Roberts played in the The Bootle JOC (Juvenile Organisation Committee) League that was a local amateur/youth football league in the Bootle area. It was an important source of players for local senior clubs. Robert turned out for Bedford and St Mary's and his league record was 136 goals in 102 matches. Roberts made his first-team debut for Liverpool on 23 April 1932. Selected against Portsmouth at Anfield, he began his senior career in a 3–1 defeat. He went on to make competitive appearances in six successive seasons, although injuries would interrupt his progress just as he was establishing himself in the side. Primarily an inside-forward, Roberts could operate on either side of the attack rather than being confined to one position.
Roberts' most productive league campaign came in 1932/33, when he scored six times in 25 appearances. On his first outing of that season, at Leicester City on 8 October, he marked his return with his first Liverpool goal in a 2–1 victory. Further goals followed against Derby County, Sunderland and Aston Villa, but the most memorable occasion was the extraordinary 7–4 win over Everton at Anfield on 11 February 1933. Roberts contributed one of Liverpool’s seven goals. He also scored against Leicester a week later. Roberts produced another important contribution in the FA Cup the following season. Liverpool were trailing Fulham 2–0 in their third-round replay at Craven Cottage on 17 January 1934 before Alf Hanson reduced the deficit and captain Tom Bradshaw equalised shortly before the end of normal time. Roberts then struck the decisive goal late in extra time to complete a 3–2 comeback. A contemporary report described Dave Wright chesting the ball back to Roberts and shielding a defender to give the inside-left a clear shot. It was Roberts’s first FA Cup goal and secured Liverpool’s passage into the fourth round. Ten days later, his season was brought to an abrupt halt by a serious injury during the 3–1 victory over Tranmere Rovers at Anfield. Roberts didn't make another first-team appearance until 15 December 1934, when Liverpool beat Tottenham Hotspur 4–1. He soon returned to the scoresheet, scoring against Middlesbrough in a 2–2 Boxing Day draw, before adding two goals in the 6–2 FA Cup victory at Yeovil on 12 January 1935. Those were his final goals for Liverpool.
Contemporary observations suggest that his contribution extended beyond scoring. In January 1935, the Lancashire Evening Post credited Roberts’s ability to hold the ball, alongside the precise passing of Vic Wright, with helping Liverpool develop a more controlled and cohesive attack. The report described a forward line increasingly built around quick exchanges of passes, with Roberts providing an effective link from inside-left. It offers a glimpse of the player Liverpool were beginning to regain after his lengthy absence. Further knee trouble followed. On 31 May 1935, the Hull Daily Mail reported that Roberts had entered a Liverpool nursing home for an operation on cartilage in his left knee. He subsequently made only eight first-team appearances across his final two seasons, the last coming in a 6–2 defeat at Portsmouth on 2 September 1936. He left Liverpool in August 1937 and later played for Shrewsbury Town and Chester. His Anfield career brought 13 goals in 62 competitive appearances, including ten in 58 league matches—a modest overall record containing a derby goal, a dramatic cup winner and a promising spell curtailed by injury.
