If you spoke to an Everton supporter and asked them how they’d feel about a player who played 209 league games for Liverpool becoming club captain, they’d probably laugh in your face. The same isn’t true with the London clubs, which is why Chelsea not only signed former Tottenham Hotspur player Graham Roberts but also have him the armband. It would be unfair to call the defender a journeyman, per se, but it’s also true to point out that he finished his career having played for ten different clubs, with Chelsea coming almost exactly in the middle of his time on the pitch and before he turned to management.
Graham Roberts’s Honours as a Chelsea Player
| Season | League Titles | Domestic Cups | European/International Cups |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1988-1989 | Second Division | – | – |
Who is Graham Roberts?
Graham Paul Roberts was born in Southampton on the third of July 1959. In the October of 1973 he joined his local club as what was known as an ‘associate schoolboy’. Unfortunately, he didn’t make the grade with Southampton, so he was released in March 1977. Luckily for him there was another south coast club where he could play, joining up with Portsmouth that summer. He did well enough to mean that Pompey were able to earn a profit by selling him to Dorchester Town. Although he didn’t play any league games there, he was spotted by scouts for Weymouth and made the move to Dorchester’s local rivals.
That was in 1979, with Roberts playing 29 league games for the Terras and earning the admiration of Tottenham Hotspur. Spurs chose to spend £35,000 taking him to White Hart Lane in 1980. It proved to be a good move for both the player and the club. Tottenham were a decent side in the 1980s and Roberts was part of the team that won the FA Cup in both 1981 and 1982. In 1984, Spurs made it to the final of the UEFA Cup but the club’s regular captain, Steve Perryman, was suspended. As a result, the club asked Roberts to take on the captain’s role. He did that with aplomb, scoring in the second-leg of the final as Spurs beat Anderlecht.
Joining Chelsea
Having won a decent amount of silverware whilst at White Hart Lane, Roberts was wanted by Scottish side Rangers. Spurs were able to make a tidy profit on him when the Scottish club paid £450,000 for his signature in 1986. During his first season he helped the Gers win the Scottish Premier Division and a year later he followed that up with a win in the Scottish League Cup. It wasn’t all sunshine and lollipops for him at Ibrox, however. On the 17th of October 1987 he was involved in a bad-tempered Old Firm derby, with him, Terry Butcher, Chris Woods and Celtic’s Frank McAvennie charged with ‘conduct likely to provoke a breach of the peace’.
Butcher and Woods were both convicted and fined, whilst McAvennie was found not guilty and Roberts was found ‘not proven’. Roberts had had to take over as goalkeeper during the match when Woods was sent off, but then conducted Rangers fans in a rendition of ‘the Sash’. Roberts claimed at trial that he didn’t realise the supporters were singing the traditional Ulster unionist song when he made the conducting gesture. Irrespective of the truth of that, his time at Rangers was brought to a close when he was transferred to Chelsea in 1988. He was brought to Stamford Bridge by Bobby Campbell, with the Blues having just been relegated.
Becoming Chelsea Captain
Playing in the Second Division, Campbell realised that he needed to add some steel to his Chelsea team. As a result, the club paid Rangers £475,000 for Roberts’ signature in the hope that he would be able to help steady the Stamford Bridge ship. He did exactly that, bringing his no-nonsense hard-tackling style to Chelsea and refusing to compromise in his approach. After two poor campaigns prior to his arrival in West London, Roberts helped to return some confidence to the side. Boasting a decent first touch and an excellent range of passing, he was also something of a cool head; a fact that was proved when he scored last minute penalties against Leicester City and West Bromwich Albion.
In spite of the fact that he was a defender, he scored 15 times during the 1988-1989 season, largely because 12 of them were penalties. He helped Chelsea to win the Second Division title at a canter, securing promotion with four games still to play. The fact that Campbell had given Roberts the captain’s armband as soon as he arrived at the club was justified by their immediate return to the top-flight under his leadership. His impact also managed to carry over into the following season, with Chelsea making an impressive start to their campaign in the First Division. Sadly for Roberts, a poor challenge by Arsenal’s Perry Groves left him injured for a spell.
Leaving Chelsea
When Roberts returned to fitness, he was offered a coaching role by the Chelsea management team, keen to replace the departing Ian Porterfield. His form suffered as a result of the dual role, with the Blues’ defence suddenly looking vulnerable as a result. In three consecutive matches at the start of December, Chelsea conceded 14 goals and Roberts’ lack of pace was a major part of the reason for that. The man himself became frustrated, which would often manifest in him berating those around him. He would especially aim this frustration at Chelsea’s younger players, with one incident in particular causing issues.
During an FA Cup defeat at Bristol City, Roberts quite literally delivered a cuff around the head of 21-year-old youngster Graham Le Saux. This was not appreciated by the Chelsea faithful, so it seemed as though the writing was on the wall for him. In the February of 1990, Roberts made the ultimate mistake of deciding to take on Ken Bates, the Chelsea Chairman, over his contract. Bates decided that Roberts’ time at the club was up, with his final appearance coming against Nottingham Forest in a 1-1 draw. The nice thing for the player was that he got to sign off in style, slaloming past three defenders and scoring in the top corner.
Life After Stamford Bridge
In the November of 1990, Roberts was sold to West Bromwich Albion for £200,000. He remained with the Baggies for two years, essentially ending his time as a professional footballer there. In 1992 he took over as the manager of Enfield, staying in the role for two years before heading to Stevenage Borough and playing 11 league games for them. In 1995 he returned to manager with Yeovil Town, but continued to pick himself occasionally and played for the club six times in the league. In 1998 he left Yeovil for Chesham United, but he also played ten times in the league for Slough Town in the 1998-1999 campaign.
In 2000 he was given the manager’s job at Hertford Town, having finally hung up his playing boots for good. In the February of 2001 he left to take over at the Isthmian League club Boreham Wood, helping them win the title before resigning in the July. At that point he took on the manager’s role at Carshalton Athletic, winning the Isthmian League Division One South before departing. He was briefly in charge at Braintree Town towards the end of the 2003-2004 season, then in the June of 2005 he was given the job of manager at Clyde, where the club had just three players under contract and he held open trials to find new players.
Roberts will always be fondly remembered at Clyde, owing to the fact that they defeated Celtic in the Scottish Cup in the January of 2006. They had also taken Rangers to extra-time in the Scottish League Cup earlier in the season. When he was accused of making racist remarks in the August of 2006, Clyde sacked him, with Roberts later earning £32,000 at an employment tribunal that found the remarks were either ‘highly exaggerated or possibly not true’. Hired as a consultant to the Pakistan national team in September 2010, he later took on the role of head coach and then in January 2011 took over as the manager of Nepal, standing down in March of the following year.