Peter Roney Explained

Peter Roney
Birth Date:15 January 1886
Birth Place:Knightswood, Scotland
Death Place:Scotstoun, Scotland
Height:5ft 9in
Position:Goalkeeper
Clubs1:Petershill
Years2:–1905
Clubs2:Strathclyde
Years3:1905–1906
Clubs3:Cambuslang Hibernian
Years4:1906–1907
Clubs4:Ayr
Caps4:18
Goals4:0
Years5:1907–1909
Clubs5:Norwich City
Caps5:53
Goals5:0
Years6:1909–1915
Clubs6:Bristol Rovers
Caps6:178
Goals6:1
Years7:–1919
Clubs7:Ayr United
Caps7:0
Goals7:0
Years8:1919–1921
Clubs8:Albion Rovers
Caps8:10
Goals8:0
Years9:1921
Clubs9:Ashington

Peter Roney (15 January 1886 – 25 August 1930) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper for Southern League clubs Norwich City and Bristol Rovers prior to the First World War.

Footballing career

Roney began his footballing career in Scotland with Petershill, Strathclyde and Cambuslang Hibernian,[1] before moving to Scottish League Second Division club Ayr in October 1906.[2] He moved to England in May 1907 and joined Southern League First Division club Norwich City. Two years later, Roney joined divisional rivals Bristol Rovers and became one of the first goalkeepers to score a goal,[3] when he scored from the penalty spot in the club's final match of the 1909–10 season.[4] As of, Roney is the only goalkeeper to have scored for Bristol Rovers.[5] He made a total of 178 Southern League appearances during his six-year stint with the club.[6] Roney finished his career after the First World War with Ayr United, Albion Rovers and Ashington.[7]

Personal life

Roney was born at Knightswood Hospital, Scotland in January 1886. He married his wife Violet in 1909 and at the time of the 1911 census he had one son, Kenneth.[8] Whilst a player with Bristol Rovers, the family lived in Eastville.

In 1914 Roney joined the 17th Middlesex Battalion, better known as the Football Battalion, with whom he served as a private in the First World War.[9] He later transferred to the Machine Gun Corps. He found the realities of war difficult to cope with and the mental traumas that he suffered meant that he only briefly returned professional football, it being reported in 1919 that he had undergone "such experiences during the war that he is unlikely to be heard of again in professional football". It was reported in November 1919 that Roney was seriously ill at home in Ashington.

His plight became a matter of concern to Bristol Rovers in 1921 when he was said to have been "down on his luck", "[lying] on a bed of sickness" and suffering from severe rheumatism as a result of his war service.[10] The directors of the football club donated ten guineas (£10.10s) to him and arranged for a collection to be made at a Southern League match between Bristol Rovers and Norwich City, his two former clubs.[11]

Roney died on 25 August 1930 in Scotstoun, Scotland, at the age of 43.

Sources

Notes and References

  1. Web site: N to Z. . 29 June 2023 . The Bristol Rovers History Group . en.
  2. Web site: We Will Remember Them . 15 January 2023 . www.bristolrovers.co.uk . en-gb.
  3. Web site: Goalscoring Goalies . 6 January 2010 . Goalkeepers are Different.
  4. Byrne & Jay (2003), p.90
  5. Byrne & Jay (2003), p.91
  6. Byrne & Jay (2003), p.492
  7. Book: Litster, John . Record of Pre-War Scottish League Players . PM Publications . Norwich.
  8. Web site: 1911 . Census of England and Wales, 1911 . subscription . 22 January 2016 . Findmypast.
  9. News: Peter Roney Service Record . en-US . Football and the First World War . 12 November 2018.
  10. Web site: Roney Peter Norwich City 1907 . 18 April 2020 . Vintage Footballers . en-GB.
  11. News: 11 November 1921 . For Peter Roney . Western Daily Press . subscription . 21 January 2016 . British Newspaper Archive.