Gary Roberts (footballer, born 1960)

Gary Paul Michael Roberts (born 5 April 1960 in Rhyl) is a Welsh retired professional football forward and winger. As a player, he is best remembered for his six years in the Football League with Brentford, for whom he made over 220 appearances and is a member of the club's Hall of Fame. After retiring as a player, Roberts turned to management and spent 13 years as manager of Cambridge City.

Gary Roberts
Personal information
Full name Gary Paul Michael Roberts[1]
Date of birth (1960-04-05) 5 April 1960[1]
Place of birth Rhyl, Wales
Playing position(s) Forward, winger
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1980 Wembley
1980–1986 Brentford 187 (45)
1986– Barnet
Maidstone United
0000–1988 Welling United
1988 Hitchin Town 18 (9)
1988 St Albans City 3 (1)
1988–1989 Stevenage Borough 13 (5)
1991 Baldock Town
1991–1992 Stevenage Borough 15 (7)
1994 Baldock Town
1994–1995 Cambridge City 17 (4)
1995–1996 Hitchin Town 19 (3)
1996 Braintree Town
1996 Bishop's Stortford
National team
Wales U21
Teams managed
1999–2001 Baldock Town
2001–2002 St Albans City
2003–2016 Cambridge City
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Club career

Brentford

Roberts began his career at Isthmian League First Division club Wembley and secured a £6,000 move to the Football League with Third Division club Brentford in 1980.[2] He made 19 appearances and scored three goals in the 1980–81 season.[3] Following the departure of David Crown, Roberts was a regular during the following season, playing as a left winger, despite being right-footed.[4] He also served as the club's PFA representative.[5] Roberts came to the fore during the 1982–83 season, scoring 17 goals and amassing a career-high 58 appearances.[3] He followed up with another 15 goals in 1983–84 and won the Midweek Sports Special Goal of the Month award for his finish in a 4–1 League Cup second round first leg defeat to First Division club Liverpool.[4]

Roberts continued to find the net during the 1984–85 season, scoring a hat-trick against Gillingham and scoring four in the 6–0 rout of Newport County in the Football League Trophy Southern Area final, which included a three-minute hat-trick either side of half time.[4] Needing to raise transfer funds,[6] Roberts was transfer-listed by manager Frank McLintock and he turned down a move to Bradford City.[4] A move to fellow Third Division club Derby County prior to the start of the 1985–86 season was scuppered by an ankle injury.[4] Roberts remained at Griffin Park and managed just three appearances during the season,[3] before retiring from professional football at the end of the campaign due to the ankle injury.[6] Roberts made 224 appearances and scored 63 goals during his six years with the Bees.[4] He received a testimonial in May 1989, which raised £7,000 and was inducted into the Brentford Hall of Fame in February 2020.[7][8]

Non-league football

Roberts dropped into non-league football to sign for Conference club Barnet in 1986. He scored six goals during the 1986–87 season,[9] which saw the Bees narrowly miss out on promotion to the Football League after as finishing runners-up to Scarborough.[10] Spells with other Conference clubs Maidstone United and Welling United followed before Roberts dropped down to the Isthmian League Premier Division to sign for Hitchin Town towards the end of the 1987–88 season.[11][12] He signed for St Albans City in 1988 and three goals in five games before departing the club.[13] Alternating spells with Stevenage Borough and Baldock Town followed from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s.[14][15] Spells with Southern League clubs Cambridge City and Braintree Town followed,[14] plus a second spell with Hitchin Town,[12] before Roberts retired from football in 1996, following a short stint with Bishop's Stortford.[15]

International career

Roberts won one cap for the Wales U21 team.[4]

Management career

Baldock Town

Roberts took over as joint-manager of former club Baldock Town in 1999.[5] Working alongside Steve Cook, the pair managed the Southern League First Division East club until it folded in 2001.[5]

St Albans City

Roberts again returned to one of his former clubs, St Albans City, to take over as assistant alongside manager Steve Cook in 2001.[16] A mid-table finish followed in the 2001–02 season, bu the pair were sacked in December 2002, with the club top of the Isthmian League Premier Division table.[5]

Cambridge City

Roberts took over as manager of Cambridge City in January 2003.[11] In what remained of the 2002–03 season, he managed to steer the club away from relegation from the Southern League Premier Division.[17] An eighth-place finish followed in 2003–04, before a restructuring of the non-league pyramid in 2004 saw the Lilywhites playing in the newly formed Conference South for the 2004–05 season.[17] Roberts led the club to a second-place finish, but the season ended in heartbreak after defeat to Eastbourne Borough in the playoff semi-finals.[18]

Roberts kept City in the Conference South for three further seasons, before suffering demotion back to the Southern League Premier Division in 2008, due to irregularities with the club's Milton Road ground.[17] Over the following six seasons, Roberts guided City to five top-six finishes and a memorable run to the first round proper of the FA Cup in the 2012–13 season, taking League One club Milton Keynes Dons to a replay before being knocked out.[17] He stepped down as manager at the end of the 2015–16 season.[19]

Personal life

Roberts is a constable with the Hertfordshire Constabulary.[5]

Career statistics
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoals Apps Goals Apps GoalsAppsGoals
Brentford 1980–81[3] Third Division 19 3 0 0 0 0 — 19 3
1981–82[3] 40 8 2 1 2 0 — 44 9
1982–83[3] 45 12 3 2 7 3 — 55 17
1983–84[3] 41 10 4 3 3 2 2[lower-alpha 1] 0 50 15
1984–85[3] 39 11 4 0 4 2 6[lower-alpha 1] 5 53 18
1985–86[3] 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
Total 187 45 13 6 16 7 8 5 224 63
Hitchin Town 1987–88[20] Isthmian League Premier Division 18 9 — — 1[lower-alpha 2] 0 19 9
St Albans City 1988–89[13] Isthmian League Premier Division 3 1 — — 2[lower-alpha 3] 2 5 3
Stevenage Borough 1988–89[14] Isthmian League Second Division North 10 5 — — — 10 5
1989–90[14] 3 0 2 0 — 2[lower-alpha 4] 1 7 1
Total 13 5 2 0 — 2 1 17 6
Stevenage Borough 1991–92[14] Isthmian League First Division 15 7 0 0 — 1[lower-alpha 5] 0 16 7
Stevenage Borough total 28 12 2 0 — 3 1 33 13
Hitchin Town 1995–96[21] Isthmian League Premier Division 19 3 2 0 — 7[lower-alpha 6] 3 28 6
Hitchin Town total 37 12 2 0 — 8 3 47 15
Career total 25269176 16 7 19 930491
  1. Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. Appearance in Herts Charity Cup
  3. 1 appearance and 1 goal in Isthmian League Cup, 1 appearance and 1 goal in Herts Senior Cup
  4. 1 appearance and 1 goal in Herts Charity Cup, 1 appearance in A.C. Delco Cup
  5. Appearance in Loctite Trophy
  6. 4 appearances and 2 goals in Isthmian League Cup, 1 appearance in Isthmian League Full Members' Cup, 1 appearance and 1 goal in Herts Senior Cup, 1 appearance in Herts Charity Cup

Honours
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References
  1. "Gary Roberts". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  2. Croxford, Mark; Lane, David; Waterman, Greville (2011). The Big Brentford Book of the Eighties. Sunbury, Middlesex: Legends Publishing. pp. 331–332. ISBN 978-1906796716.
  3. White, Eric, ed. (1989). 100 Years Of Brentford. Brentford FC. pp. 396–398. ISBN 0951526200.
  4. Haynes, Graham; Coumbe, Frank (2006). Timeless Bees: Brentford F.C. Who's Who 1920–2006. Harefield: Yore Publications. p. 135. ISBN 978-0955294914.
  5. "PC Robbo's At Ease And Happy To Go It Alone". The Non League Football Paper – Daily football news. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  6. "First, Best, Worst: Gary Roberts". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  7. Griffin Gazette: Brentford's Official Matchday Magazine versus Crewe Alexandra. Quay Design of Poole. 6 April 1996. p. 20.
  8. "Gary Roberts enters Hall of Fame". www.brentfordfc.com. Retrieved 13 February 2020.
  9. "Barnet Football Club Supporters Association". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  10. Footymad Limited. "Barnet pipped for promotion by Scarborough". Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  11. "Cambridge City F.C. – Manager". Archived from the original on 11 September 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  12. "Gary Roberts". fishpondersfactsandstats.info. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  13. "St Albans City F.C. Statistics". saintsstatistics.co.uk. Retrieved 16 December 2016.
  14. "Stevenage Player: Gary Roberts profile". BoroGuide. Retrieved 13 July 2016.
  15. A Cambridge Lad. "Gary Roberts – Cambridge City Football Club". Archived from the original on 2 July 2017. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
  16. "Non-League: St Albans look to Jennings". The Daily Telegraph. 28 January 2002. Retrieved 22 October 2010.
  17. Cambridge City F.C. at the Football Club History Database
  18. "No fairytale ending to City's record breaking season". www.cambridgecityfc.com. Retrieved 28 April 2019.
  19. "Gary Roberts steps down as Cambridge City boss after 13 years in charge". The Non League Football Paper – Daily football news. Retrieved 12 November 2016.
  20. "Fixtures 1980–1989". fishpondersfactsandstats.info. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  21. "Fixtures 1990–1999". fishpondersfactsandstats.info. Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  • Gary Roberts at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
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