the season on loan at Luton Town.
Later career
Roberts transferred to Charlton Athletic on a free transfer in the Summer of 2000. Whilst with Charlton he had further loan spells at Reading, Luton Town again and Brighton & Hove Albion, before a permanent move to Brighton in 2003. His only appearance for Charlton came on the last day of the 2002-03 FA Premier League season, as he came on as a substitute against Fulham after Dean Kiely was sent off.[3]
After helping Brighton to promotion in the 2004 League One Play-Off Final at the Millennium Stadium against Bristol City,[4] a recurrent back injury forced him to retire in 2005 at the age of 29. He then graduated from Roehampton University with a First Class Honors Degree in Sports Science and Coaching and won the Adidas 'Pursuit of Excellence' award for his dissertation entitled ‘A Biomechanical Analysis of a Football Goalkeepers Jumping Technique’.
In June 2009 he was appointed as goalkeeper coach and chief scout at Yeovil Town.[5] He made his Yeovil Town debut in the 3 - 3 draw with Swindon on 30 October 2010, replacing Stephen Henderson at half time who suffered a head injury.[6]
On 29 December, he left Yeovil Town for League One rivals Charlton Athletic.
He was also capped for England at under-21 level.[7]
References
- ↑ "THRILL AND BEN!; Roberts is Boro's No 1 for the Cup". thefreelibrary.com. 12 April 1997. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ↑ "Games played by Ben Roberts in 1997/1998". soccerbase.com. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ↑ "Fulham foil Charlton". BBC. 11 May 2003. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ↑ "Bristol City 0-1 Brighton". BBC. 30 May 2004. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ↑ "Duo join Yeovil's backroom staff". BBC Sport. 2009-06-25.
- ↑ "Yeovil 3 - 3 Swindon". BBC. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2013.
- ↑ CNN Sports Illustrated