Dudley Roberts (16 October 1945 – 4 July 2024)

Coventry City fans who were around in the 1960s will be saddened to hear of the death of the former player Dudley Roberts. The son of former City player Ted Roberts, a prolific scorer in the post-war years, Dudley had a limited first-team career with the Sky Blues but had a golden period in the autumn of 1965. He flourished after moving to Mansfield Town in 1968, is considered to be one of the Stags greatest players and scored in a famous FA Cup victory over West Ham United.

Though Dudley was born in Derby months after the end of the war, he grew up in Coventry and attended Cheylesmore School before in 1961 signing for City where his dad was head coach under Billy Frith. Months later Frith and Ted were sacked to make way for the appointment of Jimmy Hill but although his father was out of work Dudley continued his career with the Sky Blues. At over six foot his great strength, like his father, was in the air and he played at centre-half in the same youth team as Bobby Gould and other future first-teamers John Burckitt and Pat Morrissey. His form earned a reserve team debut in a 1-0 win at Brentford in May 1963. Over the next two seasons he played 30-odd games in defence for the reserves but in March 1965 he was switched to centre-forward and scored two goals in a 4-0 victory at Notts County. That season City's 'stiffs' won promotion from Football Combination Division Two watched by some large crowds including over 12,000 for a crucial game against Queens Park Rangers. In October 1965 after three goals in three games for the reserves Jimmy Hill handed him a first-team debut in a 0-0 draw at Preston where he played alongside the legendary George Hudson. A first-half injury to Ernie Machin meant Dudley had to move to a defensive midfield role but Nemo in the Coventry Telegraph was impressed: '..it was a highly satisfactory debut. His heading was always cool and precise and his groundwork constructive, and only a full-stretch save by Alan Kelly robbed him of what might have proved the winner in the second half.' His father was unable to see his debut but Nemo wrote that Ted would have been highly pleased. Four days later he helped City to a 3-2 League Cup win at Manchester City and had a goal disallowed for offside and he followed up by scoring two goals on his home debut, a 3-1 win over Charlton Athletic. It was a fairy story for Dudley on his 20th birthday although afterwards he said he could remember little about the first goal after he was concussed in a heading clash with his own captain George Curtis. His first goal was a close range finish from Ken Hale's cross and the second a header from a 'beautifully timed leap' from Ronnie Rees' cross. Nemo speculated whether Dudley could solve 'City's long-standing inside-forward problem...for Roberts has performed better even than Jimmy Hill had dared hope'. A week later he scored in a 2-1 win at Plymouth and again in a 3-2 home win over Portsmouth that took the Sky Blues to the top of the Division Two table. He was off-target in a 1-1 League Cup drawn game with West Brom and after being dropped to the bench against Bolton he returned for the West Brom replay. The Sky Blues suffered a heavy 6-1 defeat to the First Division side who would go on to win the trophy. Another headed goal in a 3-1 home win over Ipswich made it five goals in five league games but he damaged an ankle minutes after scoring and was out for a month. In a matter of weeks he seemed to have leapfrogged the golden boy, Bobby Gould, in Jimmy Hill's plans. He returned to first-team action against Huddersfield in early December but in a 0-3 home loss he had little luck against uncompromising defenders and lost his place. Three weeks later Hill signed another striker, Ray Pointer, and Dudley's first-team future looked in doubt. He was called up as an emergency right-back against Preston in January and had three more starts up front after Hudson was controversially sold to Northampton in March and he managed another headed goal against Middlesbrough in the final home game of the season which saw City finish third in Division Two, missing out on promotion by one point. The following campaign, City's promotion season, Dudley was restricted to just one start, a home League Cup tie defeat to Brighton and was soon back to the reserves, sometimes playing at centre-half and often playing as a striker. In five years as a City professional Dudley played 16 first team games, scoring six goals and 99 games for the reserves with 17 goals . In the last days of Jimmy Hill's time at Coventry, in October 1967, Dudley played his one and only First Division game, at centre-forward against Sheffield Wednesday at Hillsborough. With both Bobby Gould and John Tudor injured Dudley got a late call-up, sadly the Sky Blues lost 0-4. At Coventry City Dudley met Rose McNulty who worked in the offices and later became Sky Blue Rose, the voice that kept City fans up to date with news on a daily recorded telephone message in the days before mobile phones and text services. After he left City he and Rose got married and had a daughter Claire. After Noel Cantwell arrived at the club Dudley and several other youngsters were put on the transfer list and in March 1968 he joined Third Division Mansfield Town for £6,000, primarily as a defender. In early 1969 he switched to a striking role and became a prolific scorer for the Stags. That season Mansfield had their finest ever FA Cup run, reaching the quarter-finals after a giantkilling victory over West Ham in the fourth round. Dudley scored the first goal in a 3-0 win over the Hammers who boasted their three World Cup winners. The following season Mansfield reached the fifth round and faced the mighty Leeds United at Elland Road. Dudley headed down for Jimmy Goodfellow to score but the referee ruled it out for a foul by Roberts. Leeds went on to win 2-0. In 1970 against Liverpool at Field Mill Dudley scored with a stunning header only for that to be ruled out for a foul. In 1970-71 he was joint leading scorer in Division Three with 22 goals and in total he made 230 appearances for the Stags scoring 67 goals. Mansfield sources describe him as one of the greatest ever players for the club. In 1973 he had a loan spell at Doncaster under his former Coventry teammate Maurice Setters and the following year joined Scunthorpe United making 76 appearances with 17 goals before before a knee injury ended his career. He explained: 'My strength was my heading ability and when my knee went I was unable to put my weight on the knee to get the height in my leaps. I had a few games with Burton Albion but decided to hang up my boots”. He continued to live in Mansfield and worked for many years for East Midlands Electricity Board. In 2002 Dudley was very sanguine about his time at Highfield Road: “There was so much competition for places at Coventry at that time. I was grateful for getting an opportunity to play a few games. At the end of the day though the management obviously didn’t think I had what was needed in Division 1.” Dudley was a member of the Former Players Association and attended several Legends Day with Rose but hasn't been well enough to attend in recent years. He was a kind and charming man whose heart always remained with the Sky Blues. My condolences to his widow Rose and daughter Claire His funeral will take place at 2.30 on Monday 29th July at the Mansfield Crematorium, followed by a gathering at Mansfield Town FC.