Ex-Crewe midfielder Gary Roberts seeks redemption as he leads Bangor to Europe
When Bangor City confirmed their Europa League place at the weekend it was not just monumental for the club but also a personal milestone on their captain’s long road to redemption.
Gary Roberts started his professional career at Crewe Alexandra, aged just 16, and played for England Under-17s in a European Championship semi-final defeat to a Spain side featuring Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique. His career, however, has been blighted by addiction to alcohol and gambling.
By the age of 24, Roberts had already been allowed to leave by Crewe, released by Yeovil Town and sacked by both Rotherham United and Port Vale. He seemed set on self-destruction, even after a spell in the Sporting Chance clinic, as he tried to come to terms with his problems.
Now, a more mature Roberts has learnt from his mistakes, leading Bangor City to a crack at European football.
“I feel more settled now, my life has turned round. I am settled at Bangor, and the owners look after me at Bangor,” Roberts told ITV News. “They’ve looked after me, took me under their wing and they get the best out of me on and off the pitch.”
Football has been a constant in Roberts’ life, and he has now utilised it to rid him of the demons that have held him back for so long. As well as his success in Wales, he has started coaching youngsters at Blacon Thistle, which has been a cathartic experience for the former England youth captain.
“Obviously I’ve had a past where I used to gamble and drink heavily, but obviously now I’ve got older, I’ve started coaching kids, which has given me a stepping stone to be a role model. Now the owners have got a hold of me and they’re a big part of what I am and how my career’s got back on track - it’s down to the owners and the kids. They’ve got me on the straight and narrow.”
Roberts has also enjoyed time playing Malta at Floriana, where he worked with Bangor’s director of football, Stephen Vaughan Jnr. But this is his most sustained period of football at one club since dropping out of the professional game.
The former Port Vale midfielder is not the only experienced player at Bangor, who have Gary Taylor-Fletcher as player-manager, and the likes of ex-Bury frontman Daniel Nardiello leading the line.
“It’s been a great experience this year and I’ve really enjoyed it and we got our reward by getting into Europe. It’s exciting, we’ve attracted names like Gaz Fletcher, Nardiello, me, Laurence Wilson, Paul Connolly and they’re all players who have played at a high level and played a lot of games. It always helps when you’ve got Football League experience around lads who haven’t got it, and it helps both ways with us coming into the Welsh Premier League and not knowing what to expect."
It’s not been a problem-free season for Roberts, who picked up 15 bookings by mid-February leading to a six-match ban.
The plan for the season was always to finish in the top four, and qualify for the Europa League, so it was a bit too close for comfort for Bangor who defeated Cardiff Met in the Europa League play-off thanks to a Dean Rittenberg goal.
“It was a bit of a relief, we were 1-0 up, we’d dominated the first 20 minutes. After the half-time whistle they put us on the back foot and I thought they were the stronger team towards the end of the game and maybe a little bit fitter than us.
“It’s probably the only thing I’ve won, I’ve always been in relegation battles, and lost in semi-finals in trophies, so it’s nice to actually win something in my career.”
It was a personal career high for Roberts in a life that has suffered many lows, something he accepts can’t be blamed on others, with many clubs trying to help him with his issues in the past. Eventually he was forced to seek playing outside of the English football pyramid
“The lowest moment in your career is getting sacked and other managers not wanting to take a chance on you because of your off-the-field antics, but it’s all down to my own fault, it’s no one else’s. I’ve just got to keep myself on the straight and narrow, and look forward to my future.”
During a spell out of the game completely, Roberts played for Blacon Thistle in the Chester and District League on Saturdays, but he never considered giving up on the sport completely despite his issues away from the pitch.
“It [giving up] never really entered my head, it’s just like riding a bike. It did enter my head thinking “what’s the point?” as there were spells where I fell out of love with the game, but now I have the grit back between my teeth, I want to play and pass that onto the kids."
His success in coaching and impressive form on the pitch make Roberts believe he can return to play in England once more and rebuild his shattered reputation in the Football League, where four clubs got rid of him due to his problematic nature at the time.
“I’ve turned my life around, which is a great achievement for me. I still think I can play in the English Football League or in the Conference if people give me a chance, I still think I’ve got the ability to do that.
“I just want to play at the highest level I can play at as a professional, which is anybody’s dream.”
Roberts achieved everyone child's ambition when an adolescent himself, it's been no fairytale since, but finally he's earned the right to dream again.