Marc Roberts
Roberts with Birmingham City in 2019
Personal information
Full name Marc Roberts[1]
Date of birth (1990-07-26) 26 July 1990 (age 33)[2]
Place of birth Barnsley, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)[3]
Position(s) Defender
Team information
Current team
 Birmingham City
Number 4
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Wakefield
2011–2013 Worksop Town
2012–2013 → Buxton (loan)
2013 Buxton 0 (0)
2013–2015 FC Halifax Town 89 (9)
2015–2017 Barnsley 72 (5)
2017– Birmingham City 180 (7)
International career
2014–2015 England C 4 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:32, 26 December 2023 (UTC)

Marc Roberts (born 26 July 1990) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Birmingham City. Roberts began his career in non-league football, with Wakefield, Worksop Town, Buxton and FC Halifax Town, and was capped for England C, the team that represents England at semi-professional level. He joined League One club Barnsley in 2015, helped them gain promotion to the Championship, and captained the team. He signed for Birmingham in July 2017.

Life and career

Roberts was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire,[4] and raised in Penistone, where he attended Penistone Grammar School.[5] He played football for Barnsley Boys and for Barnsley College, and as a 17-year-old was offered a trial with Barnsley F.C. but a broken ankle prevented his taking part.[5]

Roberts began his senior football career with Wakefield of the Northern Premier League Division One North in 2008. After 17 first-team appearances, he had a trial with then Championship club Crystal Palace, on the recommendation of Wakefield manager Ronnie Glavin.[6] No deal ensued, and Roberts returned to Wakefield to complete a season in which he won the Directors' Player of the Season award. In 2009–10, he won both Players' and Supporters' Player of the Season awards. In both campaigns, he won more man-of-the-match awards than any other Wakefield player.[7] In 2011, he moved up a division, signing for Worksop Town.[8]

A few weeks into the season, manager Martin McIntosh was sacked;[9] he took over at another Premier Division club, Buxton, in February 2012,[10] and promptly took Roberts on loan.[11] Roberts played his part in Buxton avoiding relegation,[8] and returned to Worksop where he appeared on the winning side in the Sheffield Senior Cup final.[12] For 2012–13, Worksop's manager felt he had better defensive lineups without Roberts, who was keen to play regularly, so he was allowed to rejoin Buxton on loan for the season.[8] He took his statistics to 5 goals from 65 appearances in all competitions,[11] and was named Buxton's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year,[13] as well as gaining selection for the Northern Premier League Premier Division Team of the Year.[14] Roberts signed a permanent contract with Buxton in June 2013; although his Worksop contract had expired, a development fee was payable because of his age.[11][15]

A month later, Roberts moved to FC Halifax Town, newly promoted to the Conference Premier.[16][3]

Roberts spent two seasons with the Shaymen before signing for League One club Barnsley in May 2015.[17] He made his Football League debut on 8 August 2015 in a 3–1 defeat against Chesterfield.[18] Roberts became Barnsley captain on 28 January 2017,[19] after Conor Hourihane's transfer to Aston Villa.

Roberts signed a five-year contract with Championship club Birmingham City on 1 July 2017; the fee was undisclosed.[20] He went straight into the starting eleven for the opening fixture of the 2017–18 season, which Birmingham lost 1–0 away to Ipswich Town,[2] and was a regular in the side until February 2018.[21] When Garry Monk took over as manager, he "had just one day to pick the back pairing" and chose Michael Morrison and Harlee Dean. Monk said later that Roberts had been unfortunate, but that the consistency of the Morrison–Dean partnership meant they kept their places. With Dean suspended for two of the last three matches of the season, Roberts came into the side to face Sheffield United and scored a first-half equaliser in a win that made a major contribution to their avoiding relegation.[22] Morrison and Dean remained the pairing of choice, but when Morrison injured a hamstring in December 2018, Roberts was unable to take his chance. Nine minutes into his first league start of the season, he suffered a calf injury[23] that left him unfit for selection until after the March 2019 international break.[24] He came back into the side for the last two matches of the season with the team secure from relegation, partnering Wes Harding at centre-back after Dean had surgery on a groin problem and Morrison picked up an ankle injury.[25]

Career statistics

As of match played 27 January 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Halifax Town 2013–14[21] Conference Premier 44 5 2 0 — 2[a] 0 48 5
2014–15[21] Conference Premier 45 4 3 0 — 5[b] 1 53 5
Total 89 9 5 0 — 7 1 101 10
Barnsley 2015–16[26] League One 32 1 1 0 2 0 6[c] 0 41 1
2016–17[27] Championship 40 4 2 0 1 0 — 43 4
Total 72 5 3 0 3 0 6 0 84 5
Birmingham City 2017–18[2] Championship 30 1 3 0 2 0 — 35 1
2018–19[28] Championship 8 0 0 0 1 0 — 9 0
2019–20[29] Championship 34 0 1 0 0 0 — 35 0
2020–21[30] Championship 36 4 1 0 0 0 — 37 4
2021–22[31] Championship 39 2 0 0 0 0 — 39 2
2022–23[32] Championship 25 0 0 0 1 0 — 26 0
2023–24[33] Championship 8 0 1 0 1 0 — 10 0
Total 180 7 6 0 5 0 — 191 7
Career total 340 21 14 0 8 0 13 1 375 22
  1. ^ Appearances in the Conference Premier play-offs
  2. ^ Appearances in the FA Trophy
  3. ^ Three appearances in League One play-offs, three in Football League Trophy

Honours

Barnsley

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Birmingham City" (PDF). English Football League. p. 5. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. ^ a b c "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 May 2018.
  3. ^ a b "Centrehalf joins Shaymen". FC Halifax Town. 5 July 2013. Archived from the original on 7 July 2013.
  4. ^ "Marc Roberts joins Birmingham City". Barnsley F.C. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
    "Marc Roberts: Barnsley sign FC Halifax defender". BBC Sport. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
    Goulding, Neil (19 May 2016). "Home is where the heart is for Barnsley star". South Yorkshire Times. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  5. ^ a b O'Kane, Doug (29 May 2015). "Roberts: 'I've done it the long way round'". Barnsley Chronicle. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Crystal Palace trial Wakefield FC's Marc Roberts". Wakefield Express. 3 November 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  7. ^ Cann, James (10 June 2015). "Former Wakefield player Roberts joins Barnsley". Wakefield Express. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  8. ^ a b c "Roberts loaned to Bucks". Worksop Guardian. 28 June 2012. Archived from the original on 28 July 2017. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  9. ^ "Worksop Town and manager part company". Worksop Guardian. 19 September 2011. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  10. ^ "Buxton FC appoint ex-Worksop boss Martin McIntosh as new manager". Buxton Advertiser. 5 February 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  11. ^ a b c "One in, one out for Bucks". Buxton Advertiser. 6 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  12. ^ "Worksop's nine year wait for trophy is over". Worksop Guardian. 9 May 2012. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  13. ^ "Players of the Year". Buxton F.C. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  14. ^ Waters, David (2013). "Evo-Stik NPL 2013 Players of the Year Awards". The Evo-Stik League Northern Premier. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  15. ^ "Update from the manager". Worksop Town F.C. 11 June 2013. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  16. ^ "FC Halifax Town sign Buxton defender Marc Roberts". BBC Sport. 5 July 2013. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  17. ^ "Marc Roberts: Barnsley sign FC Halifax defender". BBC Sport. 26 May 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  18. ^ "Chesterfield 3–1 Barnsley". BBC Sport. 8 August 2015. Retrieved 9 August 2015.
  19. ^ Barnsley F.C. [@bfc_official] (28 January 2017). "PHOTO: It was a game to remember today for Barnsley's new skipper, @Robbo_4! #TimeForNewHeroes" (Tweet). Retrieved 28 July 2017 – via Twitter.
  20. ^ "Marc Roberts: Birmingham City sign Barnsley defender". BBC Sport. 1 July 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  21. ^ a b c "M. Roberts". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  22. ^ "Manager talks about central defensive options". Birmingham City F.C. 19 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
    "Birmingham City 2–1 Sheffield United". BBC Sport. 21 April 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  23. ^ "Boss challenges Roberts to show his worth". Birmingham City F.C. 13 December 2018. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
    Dick, Brian (17 December 2018). "Garry Monk offers Marc Roberts injury update as Birmingham City man earns special praise". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 24 April 2019.
  24. ^ "Roberts and Lakin in Under-23s squad". Birmingham City F.C. 15 March 2019. Retrieved 25 April 2019.
  25. ^ Dick, Brian (27 April 2019). "'We are lucky' Why Garry Monk believes Birmingham City are fortunate after Wigan draw". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 6 May 2019.
  26. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  27. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
  28. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
  29. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 23 July 2020.
  30. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 May 2021.
  31. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  32. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 May 2023.
  33. ^ "Games played by Marc Roberts in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  34. ^ Cartwright, Phil (3 April 2016). "Barnsley 3–2 Oxford United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 April 2016.
  35. ^ Stevens, Rob (29 May 2016). "Barnsley 3–1 Millwall". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 May 2016.
  36. ^ "Barnsley Player of the Season". Barnsley FC. Retrieved 2 January 2024.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Marc Roberts.
Awards
Birmingham City F.C. – current squad
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