Larrett Roebuck
Personal information
Full name Larrett Roebuck[1]
Date of birth (1889-01-27)27 January 1889
Place of birth Jump, England
Date of death 18 October 1914(1914-10-18) (aged 25)[2]
Place of death near Beaucamps-Ligny, France[3]
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)[4]
Position(s) Left back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
0000–1913 Silverwood Colliery
1913–1914 Huddersfield Town 17 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Larrett Roebuck (27 January 1889 – 18 October 1914) was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town as a left back.[5] He was the first Football League player to be killed in the First World War.[3]

Personal life

As a boy, Roebuck worked as a trammer at Silverwood Colliery and after being sentenced to one month's imprisonment for stealing a watch in 1904, he enlisted in the territorial section of the York and Lancaster Regiment.[3][6] Over the next seven years, he was stationed in India and Ireland and was promoted to lance corporal, but was demoted back to private in 1910 for "misconduct".[3] He married in 1908 and had four children.[3][6] Roebuck was discharged into the reserves in 1912 and likely returned to work as a miner prior to becoming a professional footballer in 1913.[3] After Britain's entry into the First World War in August 1914, he was mobilised by the York and Lancaster Regiment and arrived on the Western Front in September 1914.[6] On 18 October 1914, Roebuck was recorded as "presumed dead" after an attack near Beaucamps-Ligny during the Race to the Sea.[3] His death was confirmed by two comrades in January 1915.[3] Roebuck is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing.[2]

Career statistics

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Huddersfield Town 1913–14[7] Second Division 17020190
Career total 17020190

See also

References

  1. ↑ Joyce, Michael (2012). Football League Players' Records 1888 to 1939. Nottingham: Tony Brown. p. 251. ISBN 978-1905891610.
  2. 1 2 "Casualty Details". Commonwealth War Graves Commission. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "18 October 1914 Larrett Roebuck killed in action on this day". The Western Front Association. Retrieved 13 November 2018.
  4. ↑ "The coming of the big ball: the Second Division: Huddersfield Town". Athletic News. Manchester. 18 August 1913. p. 5 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Ian; Hodgson, Alan; Ward, John (2007). 99 Years & Counting – Stats & Stories – Huddersfield Town History. Huddersfield Town Football Club. ISBN 978-0-9557281-0-5.
  6. 1 2 3 "Tragedy of Huddersfield Town star Larrett Roebuck killed at Ypres". YorkshireLive. 11 November 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2021.
  7. ↑ "Player Profile – Larrett Roebuck". HTAFC Archive. Retrieved 7 September 2020.
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