Harold Roberts (footballer)
Harold Roberts (12 January 1920 – 11 February 2007), also known as Harry Roberts, was an English professional footballer who made 213 appearances in the Football League playing for Chesterfield, Birmingham City, Shrewsbury Town and Scunthorpe United.[4] He played as an outside left.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Harold Roberts[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 12 January 1920 | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Date of death | 11 February 2007 (aged 87)[2] | ||
| Place of death | Chesterfield, England | ||
| Height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[3] | ||
| Position(s) | Outside left | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Everton | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 193?–1939 | Harrowby | ||
| 1939–1948 | Chesterfield | 92 | (9) |
| 1948–1951 | Birmingham City | 34 | (2) |
| 1951–1953 | Shrewsbury Town | 70 | (16) |
| 1953–195? | Scunthorpe United | 17 | (1) |
| 1955–1956 | Matlock Town | ||
| 1956–1957 | Gresley Rovers | ||
| 1957–19?? | Burton Albion | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Career edit
Roberts was born in Liverpool.[1] As a 16-year-old he spent a season with Everton, and then played for Harrowby. He joined Chesterfield in September 1939, just before the Football League was suspended for the duration of the Second World War.[2] During the war, Roberts served with No. 2 Commando. He was wounded in the legs and captured during Operation Chariot, the raid on the French port of Saint-Nazaire in 1942, and owed the possibility of a football career to the repair work carried out by a German surgeon.[2][5] Roberts spent 3+1⁄2 years in a prisoner-of-war camp in Bremen. On his return, he lodged with Chesterfield coach and former England international Joe Spence, whose individual work with Roberts played a major role in his recovery.[2]
He scored on his first-team debut, in the 1945–46 FA Cup at home to York City, and made his Football League debut on 31 August 1946, in the Second Division in a 1–1 draw at home to Bradford Park Avenue.[6] Described as "an outside-left of great distinction, ... skilful, intelligent and, above all, fast, with an excellent pin-point cross",[2] Roberts made 92 league appearances for the club in 2+1⁄2 years. In November 1948 he moved on to Birmingham City, recently promoted to the First Division, for a fee of £10,600, at the time a record fee received by the Chesterfield club.[2] During his time at Birmingham he suffered a number of injuries which restricted his appearances to 38 in a 2+1⁄2-year stay. At the end of the 1950–51 season, Roberts joined Shrewsbury Town of the Third Division South,[1] where he played regularly for two seasons[4] before finishing his league career with infrequent outings for Scunthorpe United over a further two seasons.[7]
Roberts then played non-league football for Matlock Town, Gresley Rovers, for whom he scored 6 goals from 38 games,[8] and Burton Albion, and helped with the coaching of Matlock Town's reserve team as they won the Central Alliance Division Two title and League Cup in the 1959–60 season.[3][9] During the 1960s Roberts spent eight years as a youth worker at Staveley Chantry youth club, where he established a football team. He then returned to Chesterfield F.C., initially as an assistant youth coach, and remained at the club until 1983, when he was one of several staff dismissed by a new board of directors. He later acted as a scout for Sheffield United and Rotherham United.[2][10]
Roberts was married to Dorothy and had two sons,[10] one of whom, Peter, also played league football for Chesterfield.[2][11] Harold Roberts died in hospital in Chesterfield in 2007 at the age of 87.[10]
References edit
- ^ a b c Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 120. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
- ^ a b c d e f g h . Chesterfield F.C. 12 February 2007. Archived from the original on 4 October 2011.
- ^ a b . Down Causeway Lane. Matlock Town F.C. Archived from the original on 7 May 2009.
- ^ a b "Harold Roberts". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 2 June 2009.
- ^ "St Nazaire Raid 28th March 1942". Commando Veterans Association. 26 March 2009. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
- ^ "Chesterfield's debutants" (XLSX). cfchistory.com. Stuart Basson. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ . Scunthorpe United F.C. 22 June 2007. Archived from the original on 23 February 2012.
- ^ "Harold Roberts". Gresley Rovers Player Database. Gresley F.C. Retrieved 18 October 2010.
- ^ . Down Causeway Lane. Matlock Town F.C. Archived from the original on 11 October 2008.
- ^ a b c . Derbyshire Times. 22 February 2007. Archived from the original on 7 October 2011.
- ^ "Chesterfield: 1946/47–2007/08". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 22 June 2009.
External links edit
- Harold Roberts at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
- Photos of Roberts at Commando Veterans Association website