Larrett Roebuck

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]

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

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
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Huddersfield Town	1913–14[7]	Second Division	17	0	2	0	19	0
Career total			17	0	2	0	19	0

See also

• List of solved missing person cases