Roger Anthony Joseph (born 24 December 1965) is an English former 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 played as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, best remembered for his time in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

with

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

. He won two caps for England B at international level.

Club career

Brentford

Joseph began his career alongside his older brother

Francis Francis may refer to: People and characters *Pope Francis, head of the Catholic Church (2013–2025) *Francis (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Francis (surname) * Francis, a character played by YouTuber Boogie2 ...

at Third Division club

and rejoined the club in October 1984, after having been released as a junior and then playing

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for

Southall Southall () is a large suburban town in West London, England, part of the London Borough of Ealing and is one of its seven major towns. It is situated west of Charing Cross and had a population of 69,857 as of 2011. It is generally divided ...

. He made his senior debut on the final day of the 1984–85 season in a 1–1 draw with

Millwall Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...

and attempted to establish himself as the club's first choice right back during the 1985–86 and 1986–87 seasons, before excelling in 1987–88 and winning Brentford's Players' Player of the Year award. His performances also saw him voted into the Third Division

PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...

and he became the first Brentford player to receive the accolade. He departed

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

for a club record £150,000 fee in August 1988, having made 122 appearances and scored two goals for the Bees.

Wimbledon

Joseph signed for

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club and reigning

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 ...

holders

in August 1988 for a £150,000 fee. He began his time with the Dons as a regular but drifted out of contention by the 1993–94 season, making just 13 league appearances, before managing just three appearances in the following season (ending the season on loan at First Division club Millwall) and remaining absent for the entirety of 1995–96. Joseph was released in May 1996 after making 199 appearances without scoring.

Later career

Joseph had a spell with

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club Chelsea during the early months of the 1996–97 season and made five appearances for the club's

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

. He joined Third Division club

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

on a non-contract basis on 22 November 1996 and made 14 appearances before joined First Division club

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club (), commonly known as West Brom or The Albion, is a professional association football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the Englis ...

on non-contract terms on 28 February 1997. He made just two substitute appearances in March 1997, before departing the club at the end of the 1996–97 season. Joseph returned to Leyton Orient on 3 August 1997. He was a regular pick during the 1997–98 and 1998–99 seasons and helped Orient to the 1999 Third Division play-off final, which was lost 1–0 to

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in ...

. Joseph made just one appearance during the 1999–00 season and was released at the end of the campaign, after making 77 appearances across his two spells at Brisbane Road.

Non-League football

After his release from Leyton Orient, Joseph dropped into non-League football and played for

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is north-east of Peterborough, north-north-east of Cambridg ...

Leatherhead Leatherhead is a town in the Mole Valley district of Surrey, England, about south of Central London. The settlement grew up beside a ford on the River Mole, from which its name is thought to derive. During the late Anglo-Saxons, Anglo-Saxon ...

and had two spells with former club Southall. He had two spells with

AFC Wimbledon AFC Wimbledon is an English professional association football club based in Wimbledon, London, Wimbledon, London Borough of Merton, London. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in ...

during the 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons and though he did not make any competitive appearances, he became one of the first players to play for both Wimbledon and its phoenix club.

International career

Joseph won two England B caps during the second half of the 1990–91 season, starting in wins over

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

and Switzerland B.

Personal life

Joseph is of

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

n descent. His brother

and nephew Zak are also footballers. Prior to his return to professional football with Brentford in 1984, Joseph worked as a

painter and decorator A house painter and decorator is a tradesperson responsible for the painting and decorating of buildings, and is also known as a decorator, or house painter.''The Modern Painter and Decorator'' volume 1 1921 Caxton The purpose of painting is t ...

Career statistics

Honours

* Third Division PFA Team of the Year: 1987–88 * Brentford Players' Player of the Year: 1987–88

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Joseph, Roger 1965 births Living people English men's footballers Wimbledon F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Millwall F.C. players Leyton Orient F.C. players West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Premier League players England men's B international footballers Southall F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football fullbacks Black British sportsmen King's Lynn F.C. players AFC Wimbledon players Leatherhead F.C. players Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Chelsea F.C. players English people of Dominica descent Footballers from the City of Westminster People from Paddington