Peter Roney

Who was Peter Roney?

Peter Roney was a professional footballer who played in goal for Norwich City and Bristol Rovers prior to the First World War.

Roney was born in Rutherglen in Scotland and after a spell with Norwich City, joined Bristol Rovers in 1909. He was one of the first goalkeepers to score a goal, netting in Rovers' final game of the 1909–10 season from the penalty spot against Queens Park Rangers, and the only goalie to have scored for Bristol Rovers. He went on to play in a total of 178 games in the Southern League for Rovers in his six-year stint with the club.

In 1914 Roney joined the 17th Middlesex Battalion, with whom he served in the Great War. He found the realities of war difficult to cope with, and the mental traumas that he suffered meant that he would never return to 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". A collection was held for him at a Southern League match between Bristol Rovers and Norwich City, his two former clubs, that raised £10.50.

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