W. A. "Bogie" Roberts was a footballer who played in nine league matches for Newton Heath

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

 in 1899. He signed for the club in April 1897, but had to wait almost two years for his league debut; after scoring at home to Darwen

Darwen F.C.

A.F.C. Darwen is a football club from Darwen in Lancashire, North West England. The team, formed in 1870 as Darwen F.C., currently play in the Division One of the North West Counties League. They play their home games at the Anchor Ground.-History:...

 in the first round of the Lancashire Senior Cup

Lancashire Senior Cup

The Lancashire County Football Association Cup , is a football knockout tournament involving teams from Lancashire, England and surrounding areas. It is a County Cup competition of the Lancashire County Football Association and involves Premier League clubs and Football League clubs...

 on 19 December 1898, he started at outside left

Outside forward

Outside forward is a position in association football which refers to a footballer who plays as an advanced forward on the right or left wing - as an outside right or outside left. Typically as part of a 2-3-5 formation or one of its variants...

 away to Loughborough

Loughborough F.C.

Loughborough Athletic and Football Club were an English football club based in Loughborough, Leicestershire, that played in The Football League at the end of the 19th century.-History:...

 on 18 February 1899. He then scored on his next appearance – away to Small Heath

Birmingham City F.C.

Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, they became Small Heath in 1888, then Birmingham in 1905, finally becoming Birmingham City in 1943.They were relegated at the end of the...

 on 25 February. Despite the goal, he was dropped from the side for the next game, a 3–0 defeat away to Grimsby Town

Grimsby Town F.C.

Grimsby Town Football Club is an English football club based in the seaside town of Cleethorpes, in North East Lincolnshire, England, who compete in the Conference National. They were formed in 1878 as Grimsby Pelham and later became Grimsby Town...

 on 4 March, but returned two weeks later for a 2–1 home defeat to New Brighton Tower

New Brighton Tower F.C.

New Brighton Tower F.C. was a short-lived English football club based in New Brighton, Merseyside. Established in 1896, the club spent three seasons in the Football League before folding in 1901. They played at the 80,000-capacity Tower Athletic Grounds....

. Nevertheless, he made no further appearances before the end of the season.

Roberts returned to the first-team for the fourth game of the 1899–1900 season, away to Burton Swifts

Burton Swifts F.C.

Burton Swifts were an English football club from Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. The club ceased to exist in 1901 when they merged with Burton Wanderers to form Burton United.-History:...

 on 23 September 1899, and retained his place for the away game against Sheffield Wednesday

Sheffield Wednesday F.C.

Sheffield Wednesday Football Club are a football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, who are currently competing in the Football League One in the 2011-12 season, in England. Sheffield Wednesday are one of the oldest professional clubs in the world and the fourth oldest in the...

 the following week, before switching to outside right for the 1–0 win over Lincoln City

Lincoln City F.C.

Lincoln City Football Club is an English professional association football club based in Lincoln, Lincolnshire. The club are currently members of the Conference National in 2011–12 following relegation from the Football League....

 on 7 October. He then missed the 1–0 away defeat to Small Heath on 14 October, before returning to his outside left position for a 2–1 win at home to New Brighton Tower on 21 October. Roberts' FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 debut came the following week, as he played away to South Shore

Blackpool F.C.

Blackpool Football Club are an English football club founded in 1887 from the Lancashire seaside town of Blackpool. They are competing in the 2011–12 season of the The Championship, the second tier of professional football in England, having been relegated from the Premier League at the end of the...

 in the first qualifying round on 28 October 1899, but the Heathens lost 3–1. He scored his second goal for Newton Heath in the team's next league match: a 2–0 home win over Woolwich Arsenal

Arsenal F.C.

Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 on 4 November. However, he only made one more appearance for Newton Heath: a 2–1 away defeat to Chesterfield

Chesterfield F.C.

Chesterfield Football Club is an English football club based in Chesterfield, Derbyshire. The club currently plays in Football League One, the third tier of English football. Despite being the fourth oldest Football League club in England, they have spent most of their existence in the lower...

six weeks later on 23 December 1899.

External links

• Profile at StretfordEnd.co.uk