Ellie Roebuck (born 23 September 1999) is an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

and the England national team. She previously played for

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and represented

Great Britain at the Olympics The United Kingdom has been represented at every modern Olympic Games. By end of the 2024 Summer Olympics, it is third in the All-time Olympic Games medal table, all-time Summer Olympic medal table by overall number of medals, and fourth in number ...

. With City, Roebuck won the

once, and the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

and League Cup three times each. With Barcelona, she is a

Liga F The Primera División de la Liga de Fútbol Femenino, currently known as the Liga F (finetwork Liga F for sponsorship reasons), is the highest level of Sports league, league competition for women's football in Spain. It is the women's equivalent ...

Copa de la Reina Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act, a former U.S. law to protect minors from certain material on the internet * Canadian Owners and Pilots Association * Cirrus Owners and Pilots Association * Parlia ...

and

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

winner.

Early life

Ellie Roebuck was born on 23 September 1999 in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

, South Yorkshire, England. She grew up a fan of

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, getting her first season ticket at the age of five, as well as admiring

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

– for her eighth birthday, her family went to the

Joan Gamper Trophy The Joan Gamper Trophy (, or simply TJG) or Joan Gamper Cup is an annual association football exhibition match held in August, before the start of Barcelona's La Liga season, where top division clubs from the world compete against them. The compe ...

match at the

Camp Nou Camp Nou (), meaning ''New Field'' and often referred to in English as the Nou Camp, is a stadium in Barcelona and the home of La Liga club FC Barcelona since its opening in 1957. It is currently undergoing renovation, and with a planned increa ...

. Roebuck started playing grassroots football with Beighton Magpies in Sheffield; as part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign, a plaque honouring Roebuck was installed at the club. She then joined

's Centre of Excellence, staying until she was 15. Whilst at Manchester City, she attended Connell Sixth Form College to complete a sports qualification.

Club career

Manchester City, 2015–24

2015–17

Roebuck joined the

development squad when she was 15. She began to be involved with the first team in 2017, but did not play in any of the competitions they won.

2018–20

In January 2018, Roebuck signed her first professional contract with Manchester City. A month later, she made her senior breakthrough from the development squad, due to an early injury to

Karen Bardsley Karen Louise Bardsley (born 14 October 1984) is an American-born English former Association football, footballer who played as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper. She played for Sky Blue FC in the previous top-flight American Women' ...

, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 league draw against Chelsea. She then played in the 2018 FA WSL Cup final that they lost 0–1 in March, a disappointment that had manager Nick Cushing encourage Roebuck to "write her own story" rather than be affected by the team's achievements. On 23 May 2019, Roebuck, having been part of the side that won both the

and League Cup, extended her contract with Manchester City for another two years. At the end of the 2019–20 season, Roebuck was awarded the inaugural Barclays FA WSL Golden Glove having kept ten clean sheets in 16 league appearances. She had a 90.9% save percentage for the season.

2021–23

Roebuck missed much of the 2021–22 season with a calf injury, limiting her to 10 league appearances out of 22, her lowest since 2017. In addition she missed several international fixtures. She came back strong in the 2022–23 season as City's main goalkeeper: having suffered an exodus of major players, the team got off to a rocky start before mounting an unbeaten 14-match run in the league. They then went out of the

2022–23 FA Women's League Cup The 2022–23 FA Women's League Cup was the twelfth edition of the Women's Super League and Women's Championship's league cup competition. It was sponsored by Continental AG, who have sponsored the competition since its creation in 2011, and was o ...

in the semi-finals in February, after which they began to lose more games. In March 2023, Roebuck was outwitted by

Sam Kerr Samantha May Kerr (born 10 September 1993) is an Australian professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a striker (association football), striker for Women's Super League club Chelsea F.C. Women, Chelsea, and the Australia ...

in the early stages of the final of the 2023 Women's FA Cup that they lost 2–3. Roebuck made important saves in a league loss to

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

on 7 May 2023, before having a poor performance against

Manchester derby The Manchester derby refers to association football, football matches between Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, first contested in 1881. City play at the City of Manchester Stadium in Bradford, ...

rivals

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

on 21 May 2023, in what was her last game for the club. Eventually losing 1–2, City conceded a goal due to defensive errors in the second minute, and Roebuck received a red card 40 minutes later for a bad tackle outside of the box.

2023–24

In the 2023–24 season, Roebuck was included in the matchday squad six times, but did not play. On 30 March 2024, Roebuck disclosed that she had suffered an

infarct Infarction is tissue death (necrosis) due to inadequate blood supply to the affected area. It may be caused by artery blockages, rupture, mechanical compression, or vasoconstriction. The resulting lesion is referred to as an infarct (from the ...

in her

occipital lobe The occipital lobe is one of the four Lobes of the brain, major lobes of the cerebral cortex in the brain of mammals. The name derives from its position at the back of the head, from the Latin , 'behind', and , 'head'. The occipital lobe is the ...

earlier in the season. When she received the test results, Roebuck was worried she would not be able to play football again, before being reassured that she would recover. In announcing the reason for her absence, she said she had noticed symptoms for a while but would have "no lasting damage to her brain function or vision" and was recovering well. At the time, she had not featured in the season, nor for the England national team in the same period. Roebuck had already been connected to a move to European champions

in January 2024, and spent time there during her recovery with former City teammate

Keira Walsh Keira Fae Walsh (born 8 April 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Women's Super League club Chelsea F.C. Women, Chelsea and the England women's national football team, England women's national team. She is ...

; Roebuck's departure was announced by Manchester City on 18 May 2024.

Barcelona, 2024–25

Having not played for City since May 2023, Roebuck signed a pre-contract for Barcelona in April 2024, to join at the end of the season. On 19 June 2024, Barcelona announced the signing of Roebuck on a two-year deal. Roebuck said of the move that she was looking forward to play for the club, calling it "the perfect team" for how she likes to play with the ball at her feet. Barcelona had been kept in the know of Roebuck's stroke and recovery for the whole process, and she undertook further rehabilitation when she joined the team in preparation to play again. Her rehabilitation included travelling with the squad to the United States during pre-season, without being available to play. She was included in a Barcelona matchday squad for the first time on 9 October 2024, for their 2024–25 Champions League match against Manchester City. Nineteen months after her previous match, Roebuck made her debut for Barcelona on 7 December 2024 in a 4–1 win against

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

; a strong debut, she was denied a clean sheet in the last minute through an error in the outfield. After only making one further appearance during the season in a 2–1 defeat against Levante on 1 February 2025, it was announced on 7 July that year that Barcelona had agreed to terminate Roebuck's contract.

Aston Villa, 2025–

On 8 July 2025, Roebuck returned to the WSL after signing for

on a two-year deal.

International career

England

Youth

Roebuck played in the 2016 U-17 European Championship, helping her team win third place. This qualified England for the 2016 U-17 World Cup in Jordan, where Roebuck played in all four games until her team was defeated in the quarterfinals by defending champions

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Roebuck was part of the England squad that won the bronze medal in the 2018 U20 World Cup in France, however, she was an unused substitute in all fixtures behind Sandy MacIver. In April 2017, she played in the second qualifying round for the 2017 U-19 European Championship in the 7–0 win against the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, also known as Czechia, and historically known as Bohemia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the south ...

Senior

In October 2018, England manager

Phil Neville Philip John Neville (born 21 January 1977) is an English association football, football manager and former player who is the current head coach of Major League Soccer club Portland Timbers. He is also the co-owner of Salford City F.C., Salford ...

named Roebuck and Manchester City team-mate

Georgia Stanway Georgia Marie Stanway (born 3 January 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Frauen-Bundesliga club Bayern Munich and the England national team. Stanway started her senior career at Blackburn R ...

in his squad for the first time. Roebuck made her senior team debut as a 79th minute substitute for Mary Earps on 8 November 2018 against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

. She made her first start, before being replaced by Earps at half time, in a 2–1 win against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 9 April 2019. In June 2022, Roebuck was included in the England squad which won the Euro 2022. On 31 May 2023, Roebuck was named to the squad for the 2023 World Cup in July 2023.

Great Britain

On 27 May 2021 it was announced that Roebuck had been selected as one of the two goalkeepers in the Great Britain team for the

2020 Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. She made her debut on 21 July 2021 in a 2–0 win against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

. She played in all four games until they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Style of play

As a goalkeeper, Roebuck "enjoys dribbling, enjoys playing on the ball". She can recover balls and stop attackers with her feet when coming off her line, and also use her footwork to attack, playing out from the back by being involved in passing sequences, or being able to pass out long herself. Having the skill to break lines through passing out from her area, she can also use her ability on the ball to create space.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Statistics accurate as of match played 19 February 2023.''

Honours

Manchester City *

FA Women's Super League The Women's Super League (WSL), also known as the Barclays Women's Super League for sponsorship reasons, and formerly the FA WSL, is a professional association football league and the highest level of women's football in England. Currently oper ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Women's FA Cup The Women's FA Challenge Cup is the top annual cup tournament for women's clubs in English football. Founded in 1970, it has been named the WFA Cup, FA Women's Cup, and now Women's FA Cup (currently known as the Adobe Women's FA Cup for sponso ...

: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20 *

FA Women's League Cup The Women's League Cup, also known as the Subway Women's League Cup due to sponsorship reasons, is a league cup competition in English women's association football. The competition was originally open to the eight teams in the FA WSL, but since t ...

, 2018–19, 2021–22 Barcelona *

: 2024–25 *

: 2024–25 England *

FIFA Women's World Cup The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior list of women's national association football teams, women's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internationale de Footb ...

runner-up:

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

UEFA Women's Championship The UEFA European Women's Championship, also called the UEFA Women's Euro, held every four years and one year after the men's UEFA European Championship first held in 1984, is the main competition in women's association football between nationa ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Women's Finalissima The Women's Finalissima is an intercontinental women's football super cup organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by the winners of the Copa América Femenina and UEFA Women's Championship. Played as a quadrennial one-off match, the fi ...

Arnold Clark Cup The Arnold Clark Cup is an invitational women's association football tournament hosted by the Football Association in England, starting in 2022. It is named after car retailer Arnold Clark, who signed a multi-year sponsorship deal. ITV acts as t ...

England U20 *

FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup The FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup is an international association football tournament, organized by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association), for national teams of women under the age of 20. The tournament is held biennially. ...

third place:

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Individual * Women's Super League Golden Glove: 2019–20 *

Freedom of the City of London The Freedom of the City of London started around 1237 as the status of a 'free man' or 'citizen', protected by the charter of the City of London and not under the jurisdiction of a feudal lord. In the Middle Ages, this developed into a freedom or ...

(announced 1 August 2022)

References

External links

Profile
at the Manchester City F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Roebuck, Ellie 1999 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English women's footballers England women's youth international footballers England women's international footballers Olympic footballers for Great Britain Women's association football goalkeepers Women's Super League players Liga F players Manchester City W.F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. Women players FC Barcelona Femení players Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics UEFA Women's Euro 2022 players UEFA Women's Championship–winning players 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup players 21st-century English sportswomen