Leigh Richmond Roose facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Leigh Richmond Roose

Portrait of L R Roose on a Ogden's cigarette card.
Personal information
Full name	Leigh Richmond Roose
Date of birth	(1877-11-27)27 November 1877
Place of birth	Holt, Wales
Date of death	7 October 1916(1916-10-07) (aged 38)
Place of death	Somme, France
Height	6ft 1 in
Playing position	Goalkeeper
Youth career
	UCW Aberystwyth
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1895–1900	Aberystwyth Town	85	(0)
1900	Druids	0	(0)
1900–1901	London Welsh	0	(0)
1901–1904	Stoke	81	(0)
1904–1905	Everton	18	(0)
1905–1907	Stoke	66	(0)
1908–1910	Sunderland	92	(0)
1910	Celtic	0	(0)
1910	Port Vale	0	(0)
1910–1911	Huddersfield Town	5	(0)
1911	Aston Villa	10	(0)
1911–1912	Woolwich Arsenal	13	(0)
	Aberystwyth Town		(0)
	Llandudno Town		(0)
Total		370	(0)
National team
1900–1911	Wales	24	(0)
1911	Wales Amateur	1	(0)
Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Leigh Richmond "Dick" Roose (born November 27, 1877 – died October 7, 1916) was a famous Welsh football player. He was a goalkeeper for many professional teams in the Football League from 1901 to 1912.

Roose was special because he was an amateur player in a time when most footballers were professionals. He was known as one of the best goalkeepers of his era. People also remember him for his unusual and exciting playing style. Many fun stories about him are still shared today. He was awarded the MM for bravery during World War I.

Early Life and Education

Leigh Roose was born in Holt, near Wrexham in Wales. His mother passed away when he was two years old. His father, a minister, raised him.

He went to Holt Academy for his schooling. After that, in 1895, he studied at Aberystwyth University. Later, he briefly studied medicine at King's College London. Even though some stories say he was a doctor, he never actually became one.

Playing for Top Football Clubs

Roose was tall, at 6.1 feet (1.9 m), and strong. This made him perfect for playing in goal, which was a very physical position back then.

He started his football journey in 1895 with Aberystwyth Town. He played 85 games for them. His first game was a big 6–0 win. In 1900, he helped his team win the Welsh Cup final. After that game, fans carried him off the pitch on their shoulders!

Roose pictured in a Stoke team photograph around 1904.

Later, Stoke signed him. He played 147 league games for Stoke between 1901 and 1906. He managed to keep the opposing team from scoring in 40 games, which is called a "clean sheet." This was amazing, especially since Stoke was often close to being moved down to a lower league.

Between his two times at Stoke, Roose played 24 games for Everton. He helped Everton reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup in 1905. He kept 8 clean sheets for Everton, showing his great skill.

After Everton, Roose played 91 league games for Sunderland from 1907 to 1910. He helped Sunderland finish second in the league twice. He also "almost single-handedly" saved them from being moved down a league. When he broke his wrist again, ending his time at Sunderland, fans wanted to give him a special match. But because he was an amateur, they gave him an award instead.

During his career, Roose also played for other clubs. These included Port Vale and Celtic in 1910. He played one game for Celtic, a Scottish Cup semi-final, where he even shook hands with an opposing player who scored a goal! He also played for Huddersfield Town, Aston Villa, and Woolwich Arsenal.

Roose always remained an amateur player. This meant he didn't get paid a salary like professionals. However, he charged his clubs a lot for his travel and other costs.

Playing for Wales

Roose started playing for the Welsh national team in 1900. His first international game was a 2–0 win against Ireland. He played a total of 24 games for Wales. His last international game was in 1911.

He was a key player when Wales won the British Home Championship for the first time in 1907. All his international games were against England, Scotland, or Ireland, as Wales didn't play teams from other countries until much later. He also played one game for the Wales Amateur team in 1911.

Roose's Unique Goalkeeping Style

Roose gets into position to make a save for Stoke, around 1904.

Experts described Roose as a "genius" in goal. Sir Frederick Wall, a top football official, said Roose was "a sensation as a goalkeeper" and had "the eccentricity of genius." This means he was brilliant but also very unusual.

Roose was big and strong, which helped him against the tough attackers of his time. He was compared to modern goalkeepers like Peter Schmeichel. One writer said he enjoyed teasing opposing forwards, sometimes even hitting them with his fist during crowded plays near the goal!

He was known for being "daring though volatile." Spectators were amazed by his strong grip, powerful punches, and long goal kicks. He seemed to know what opponents would do before they did it. He had "sharp eyesight, startling reflexes, competitive instinct and reckless bravery." He was a truly tough opponent.

Some even say a save he made in 1897 was as good as the famous save by Gordon Banks against Pelé in the 1970 World Cup!

Roose played in a very daring way. While other goalkeepers stayed close to their goal, he would often run far out of his penalty area. He would even fill in for a defender who was out of position. In one international game, he ran out and tackled an Irish player near the touchline, knocking him out of play.

He also used the rules of his time to his advantage. Back then, goalkeepers could handle the ball anywhere in their own half. It's even said that a rule change in 1912, which stopped goalkeepers from handling the ball outside the penalty area, happened because of Roose's unique style. He loved to join in attacks!

He was also amazing at stopping shots. Once, he saved a powerful shot from only 6 yards (5.5 m) away by clamping the ball between his knees. He was very athletic. People believed he could mysteriously change direction while diving to save a ball.

Roose was famous for saving penalties. One historian described a penalty save he saw Roose make. The crowd was silent, holding their breath. The ball shot from the forward's foot, and in a flash, Roose saved it, sending it far away.

Roose in typical Edwardian goalkeeper attire around 1905. Notice he doesn't wear shin pads and uses bare hands.

Jimmy Ashcroft, another famous goalkeeper, praised Roose for his bravery. He would dive at the feet of oncoming forwards without fear. Ashcroft once saw Roose get buried under a pile of players but still emerge holding the ball.

Roose was also a huge crowd-pleaser. He would sometimes do gymnastics on his crossbar when the ball was far away. Unlike other goalkeepers who walked onto the pitch, he would run on, waving to the cheering crowd. When a penalty was given, he often waved to the fans before and after making a save.

He usually brought white gloves to games but preferred to play with bare hands in good weather. He was unusual for wearing padded knee-bandages and a special twin-peak cap.

Roose himself wrote about goalkeeping in a 1906 book. He said being a goalkeeper was very tough and needed a lot of dedication. He believed a good goalkeeper needed to be tall, strong, quick, and agile. He said, "To a goalkeeper alone is the true delight of goalkeeping known."

Fun Stories About Roose

Many stories about Roose's unusual behavior were told during his career. Here are a few:

• Once, while playing for Stoke, Roose missed his train to a game. So, he hired a private train to take him all the way to Birmingham! It cost a lot of money, and he sent the bill to his club.
• When the Football League asked for his expense report from Sunderland, the first item listed was "Using the toilet (twice), 2d." (two old pence).
• In 1910, Roose played for Port Vale against his old team, Stoke Reserves. He insisted on wearing his old Stoke shirt! The crowd of 7,000 fans got very angry because he saved every shot easily. The crowd even rushed onto the field! Roose said he thought it was just a friendly game.
• In 1902, Roose and his Stoke teammates ate some bad fish before a game against Liverpool. Many players felt sick. Roose had to leave the game because he was unwell. Liverpool won the game 7–0.
• In 1909, Roose traveled with the Welsh team to play Ireland. He showed up with a heavily bandaged hand, saying he had broken two fingers. But his teammate, Billy Meredith, peeked through his hotel room keyhole and saw Roose wiggling his fingers perfectly fine! Despite the trick, Wales won the game 3–2, and Roose played brilliantly.
• Like many footballers, Roose was superstitious. He wore a "lucky shirt" under his jersey that was supposedly never washed!

Life Off the Pitch

Leigh Roose loved the fame he got from football. He was very popular with everyone at college. In London, in 1905, a newspaper called him one of the most wanted bachelors. When the Daily Mail asked readers to pick a "World XI" football team to play against another planet, Roose was chosen as the goalkeeper by a huge number of votes.

He was a very outgoing person. His nephew said he lived a very exciting life, having an apartment in London and buying fancy suits. He was considered one of the 10 most recognizable faces in London at the time.

However, Leigh Roose sometimes had a bad temper. Once, he had a disagreement with one of the Sunderland directors, which led to him being banned by the Football Association for 14 days.

Military Service and Death

When World War I started in 1914, Roose joined the British Army, even though he was older than most new soldiers. He served in the Royal Army Medical Corps in France and Gallipoli.

In 1916, he joined the Royal Fusiliers as a private and fought on the Western Front. His amazing goalkeeping skills made him very good at throwing grenades!

He was awarded the Military Medal for his bravery the first time he was in battle. Even though he was choked by fumes and his clothes were burned, he kept throwing bombs until his arm gave out. Then he used his rifle effectively.

Roose was promoted to lance corporal. He was killed in action at age 38 in October 1916, near the end of the Battle of the Somme. His body was never found. His name is on the war memorial for missing soldiers at Thiepval. There was a mistake on his enlistment papers, where his name was written as "Leigh Rouse," but it was later corrected.

Career Statistics

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International

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