Osian Roberts
Welsh football coach and former player (born 1965)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Osian Roberts (born 18 August 1965) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the head of development of Italian Serie A club Como. In 2014, he was described in the media as "the most influential man in Welsh football".[2]
|
Roberts in 2015 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 18 August 1965[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Anglesey, Wales | ||
| Position | Central midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Como (head of development) | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1985–1988 | Furman Paladins | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Bangor City | |||
| 1984–1985 | Bethesda Athletic | ||
| Llangefni Town | |||
| 1989–1990 | New Mexico Chiles | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1990 | New Mexico Chiles | ||
| 1996–1999 | Wales U16 | ||
| 1996–1999 | Wales U18 | ||
| 1999 | Wales B | ||
| 1999–2007 | Porthmadog | ||
| 2015–2019 | Wales (assistant coach) | ||
| 2021–2023 | Crystal Palace (assistant coach) | ||
| 2023–2024 | Como (interim head coach) | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Early life
Career
Roberts was a central midfielder,[2] and captained the Welsh Schools side.[3] He played in north Wales for Bangor City, Bethesda Athletic and Llangefni Town,[2][4] before moving to the United States at the age of 19 after receiving a scholarship to attend Furman University.[2] At Furman, he was named Southern Conference player of the year in 1986 and 1988.[5] He later played in the American Professional Soccer League for the New Mexico Chiles, where he was player-manager.[3]
After returning to Wales, he became Anglesey Football Development Officer in 1991.[2]
In June 2007, Roberts resigned as manager of Porthmadog to take up the position of Football Association of Wales technical director.[2] He has also coached the Wales under-16, Wales under-18 and Wales B teams, as well as helping coach the women's under-17 team.[2] In 2014, he was the subject of documentary series called Byd Pêl-droed Osian Roberts; it was shown on S4C.[3][6]
On 21 July 2015, Roberts was promoted to assistant manager of the Wales national team under team manager Chris Coleman.[7] Coleman resigned the manager role in November 2017 and Roberts stated that he wished to become the new national team manager.[8] Roberts was retained as assistant manager following the appointment of Ryan Giggs as Wales manager.[9]
On 1 August 2019, it was announced that Roberts had become technical director of the Morocco national team.[10][11] He resigned in July 2021.[12]
In August 2021, he became assistant manager to Patrick Vieira at Crystal Palace.[13][14] Vieira was sacked by Crystal Palace in March 2023 with Roberts and other coaching staff also being released.[15]
In December 2023, Italian club Como announced the appointment of Roberts as their new caretaker coach until the end of the 2023–24 Serie B season, replacing Cesc Fàbregas, who had also been caretaker; Roberts also served as head of development for the club.[16][17][18][19] He eventually guided the club to promotion to Serie A after 21 years by finishing in second place.[20][21][22] Fàbregas returned to the role in July 2024.[23]