Port Vale
He joined Second Division side Port Vale for a large fee in December 1935.[5] He hit 12 goals in 21 appearances in 1935–36, becoming the club's top-scorer despite playing only half of the season.[5] His arrival proved to have come too late however, and the "Valiants" failed to escape the relegation zone, finishing one point behind Barnsley in 20th place.[5] Roberts nevertheless proved himself to be a forward of some promise, scoring a hat-trick past Hull City in a 4–0 win at The Old Recreation Ground on 2 March, and also finding the net twice at Vetch Field and once at St James' Park.[5]
Roberts was dropped from the first-team in November of the 1936–37 season, but still managed to score eight goals in 16 appearances.[5] Vale finished the season in 11th-place in the Third Division North under the stewardship of former England international Warney Cresswell.[5] Cresswell instead favoured a forward partnership of Tom Nolan and Tommy Ward, and also tried Syd Goodfellow in the number ten role.
Cresswell soon left the club for another management post, allowing Roberts to return the first XI at the start of the 1937–38 campaign.[5] He was once again prolific, scoring 28 league and two FA Cup goals in 40 competitive appearances.[5] This record made him not only Port Vale's top-scorer, but also the Football League's joint-highest scorer, along with Everton's Tommy Lawton.[5] During the campaign, Roberts hit all four goals in a home win over Barrow on 25 September, and also hit a hat-trick past Accrington Stanley in a 4–1 home win on 8 January.[5] Despite his exploits in front of goal, Port Vale could only manage a 15th-place finish, and won just one of their 21 away games.[5]
Port Vale were placed in the Third Division South in the 1938–39 season.[5] Roberts scored only ten goals in 21 games, having been forced to miss much of the season after dislocating his shoulder in a 4–0 win over Bristol City on New Year's Eve.[5] The club could only manage an 18th-place finish, they lost six of their next eight games following Roberts's injury, finding the net just four times. Nolan finished as the club's top-scorer with 17 goals, though outside of Nolan and Roberts there were no players with more than five league goals.
He guested for Wrexham in the autumn of 1939.[5] He left Port Vale for good the following year to fight for the Allies in World War II.[5] He scored a total of 74 goals in 118 competitive games in five years at the club.[5]