ROBERTS, Graham Paul (1979-88)
Position: Defender or midfield
Height: 5ft 10ins
Weight: 12st 12lbs
Born: Southampton, Hampshire, 3 July 1959
Signed from Weymouth May 1980
Transferred to Rangers December 1986
Also played for: Dorchester Town, Weymouth, Rangers, Chelsea, West Bromwich Albion, Enfield, Slough Town, Stevenage Borough, Chesham United, England
Spurs Record:
Debut: 4 October 1980 v Stoke City (FL) (sub) (a) won 3-2
Appearances: League 200(9), FA Cup 27, League Cup 24(1), Europe 25(1)
Goals: League 23, FA Cup 2, League Cup 5, Europe 5
Graham Roberts is the perfect example of a player rejected by professional clubs who never gave up hope and eventually reached the heights.
Released by Southampton, AFC Bournemouth and Portsmouth, Roberts played for Dorchester Town before moving on to Weymouth. It was while with the Alliance League club that Bill Nicholson got talking to a football fan on Swindon railway station who expressed the view Roberts was Weymouth’s best young player.
Nicholson was quick to follow up the lead and obviously shared the stranger’s view, persuading Keith Burkinshaw to move for Roberts in May, 1980. West Bromwich Albion were also interested but £20,000 and a game at Weymouth were enough to secure Roberts’ transfer. With the friendly worth up to £15,000, the transaction was a record for non-league football at the time. For us, it proved to be an absolute bargain.
Within 12 months the former shipyard fitter’s mate was a cult hero, spitting out two teeth at Wembley after a kick in the mouth from Chris Hughton and helping Spurs lift the FA Cup.
Roberts’ progress was quite astounding. He made only a few, brief substitute appearances before his full league debut at Anfield in December 1980, replacing injured Paul Miller in central defence. Tough and combative, his obvious lack of fear made an immediate impression.
Initially, Graham played anywhere across the back line but it was soon apparent his best position was in the centre, alongside Miller. The two of them formed a fearsome partnership, not the prettiest in pure footballing terms, but hard, physical and effective. They played a big part in taking Spurs to the 1981 FA Cup Final, particularly in the sixth-round tie with Exeter City. The West Country team were proving stubborn opposition until first Roberts, and then Miller, showed our attacking stars how to score. Winning the FA Cup in his first season was a fairy-tale for Roberts.
He had come a long way in a short time but there were still setbacks to endure. Midway through 1981-82 he was pushed into midfield to provide steel and ball-winning qualities, a move that gave Paul Price a run alongside Miller at the back. Roberts was unable to get his old place back and missed the League (Milk) Cup Final but with Ossie Ardiles’ return to Argentina for World Cup preparations, Roberts resumed his midfield role. He scored an amazing hat-trick against Southampton in December, 1981 before settling down as the midfield strongman. Not that Graham contented himself with defensive work. He loved to push forward and have a crack at goal and it was his unexpected run at the heart of the Queens Park Rangers defence in the 1982 FA Cup Final replay ended by Tony Currie’s foul that set up the Glenn Hoddle penalty by which we retained the trophy.
Roberts missed the start of the following season due to injury but once fit resumed his partnership with Miller and took his career a step further with his first England cap in May, 1983.
In defence or midfield Roberts could be relied on for whole-hearted endeavour. Whether facing one of the top strikers, competing with football’s midfield hard men or hurling himself into a crowded penalty area in search of a goal, it was the same. He went in hard for the ball, prepared to hand out a few knocks and take them in return.
The peak of his Spurs career came in May, 1984 when, with Steve Perryman suspended, he was handed the captaincy for the second leg of the UEFA Cup Final against Anderlecht. On a night when we struggled against the Belgians, Roberts lifted himself to new heights and dragged his weary team-mates with him. It was Roberts who grabbed the vital equaliser six minutes from the end of normal time, brushing aside friend and foe to get to the ball first, then stepping forward to lash home the crucial first spot-kick.
Roberts stayed with Spurs for another two years, the tough centre of a team that at last began to look as if it might lift the league title, until the arrival of Richard Gough saw him lose his place in the team.
A transfer to Rangers followed where he enjoyed the same cult status he had in N17 before returning to England with Chelsea. He later played for West Bromwich Albion before starting a varied and eventful managerial career, while he has remained a regular visitor to our games down the years as an ever-popular matchday host.