Iwan Roberts facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Iwan Roberts

Roberts celebrating after scoring a goal for Norwich City in 2004
Personal information
Full name	Iwan Wyn Roberts
Date of birth	(1968-06-26) 26 June 1968 (age 56)
Place of birth	Bangor, Wales
Height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Playing position	Forward
Youth career
0000–1986	Watford
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1986–1990	Watford	63	(9)
1990–1993	Huddersfield Town	142	(50)
1993–1996	Leicester City	100	(41)
1996–1997	Wolverhampton Wanderers	33	(12)
1997–2004	Norwich City	278	(84)
2004–2005	Gillingham	20	(3)
2005	→ Cambridge United (loan)	11	(3)
Total		647	(202)
National team
1989–2001	Wales	15	(0)
1994	Wales B	1	(1)
Teams managed
2004	Gillingham (joint-caretaker)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Iwan Wyn Roberts (born 26 June 1968) is a Welsh former professional footballer. He played as a forward from 1986 to 2005. He played for many clubs and the Wales national team.

Iwan started his football journey at Watford as a young player. He signed his first professional contract in 1986. Later, he moved to Huddersfield Town in 1990. After three seasons, he joined Leicester City.

Roberts then played for Wolverhampton Wanderers for one season. He spent seven years at Norwich City. He also played international football for Wales. He played 15 games for his country between 1989 and 2001.

Iwan Roberts played in 647 league games during his career. Nearly half of these were for Norwich City. He became a fan favorite there. At his best, he scored 61 goals in three seasons. He scored two goals in his final game for Norwich. This helped them get promoted to the Premiership. In 2002, he was chosen for the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame. He finished his playing career with Gillingham and Cambridge United.

After football, Roberts became a commentator. He speaks fluent Welsh. He has worked for Sky Sports, BBC Radio Cymru, and BBC Cymru Wales. In 2004, he published a book called All I Want for Christmas .... The book's title was a funny reference to his missing front teeth.

Early Life and Football Dreams

Iwan Wyn Roberts was born in Bangor, Gwynedd, Wales, on 26 June 1968. He grew up in Barmouth, a town on the west coast of Wales. He was a big fan of Liverpool football club.

Roberts is known for his "gap-toothed" smile. He started losing his front teeth when he was only 10 years old. This happened during a football game with his best friend. Later, he lost his second front tooth at 18. This was from an elbow during a game for Watford.

Iwan says his school PE teacher, Iolo Owen, helped him a lot. Mr. Owen got him playing men's football at age 15. This made him stronger and tougher. When he joined Watford, he was happy that coach Tom Walley spoke Welsh, just like him. He also liked that manager Graham Taylor gave chances to young players. Roberts joined Watford as a trainee. He signed his first professional contract in July 1986, after his 18th birthday.

Club Career Highlights

Watford Football Club

Roberts played his first game for Watford in the 1985–86 season. He scored his first professional goal on 16 September 1986. It was the only goal in a 1–0 win against Manchester United. He came on as a substitute and scored from a difficult angle.

In the next season, he played 31 games and scored three goals. Watford was relegated to the Second Division. In the 1988–89 season, he played 32 games and scored six goals. Watford finished fourth but did not get promoted.

He scored nine goals in 63 league games for Watford. He felt he needed more chances to play. So, he moved to Division Three club Huddersfield Town in 1990. The transfer fee was £275,000.

Huddersfield Town Success

Roberts learned a lot from Huddersfield's coach, Peter Withe. Peter taught him how to use his strength in the air. He also learned how to create space in the penalty box. Later, Frank Stapleton helped him learn to "steal goals" by getting the final touch.

The 1991–92 season was amazing for Roberts. He scored a club record of 34 goals in one season. 24 of these were in the league. This made him a top scorer in the division. His goals helped the club finish third. They qualified for the play-offs but lost to Peterborough United.

Overall, he scored 50 goals in 142 games for Huddersfield. In November 1993, Leicester City signed him for £300,000.

Leicester City Adventures

Roberts played his first game for Leicester against Wolverhampton Wanderers. Leicester was losing 2–0 at half-time. Roberts scored two goals in the second half to make it a draw. He later scored three goals in one game against Derby County in April 1994. Leicester fans still sing about this achievement.

A few weeks later, Roberts broke some ribs. He recovered just in time for the 1993–94 play-off final. Leicester won 2–1 against Derby, getting promoted.

In the 1994–95 Premiership season, Leicester struggled and was relegated. But Roberts was their top scorer with 11 goals. He scored 19 more goals the next season. Leicester reached the play-offs again. In the semi-final against Stoke City, Roberts had to escape a pitch invasion by Stoke fans. Some of his teammates needed police protection.

Leicester won the play-off final and got promoted again. Roberts was not chosen for the final game. Leicester then sold him to Wolves. He scored 41 goals in 100 league games for Leicester.

Wolverhampton Wanderers Season

Wolves signed Roberts for £1.3 million in the summer of 1996. He spent only one season at Molineux. He scored 12 goals in 33 games. This included three goals in one match against their rivals West Bromwich Albion. Wolves finished third but lost in the play-offs.

In the summer of 1997, manager Mark McGhee told Roberts he had to sell players. Roberts was the only one with an offer, from Norwich City. Roberts did not want to leave, but he accepted the move.

Norwich City Years

In July 1997, Norwich City manager Mike Walker paid £850,000 for Roberts. His start at Norwich (nicknamed the Canaries) was tough. He scored only seven goals in the 1997–98 season. Fans questioned if he was worth the money. Roberts remembers it as a "bleak period." Walker was sacked, and Roberts felt his lack of goals was partly to blame.

Under Nigel Worthington, Roberts became club captain, but also finished his Norwich City career.

Bruce Rioch became the new manager. Rioch used clever psychology to help Roberts get fit. Roberts worked hard on his fitness. It paid off: he scored 23 goals that season. He played well with Craig Bellamy, who scored 19 goals. Norwich finished in the top half of the table. The fans voted Roberts player of the season.

In the 1999–2000 season, he was again top scorer with 19 goals. He won the player of the season award again. He almost won it a third time in a row. Roberts signed a new contract in January of that season. Bruce Rioch then left, and Bryan Hamilton took over. Roberts helped Hamilton with two goals in a 2–0 win against rivals Ipswich Town.

Roberts had a great career, but Norwich struggled for a few years. In the 2001–02 season, with new manager Nigel Worthington, the team did better. They reached the Division One play-off final in Cardiff. Roberts came off the bench and scored a header to give Norwich the lead in extra-time. However, Norwich lost the match in a penalty shoot-out. Roberts scored his penalty, but Birmingham City won.

During the 2002–03 season, Roberts was the team captain. He scored twice in a game against Sheffield Wednesday. This moved him to third place on Norwich City's all-time top goalscorers list. Norwich finished eighth that season.

The 2003–04 season was his last at Norwich. He was not a regular starter but played an important role. The team won the league title and was promoted to the Premiership. Roberts scored key goals, like the winning goal against Sheffield United.

A few days before the last home game, Worthington announced Roberts would not get a new contract. Worthington felt the club needed to look to the future in the Premiership. Roberts started only 13 games that season. For the last game of the season, Worthington made Roberts captain. Roberts scored twice as City won 3–1. He said it was a sad but special day. Overall, Roberts scored 96 goals in 306 games for Norwich.

Gillingham and Cambridge United

After leaving Norwich, Roberts had many offers. He signed a two-year contract with Gillingham in the Championship. He would also be a player/coach there. His debut was against Ipswich, where he was booked very quickly.

His time at Gillingham was not easy. He had disagreements with the club, especially with manager Stan Ternent. In December 2004, Roberts even served as a joint caretaker manager for a short time. In March 2005, he joined Cambridge United on loan. He played under his former Norwich teammate, Rob Newman. He scored his 200th league goal on his debut. However, Cambridge was relegated. In August 2005, Roberts retired from playing.

International Career for Wales

Roberts was first called up for Wales in April 1989. This was for a friendly game against Israel. He played his first game for Wales on 11 October 1989. It was a 2–1 loss to the Netherlands in a World Cup qualifier.

He had to wait over two years for his next international game. This was a friendly against Austria in April 1992. He played two more games that year in Japan. He got a red card in a 1–0 win against the host nation.

Roberts played three more games for Wales in 1994. He played in two qualification matches for UEFA Euro 1996. He was not chosen for Wales again until 2000. He played three friendly games that year.

He made four more appearances for Wales in 2000 and 2001. These were for the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He played a total of 15 games for his country over 12 years. He also played one game and scored one goal for the Wales B team. However, he never scored for the senior team.

Roberts says he was happy to be in the squad. He had to compete against great strikers like Mark Hughes and Ian Rush. He regrets that he never scored for Wales.

Playing Style

Bellamy playing for Wales in 2011

Roberts was 6 feet 3 inches tall. He was known for scoring many goals with his head. He had a strong partnership with Craig Bellamy at Norwich. Bellamy joined the first team in 1997 when he was 18. They also played together for Wales.

Roberts said he loved playing with Bellamy. He felt they had "telepathy" on the field. He described their relationship as the "classic big man, little man" partnership. In their first season together for Norwich, Roberts scored 24 goals and Bellamy scored 17.

All I Want for Christmas ... Book

In 2004, Roberts published a book about his last season at Norwich. It was called All I Want for Christmas .... The title was a joke about his missing front teeth. It referred to the song "All I Want for Christmas Is My Two Front Teeth".

The book was praised by critics. The Daily Telegraph newspaper called it "a rollicking good read."

Life After Playing Football

Roberts has a special coaching license called the UEFA A Licence. In 2007, he said he might want to become a manager. He applied for the manager's job at Norwich when Nigel Worthington was sacked. He did not get a response from the club, which disappointed him.

Media Work

Roberts works in the media. He speaks both English and Welsh fluently. He provides Welsh-language commentary for Sky Sports and BBC Radio Cymru. He also works for BBC Cymru Wales. He writes regularly for local newspapers in Norfolk about Norwich City. He also contributes to a weekly podcast called Elis James Feast of Football.

Personal Life

Iwan Roberts appearances, goals and scoring rate

Roberts got married in 2016. He has three children: a son and twin daughters.

In 2020, it was reported that Roberts volunteered for dementia research. This followed research from the University of Glasgow in 2019. He takes memory and attention tests every six months. He also asks former Norwich City teammates to do the same.

Legacy and Recognition

In 2002, Iwan Roberts became one of the first members of the Norwich City F.C. Hall of Fame. In 2007, he came third in a fan vote. This vote was to choose a Norwich legend for the Professional Footballers' Association Centenary Hall of Fame.

Career Statistics

Club

International

Honours

Norwich City

• First Division: 2003–04

Individual

• PFA Team of the Year: 1991–92 Third Division