Philip Roberts

For the Bristol Rovers and Portsmouth player of the 1970s, see Phil Roberts.
Philip Roberts
Personal information
Full namePhilip James Roberts[1]
Date of birth7 April 1994
Place of birthNewham, London, England
Height1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)
Playing positionStriker
Club information
Current team
Alloa Athletic
(on loan from Dundee)
Youth career
–2010Norwich City
2010–2012Arsenal
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps†(Gls)†
2012–2013Arsenal0(0)
2012–2013→ Inverness CT (loan)17(1)
2013–2014Falkirk26(5)
2014–Dundee8(0)
2015–→ Alloa Athletic (loan)7(0)
National team
2009–2011Republic of Ireland U175(4)
2011Republic of Ireland U192(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 00:39, 20 April 2015 (UTC).
† Appearances (Goals).

Philip James Roberts (born 7 April 1994 in Newham, London) is an Irish footballer who currently plays for Alloa Athletic on loan from Scottish Premiership club Dundee. He began his career at Arsenal, although he never made an appearance for the club. He spent time on loan at Inverness Caledonian Thistle, then signed for Falkirk and from there moved onto Dundee.

Early life

Roberts attended Ilford County High School in Barkingside, Ilford from the years of 11–16. He has a sister called Lauren – attending Woodford County, and a brother called Chris.[2] He played at youth levels for Charlton before being released, having been on trial at Liverpool he eventually ended up playing for Norwich featuring for their U18 team at the age of 16.

Career

Arsenal

Roberts joined Arsenal F.C. on 3 June 2010, from Norwich City on scholarship terms.[3] Robert's first season at the club went well as he scored four goals in 15 appearances at the under-18s level for Arsenal.[4] He then followed that up during the 2011–12 season scoring nine goals in only 23 matches for the under-18s and becoming the top scorer among the Arsenal under-18s and he made four appearances for the reserves, scoring 1 goal in the process against Wolverhampton Wanderers.[5] At the start of the 2012–13 season he joined Inverness on loan.[6] Phillips was released by Arsenal at the end of the 2012–13 season.[7]

Inverness CT (loan)

On 30 August 2012, Roberts signed a loan deal with Scottish Premier League side Inverness Caledonian Thistle until January 2013.[8][9] On 22 September, he made his professional debut for Inverness in the Scottish Premier League against Hibernian coming on as a 71st minute substitute for Conor Pepper as Inverness drew 2–2.[10] Seven days later, he scored his first professional goal and provided assist for Richie Foran in a 4–0 win over Dundee United.[11] After the match, Roberts says he couldn't ask for more after his performance.[12] On 24 November 2012, Roberts set up a goal for Billy McKay -who scored the only goal in the game – as Inverness beat Celtic 1–0.[13] On 7 December 2012, Roberts loan spell was extended until the end of the season.[14] In the semi-final of Scottish League Cup against Hearts, which was 1–1 draw and led to penalties shoot-out, Roberts missed the vital penalty when he shot and blazed over the bar in front of Inverness fans, allowing Hearts to go to the final.[15] Opposition goalkeeper Jamie MacDonald claims he spooked Roberts, into to cause him miss the penalty.[16]

Falkirk

Following his release from Arsenal, Roberts went on trial with League Two side, Wycombe Wanderers, scoring two goals in a pre-season friendly at Farnborough before the match was abandoned after the pitch was dangerous to play.[17]

On 26 July 2013, Roberts return to Scotland, again, by joining Scottish Championship side Falkirk after playing as a trialists. Roberts joined Manager Gary Holt, who knew him from his time at Norwich City and signed a two-year contract, subjected to international clearance.[18] The next day, on 27 July 2013, Roberts made his Falkirk's debut, in the first round of the Ramsdens Cup, in a 2–1 win over Clyde.[19] Roberts continued to make an impressive display with the club, including scoring a hat-trick in a 3-0 win over Livingston on 24 August 2013.[20] Since then, Roberts struggled to make a goal-scoring form, having being overshadowed by his striking partner, Rory Loy.

On 23 March 2014, Roberts was sent off in a game against Alloa Athletic, a game in which Falkirk lost 3-0. Roberts was involved in an incident with Alloa's Michael Doyle, which led to Roberts' sending off.[21] As a result of his sending off, Roberts was given a six match ban and this would lead the club making an "investigation the manner in line with its disciplinary procedures".[22] This was to be his last appearance in a Falkirk shirt, and his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.[23][24]

As a result of the incident, Roberts and Holt had fallen out, with Holt made criticism towards Roberts by describing his behavior as “cowardly”. Roberts responded his comment as "harsh".[25]

Dundee

Dundee, who had been promoted to the Scottish Premiership, signed Roberts on 8 May 2014.[26] After the move, Roberts says joining the club was an easy decision to make following discussions with manager Paul Hartley.[25] He made his debut on 26 August 2014, as Dundee beat Raith Rovers 4–0 in the Scottish League Cup.[27]

On 2 February 2015, Roberts moved on loan to Alloa Athletic until the end of the 2014–15 season.[28]

International

Roberts is eligible to play for the Republic of Ireland through his parents as well as England and Jamaica.[3] Roberts made his Republic of Ireland U17 debut against the Czech Republic U17s in 2009, coming on with the score 1–1 before giving the Republic of Ireland the lead.[29]

Career statistics

Club

As of 20 April 2015[30][31]
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Arsenal 2012–13 0000000000
Inverness Caledonian Thistle (loan) 2012–13 171303000231
Falkirk 2013–14 265103120326
Dundee 2014–15 80002000100
Alloa Athletic (loan) 2014–15 7000000070
Career total 586408120727

References

  1. ↑ "Premier League Clubs submit Squad Lists" (PDF). Premier League. 30 October 2012.
  2. ↑ "Young Guns: Philip Roberts". Arsenal F.C. 11 November 2011.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Arsenal sign 16-year-old striker!". Just Arsenal. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  4. ↑ Bird, Jorge. "Player Profile: Philip Roberts". Arseblog. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "2011/12 Player Review: Philip Roberts". Arsenal Football Club. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  6. ↑ "Roberts finalises Inverness loan move". Arsenal Football Club. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  7. ↑ "Arsenal release 10 young players". Arsenal F.C. 30 May 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  8. ↑ "Inverness Caledonian Thistle announce loan partnership with Arsenal". sport.stv.tv. STV. 29 August 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  9. ↑ "Inverness loan kid told move will make him a man". dailyrecord.co.uk. Daily Record. 4 September 2012. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  10. ↑ Lamont, Alesdair. "Hibernian 2–2 Inverness". BBC. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  11. ↑ "Inverness CT 4 Dundee United 0: Foran fires Caley to thumping win over terrible Terrors". Daily Record. 30 September 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  12. ↑ "Inverness kid Philip Roberts in dreamland with first goal AND discovering he's in FIFA game". Daily Record. 1 October 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  13. ↑ "Celtic 0 Inverness CT 1: Hoops flop in SPL again after European exertions". Daily Record. 25 November 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  14. ↑ "Philip Roberts extends his stay in the Highlands with Inverness Caledonian Thistle". Daily Record. 7 December 2012. Retrieved 28 January 2013.
  15. ↑ "Inverness CT 5 Hearts 6: Hearts book their place in the League Cup final with dramatic penalty win". Daily Record. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  16. ↑ "Hero Hearts keeper Jamie MacDonald: I spooked Inverness CT into missing crucial penalty". Daily Record. 27 January 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  17. ↑ "Blues friendly abandoned at half time". Bucks Free Press. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  18. ↑ "Falkirk sign Arsenal striker Roberts". The Falikirk Herald. 26 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  19. ↑ "Bairns progress with 2–1 victory over Clyde". Falkirk Herald. 27 July 2013. Retrieved 29 July 2013.
  20. ↑ "Livingston 0-3 Falkirk". BBC Sport. 24 August 2013. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  21. ↑ "Alloa hero Michael Doyle sympathises with Falkirk hot head Phil Roberts after 3-0 win". Alloa Advertiser. 25 March 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  22. ↑ "Hot head Roberts given six game suspension". Falkirk Herald. 27 March 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  23. ↑ "PHIL ROBERTS DEPARTS". Falkirk Official Website. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  24. ↑ "Roberts’ Falkirk contract torn up". Falkirk Herald. 28 March 2014. Retrieved 13 April 2014.
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 "Roberts: I’ll ditch bad-boy tag and repay faith Dundee boss has in me". Dundee Evening Telegraph. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 2014.
  26. ↑ "ROBERTS SIGNS". Dundee Official Website. 8 May 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2014.
  27. ↑ Christie, James (26 August 2014). "DUNDEE VS RAITH ROVERS". Dundee F.C. Retrieved 26 August 2014.
  28. ↑ "PHIL JOINS ALLOA ON LOAN". Dundee F.C. 2 February 2015. Retrieved 2 February 2015.
  29. ↑ "Player Profile: New Signing Philip Roberts". Young Guns. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
  30. ↑ "Philip Roberts Stats". http://uk.soccerway.com''. Soccerway. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  31. ↑ "Philip Roberts". soccerbase.com. Soccerbase. Retrieved 26 September 2012.