Peter Roney
Peter Roney (15 January 1887 – 25 August 1930) was a professional footballer who played in goal for Norwich City and Bristol Rovers prior to the First World War.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 15 January 1887 | ||
| Place of birth | Rutherglen, Scotland | ||
| Date of death | 25 August 1930 (aged 43)[1] | ||
| Place of death | Clydebank, Scotland | ||
| Playing position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| –1906 | Cambuslang Hibernian | ||
| 1906–1907 | Ayr | 18 | (0) |
| 1907–1909 | Norwich City | 69 | (0) |
| 1909–1915 | Bristol Rovers | 178 | (1) |
| –1919 | Ayr United | 0 | (0) |
| 1919–1921 | Albion Rovers | 10 | (0) |
| 1921 | Ashington | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only | |||
Footballing career
Roney began his footballing career in Scotland with Cambuslang Hibernian, before moving to Second Division club Ayr in 1906.[1] He moved to England in 1907 and joined Norwich City.[2] Two years later, Roney joined Bristol Rovers and became one of the first goalkeepers to score a goal,[3] when he scored from the penalty spot in the club's final match of the 1909–10 season.[4] As of July 2020, Roney is the only goalkeeper to have scored for Bristol Rovers.[5] He made a total of 178 Southern League appearances during his six-year stint with the club.[6] Roney finished his career after the First World War with Ayr United, Albion Rovers and Ashington.[1]
Personal life
Roney was born in Rutherglen in Scotland in January 1887.[1] He married his wife Violet in 1909, and at the time of the 1911 census he had one son, Kenneth.[7]
In 1914 Roney joined the 17th Middlesex Battalion, better known as the Football Battalion, with whom he served as a private in the First World War.[8] He later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps.[8] He found the realities of war difficult to cope with and the mental traumas that he suffered meant that he only briefly returned professional football,[1] it being reported in 1919 that he had undergone "such experiences during the war that he is unlikely to be heard of again in professional football".[9]
You could hear the Germans talking and singing among themselves as though there was no war on at all. Then all of a sudden our artillery would send them a reminder, and then all you could hear were cries of agony. I've nearly turned grey listening to the groans of the wounded.
— Peter Roney, March 1917[9]
His plight became a matter of concern to Bristol Rovers in 1921 when he was said to have been "down on his luck" and "[lying] on a bed of sickness", suffering from severe rheumatism as a result of his time fighting in the war.[2] The directors of the football club donated ten guineas (£10.10s) to him and arranged for a collection to be made at a Southern League match between Bristol Rovers and Norwich City, his two former clubs.[10]
Roney died on 25 August 1930 in Clydebank, Scotland, at the age of 43.[1]
References
- Litster, John. Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players. Norwich: PM Publications.
- "Roney Peter Image 2 Norwich City 1907". Vintage Footballers. Retrieved 18 April 2020.
- "Goalscoring Goalies". Goalkeepers are Different. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- Byrne & Jay (2003), p.90
- Byrne & Jay (2003), p.91
- Byrne & Jay (2003), p.492
- "Census of England and Wales, 1911". 1911. Retrieved 22 January 2016 – via Findmypast.
- "Peter Roney | Service Record | Football and the First World War". Football and the First World War. Retrieved 12 November 2018.
- Hudson, John (30 December 2008). "From football pitch to battlefield". This is Bristol. Bristol Evening Post. Archived from the original on 23 May 2012. Retrieved 6 January 2010.
- "For Peter Roney". Western Daily Press. 11 November 1921. Retrieved 21 January 2016 – via British Newspaper Archive.
Sources
- Byrne, Stephen; Jay, Mike (2003). Bristol Rovers Football Club – The Definitive History 1883–2003. Stroud: Tempus. ISBN 0-7524-2717-2.