Ellie Roebuck

Ellie Roebuck (born 23 September 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga F club Barcelona and the England national team. She has also represented England at youth level.

Manchester City
Roebuck started her career at Sheffield United's centre of excellence, before leaving to join Manchester City, aged 15. In grassroots football, she had played with Beighton Magpies in Sheffield; as part of the "Where Greatness Is Made" campaign, a plaque honouring Roebuck was installed at the club.

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, keeping a clean sheet in a 0–0 league draw against Chelsea. On 23 May 2019, Roebuck, having been part of the side that won both the FA Cup 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.

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 went out of the 2022–23 FA Women's League Cup in the semi-finals in February, after which they began to lose more games. In March 2023, Roebuck was outwitted by Sam Kerr in the early stages of the final of the 2023 Women's FA Cup that they lost 2–3. She made important saves in a league loss to Liverpool on 7 May 2023, before having a poor performance against Manchester derby rivals Manchester United 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.

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 in her occipital lobe earlier in the season. She said she had "not felt well for a little while" but would have "no lasting damage to her brain function or vision" and was "on the road to recovery". At the time, she had not featured in the season, nor for the England national team in the same period. Roebuck's departure was announced by the club on 18 May 2024.

Barcelona
Having not played for Manchester City since May 2023, in January 2024, Roebuck was reported to be set to transfer to European champions Barcelona; she signed a pre-contract with the Catalan club 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.

International career
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. 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.

In October 2018, England manager Phil Neville named Roebuck and Manchester City team-mate Georgia Stanway 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. She made her first start, before being replaced by Earps at half time, in a 2–1 win against Spain on 9 April 2019.

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. She made her debut on 21 July 2021 in a 2–0 win against Chile. She played in all four games until they were eliminated in the quarterfinals by Australia. 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.

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.

Personal life
Roebuck was born in Sheffield and grew up as a Sheffield United supporter. Whilst at City, she attended Connell Sixth Form College to complete a sports qualification.

Club
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International

 * Statistics accurate as of match played 19 February 2023.

Honours
Manchester City
 * FA Women's Super League: 2016
 * Women's FA Cup: 2016–17, 2018–19, 2019–20
 * FA Women's League Cup: 2016, 2018–19, 2021–22

England


 * FIFA Women's World Cup runner-up: 2023
 * UEFA Women's Championship: 2022
 * Women's Finalissima: 2023
 * Arnold Clark Cup: 2022, 2023

England U20
 * FIFA U-20 Women's World Cup third place: 2018

Individual
 * Women's Super League Golden Glove: 2019–20
 * Freedom of the City of London (announced 1 August 2022)