Robert_Apter
Rob Apter
Scottish footballer
Robert Julian Apter (born 23 April 2003) is a professional footballer who plays as a right midfielder for EFL League Two club Tranmere Rovers, on loan from EFL League One club Blackpool. Born in England, he has represented Scotland at under-19 level.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Julian Apter[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2003-04-23) 23 April 2003 (age 20) | ||
| Place of birth | Liverpool, England | ||
| Position(s) | Right midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team |
Tranmere Rovers (on loan from Blackpool) | ||
| Number | 25 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2012–2019 | Tranmere Rovers | ||
| 2019–2020 | Blackpool | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020– | Blackpool | 2 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Bamber Bridge (loan) | 18 | (9) |
| 2022 | → Chester (loan) | 17 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Scunthorpe United (loan) | 19 | (4) |
| 2023–2024 | → Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 18 | (4) |
| 2024– | → Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 10 | (4) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2021– | Scotland U19 | 6 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:38, 9 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:30, 8 May 2022 (UTC) | |||
Born in Liverpool,[2] Apter signed for Tranmere Rovers academy at the age of 8 and remained until he was released at 16. Apter secured a two-year scholarship at Blackpool in May 2019 and signed a two-year professional contract with the option of an additional year in November 2020.[3] He made his senior debut later that month as a substitute in a 3–0 EFL Trophy win Leeds United U21.[4][5] Apter made his league debut on 26 January 2021 as a late substitute in a 5–0 win away to Wigan Athletic and provided the assist for their final goal.[6][7] In February 2021, he was one of 33 players awarded with the League Football Education's The 11 award for under-18 players.[8]
On 13 August 2021, Apter joined Bamber Bridge on loan.[9] As of 2 December, he had scored ten goals in all competitions.[10] He returned to his parent club on 15 December.[11]
Apter signed a new two-and-a-half-year contract with Blackpool on 3 December 2021, with an option of a further year.[12] On 12 January 2024, he signed a new two-year contract with the club.[13]
On 3 January 2022, Apter joined Chester on an initial 28-day loan.[14] On 1 February, it was extended until the end of the season.[15]
On 28 August 2022, Apter joined National League club Scunthorpe United on a short-term loan until January 2023.[16] He made his debut the following day in a 2–0 home defeat to FC Halifax Town.[17]
On 1 September 2023, Apter joined Tranmere Rovers on loan until January 2024.[18][19] He was nominated for League 2 Player of the Month for November.[20]
On 12 January 2024, Apter signed a new three-and-a-half year contract with Blackpool, returning to Tranmere for a second loan until the end of the season.[21][22][23]
In September 2021, Apter was called up to the Scotland under-19s.[24]
He made his debut for the under-19s on 10 November 2021 against Armenia. He scored his first goal for them three days later in a 3–0 victory over Gibraltar.[25]
- As of match played 28 October 2022
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | EFL Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Blackpool | 2020–21[26] | League One | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[27] | Championship | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| 2022–23[28] | Championship | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| Total | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |||
| Bamber Bridge (loan) | 2021–22[29] | NPL Premier Division | 18 | 9 | 2 | 1 | — | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 21 | 10 | ||
| Chester (loan) | 2021–22[1] | National League North | 17 | 2 | — | — | — | 17 | 2 | ||||
| Scunthorpe United (loan) | 2022–23[1] | National League | 19 | 4 | — | — | — | 19 | 4 | ||||
| Tranmere Rovers (loan) | 2023–24[30] | League Two | 19 | 4 | |||||||||
| Career total | 56 | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 60 | 16 | |||
- Appearance in EFL Trophy
- Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
Individual
- "R. Apter: Summary". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- Scrafton, Matt (4 November 2020). "'It's been a dream come true': Highly-rated youngster signs professional contract with Blackpool". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- Scrafton, Matt (11 November 2020). "Blackpool 3–0 Leeds United's U21s: Seasiders continue impressive recent form to qualify for knockout stages of EFL Trophy". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- Scrafton, Matt (20 November 2020). "Blackpool boss won't rush the club's youngsters into the first team". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- "Wigan Athletic 0–5 Blackpool". BBC Sport. 26 January 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- Scrafton, Matt (27 January 2021). "'A near-perfect night for the depleted Seasiders': Matt Scrafton's verdict on Blackpool's five-star showing against Wigan Athletic". Blackpool Gazette. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- "Rob Apter Named In The 11 By League Football Education". www.blackpoolfc.co.uk. Blackpool F.C. 1 February 2021. Retrieved 4 February 2021.
- "Bange And Apter Loaned To Bamber Bridge" – Blackpool F.C., 13 August 2021
- "Apter Signs New Blackpool Contract" – Blackpool F.C., 3 December 2021
- FC, Blackpool (12 January 2024). "Rob Apter Signs New Contract". Blackpool FC. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- "Apter Loaned To Chester" – Blackpool F.C., 3 January 2022
- "Chester Extend Apter Loan" – Blackpool F.C., 1 February 2022
- "Rob Apter joins on loan from Blackpool". www.scunthorpe-united.co.uk. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- "Scunthorpe United 0–2 FC Halifax Town". BBC Sport. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
- FC, Blackpool (1 September 2023). "Apter Joins Tranmere Rovers On Loan". Blackpool FC. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
- "Tranmere bring back Apter on loan" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- "Nigel Adkins and Rob Apter nominated for Manager and Player of the Month". www.tranmererovers.co.uk. 5 December 2023. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- "Rob Apter rejoins Rovers on loan till the end of the season". www.tranmererovers.co.uk. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- "Rob Apter Signs New Contract". www.blackpoolfc.co.uk. 12 January 2024. Retrieved 12 January 2024.
- "Tranmere re-sign Apter on loan until end of season" – via www.bbc.co.uk.
- "Blackpool's Ewan Bange seals fresh loan move after prolific spell with Bamber Bridge" – Blackpool Gazette, 9 November 2021
- "Games played by Rob Apter in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
- "Games played by Rob Apter in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- "Games played by Rob Apter in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 December 2021.
- "Bamber Bridge – Appearances – Robert Apter". Football Web Pages. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- "Games played by Rob Apter in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- "Crysencio Summerville named the Sky Bet Championship Player of the Season". EFL. 14 April 2024. Retrieved 14 April 2024.
- Rob Apter at Soccerbase