William "Bill" Roberts was a Welsh footballer who played as a forward for Wrexham and Wrexham Olympic in the 1880s and made four appearances for Wales

Wales national football team

The Wales national football team represents Wales in international football. It is controlled by the Football Association of Wales , the governing body for football in Wales, and the third oldest national football association in the world. The team have only qualified for a major international...

, scoring once. He was the brother of Bob Roberts

Bob Roberts (footballer born 1863)

Robert "Bob" Roberts was a Welsh footballer who played at full back for Wrexham in the 1880s and 1890s. He made two appearances for Wales, one as an emergency goalkeeper.-Playing career:...

 who also played for the two Wrexham clubs and twice for Wales.

Football career

Roberts was "always in the thickest of the fight", and was described as "tricky and comical, and occasionally brilliant". His playing career came before the advent of League football and his greatest success at club level was in the Welsh Cup

Welsh Cup

The Welsh Cup is a knock-out football competition contested annually by teams from Wales.The Football Association of Wales is the organising body of this competition, which has been run every year since its inception in 1877-78...

, where he scored the only goal in the final of the 1882–83 tournament, thus enabling Wrexham to defeat Druids

Druids F.C.

Ruabon Druids F.C. were a football club based in village of Ruabon near Wrexham. The club was founded in 1869 as Plasmadoc F.C. by David Thomson and his brother, George, of Ruabon...

 and claim the trophy for the second time.

He and his brother, Bob

Bob Roberts (footballer born 1863)

Robert "Bob" Roberts was a Welsh footballer who played at full back for Wrexham in the 1880s and 1890s. He made two appearances for Wales, one as an emergency goalkeeper.-Playing career:...

, made their international debuts on 27 February 1886 against Ireland in the opening match of the 1886 British Home Championship

1886 British Home Championship

The 1886 British Home Championship was the third annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. As common for the time, the matches were punctuated by some high scorelines and for the first time two teams finished level on points at the top of the table, thus...

. The match ended as a 5–0 victory for the Welsh, with Bill Roberts scoring the opening goal. After defeats against England

England national football team

The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 and Scotland

Scotland national football team

The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. Scotland are the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside England, whom they played in the world's first international football match in 1872...

, Roberts was not called up for the February 1887 match against England. After an injury to Robert Mills-Roberts

Robert Mills-Roberts

Dr. Robert Herbert Mills-Roberts was a leading football player in the 1880s. He was a Welsh International, and was a player in the Preston North End side which became known as "The Invincibles"....

 in the warm-up for that match (which Wales lost 4–0) the Roberts brothers were both recalled for the match against Ireland in March 1887, with Bob serving as an emergency goalkeeper. This match was the finale to the brothers' international careers with Bob conceding four goals.

International appearances

Roberts made four appearances for Wales in official international matches, as follows:

Date	Venue	Opponent	Result	Goals	Competition
27 February 1886	Racecourse Ground Racecourse Ground The Glyndŵr University Racecourse Stadium AKA The Racecourse Ground is a stadium located in Wrexham, North Wales. It is the home of Wrexham F.C. and, since 2010, the Crusaders Rugby League team who play in the engage Super League... , Wrexham Wrexham Wrexham is a town in Wales. It is the administrative centre of the wider Wrexham County Borough, and the largest town in North Wales, located in the east of the region. It is situated between the Welsh mountains and the lower Dee Valley close to the border with Cheshire, England...		5–0	1	1886 British Home Championship 1886 British Home Championship The 1886 British Home Championship was the third annual international football tournament played between the British Home Nations. As common for the time, the matches were punctuated by some high scorelines and for the first time two teams finished level on points at the top of the table, thus...
29 March 1886	Racecourse Ground, Wrexham		1–3	0	1886 British Home Championship
10 April 1886	Cathkin Park Cathkin Park Cathkin Park is a municipal park in Glasgow, Scotland. The park is maintained by the city's parks department, and it is a public place where football is still played... , Glasgow Glasgow Glasgow is the largest city in Scotland and third most populous in the United Kingdom. The city is situated on the River Clyde in the country's west central lowlands...		1–4	0	1886 British Home Championship
12 March 1887	Oldpark Avenue, Belfast Belfast Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...		1–4	0	1887 British Home Championship 1887 British Home Championship The 1887 British Home Championship was the fourth international football tournament between the British Home Nations. Played during the second half of the 1886–87 football season, the competition was won by Scotland for the fourth consecutive time...

Win

Draw

Loss

Career outside football

Roberts worked as coal-miner in his youth, but was later employed in a leather works.