Barnsley v Millwall: Halifax duo's old pals' act at Wembley

FC Halifax Town’s defeat to Cambridge United in the 2014 play-off semi-finals meant the part-time Shaymen were facing another year in the Conference.

Roberts, at the age of 23, and Gregory two years older had been key factors in the fledgling club’s unlikely push for promotion but both could have been forgiven for believing their big chance had gone.

Fast forward those couple of years, however, and the Yorkshire-born duo are two of League One’s most consistent performers.

Roberts has been a revelation at the heart of the Barnsley defence this term, while Gregory has 27 goals to his name for Millwall. This Sunday, the former team-mates will also go head-to-head at Wembley in the third tier play-off final.

“It is funny how things work out,” said Barnsley-born Roberts when speaking to The Yorkshire Post about this weekend’s duel. “I am sure it will be a good moment for us both, walking out at Wembley. To play there is every boy’s dream.

“‘Greggs’ is a fantastic player and has had a really good season. He will go on to have a really good career. I have played against him once already this season but this will be something else, playing at Wembley.”

Roberts, in common with Gregory, came up the hard way in football. Spells at Wakefield, Worksop Town and Buxton preceded his move to The Shay, just a few weeks after Neil Aspin had led the West Yorkshire club into the Conference via the play-offs.

If the 6ft 4in defender had any doubts about the step up to the top division of non-League, he never betrayed them. In that first season, Roberts made 47 appearances as Town defied the odds in a division where most clubs are full-time to finish fifth.

That 2-1 aggregate defeat to Cambridge led to Gregory, who had netted 29 goals in 35 appearances during 2013-14, being snapped up by Millwall in a £250,000 deal.

Roberts’s form had also alerted several League clubs, including Barnsley. The defender, though, stayed and by the end of January, 2015, Halifax looked a good bet for another tilt at the play-offs.

A desire to maintain that push for the top five was why serious interest from Birmingham City in Roberts was rebuffed, even though the risk for the Shaymen was the player walking away for free during the summer when his contract expired.

Town’s season subsequently tailed off and the play-offs were missed by some distance, paving the way for Barnsley to revive their interest in Roberts. A deal was swiftly agreed and Roberts had joined the ranks of full-time football at last.

“It has been a fantastic year for me,” added the defender. “To come to a club of this stature has been brilliant.

“I was excited to get here and, although there have been some ups and downs along the way, it has come good in the end and I feel good.

“The step-up (to League football) is a big one, everyone knows that. More the finer things in the game.

“I wasn’t full-time at Halifax, though I was in the fortunate position of not really working outside the football. I did a bit of part-time coaching, but nothing too vigorous.

“Not having a day job helped me in the long run, as there are a lot of good players at that level but working takes it out of them

“It isn’t easy to work all day and then train at night. Plus there is all the travelling involved. That is what I mean by me being lucky at Halifax.

“I wanted to concentrate on my football because that is what I wanted to be, playing in the League and battling to play at Wembley in finals.

“That is why I trained on my own in the gym during the day. I wanted to get here really badly. All that training in the gym in my spare team also meant when I did get my chance at Barnsley, I was probably better prepared.”

Roberts admits his first few months at Oakwell brought many challenges. A time out of the side brought a period of reflection and plenty of work behind the scenes with the coaching staff to try and improve his game.

Sunday’s second visit in as many months to Wembley plus all the plaudits that have come Roberts’s way since the turn of the year shows the value of all those hours spent on the training pitch.

Now, he just wants to finish the job against former Halifax team-mate Gregory and add promotion to his Johnstone’s Paint Trophy winners’ medal.

“We will go to Wembley full of confidence,” he added. “The gaffer (caretaker head coach Paul Heckingbottom) sees to that. He has been fantastic. He took to it brilliantly. A great coach and a great man. And he works brilliantly with Tommy (Wright, assistant manager).

“I don’t know what the situation is but, to me, he deserves to get the job full time. Obviously, we will see what happens. But he followed the previous gaffer and things snowballed.”