Larrett Roebuck
Larrett Roebuck was an English professional footballer who played in the Football League for Huddersfield Town as a left back. He was the first Football League player to be killed in the First World War.Personal life
As a boy, Roebuck worked as a trammer and after being sentenced to one month's imprisonment for stealing a watch in 1904, he enlisted in the York and Lancaster Regiment. Over the next seven years, he was stationed in India and Ireland and was promoted to lance corporal, but was demoted back to private in 1910 for "misconduct". He married in 1908 and had two children. Roebuck was discharged into the reserves in 1912 and likely returned to work as a miner prior to becoming a professional footballer in 1913. After Britain's entry into the First World War in August 1914, he was called up by the York and Lancaster Regiment and arrived on the Western Front in September 1914. On 18 October 1914, Roebuck was recorded as "presumed dead" after an attack near Beaucamps-Ligny during the Race to the Sea. His death was confirmed by two comrades in January 1915. Roebuck is commemorated on the Ploegsteert Memorial to the Missing.Career statistics
