Feature | Roberts making an impact on and off the pitch

On-loan defender, Mitchell Roberts, made his first League start for City at the weekend on the left side of the back-line.

It ultimately proved to be a disappointing afternoon with ten-man City succumbing to a 4-3 defeat at Uxbridge as our hosts grabbed a stoppage time winner.

“Obviously the way the game went was extremely frustrating,” said Roberts. “It looked like we had done just enough to get a point out of it and then they hit us right at the death.

“Despite Saturday’s set-back, I’m enjoying my time at the club; the environment here has surprised me in a good way - the coaching, analysis, training standards, it’s all really professional.

“The staff and the lads have been class with me, made me feel part of the group straight away and the fan base has been brilliant.

“The atmosphere at home games has really stood out and the non-stop backing that we received at Uxbridge at the weekend was outstanding.

“It’s a club with ambition and standards, and I’m glad to be part of that, however long it lasts. Every game for me is an opportunity to show what I can do and make an impact.

“To have started the last two games has been pleasing, particularly having not played for around ten weeks prior to that.

“As a result, I’m still building sharpness, but the main thing is contributing and giving everything when I put the shirt on.

“The squad is strong; there’s real quality throughout, but also a togetherness and demand about the group that I’ve really enjoyed being part of.

“You can be sure that we’ll be doing everything we can to bounce back in the right way from Saturday’s defeat and prove that it was just a mere blip.

“For me, it’s all about being able to contribute to keeping standards high here and winning games of football.”

Not only is Roberts doing all he can to make an impact on the pitch here, he’s also using his own lived experiences to help young footballers make the transition when they come out of the professional game through his company, Athlete Impact.

“I’d been in a professional environment from the age of 11 at Birmingham City,” he explained. “The structure of full-time football was all I’d ever known.

“Then when I left the club at the age of 22, I had a few things lined up and expected to be at a new club pretty much straight away.

“But then two months into the new season, I was still without a club. It was the first time in my life that I was seeing my bank balance going down every week instead of up.

“It wasn’t just the football side of things — it was the lack of routine, the uncertainty and the feeling of not knowing when, or if, the phone would ring.

“You go from being part of a changing room, playing in front of fans, to sitting at home at 3pm on a Saturday watching your mates play. That’s when the real transition starts, and there’s very little support for it.

“The initial spark for Athlete Impact came when I was working with my mentor, Rob Blackburne. He helped me massively during that period out of the game, and it made me realise how powerful the right support can be when you’re in that in-between place as a player.

“But the actual lightbulb moment was random — a Wednesday evening when I booked a space on an Astro-turf pitch, promoted a free football session for kids and no-one turned up. I’d spent £7 on the pitch and could’ve just gone home, but instead I called a mate, coached him one-to-one, filmed it and made use of the time.

“The next day I was in a school doing some coaching and told a member of staff [Mechak] about it — we ended up talking for hours about football, young people, mentoring, psychology and how no-one is properly helping athletes outside of their sport.

“By the end of the conversation we’d agreed to create Athlete Impact. His 15+ years in psychology and my journey in football made the perfect mix.

“At Athlete Impact we do three main things:

Sports Mentoring Programmes – we place current and former athletes into schools and community settings to mentor young people using sport as the engagement tool. Every programme is bespoke; trauma-informed and built using psychology-backed methods.

Training and Workforce Pathway for Athletes – we train, vet and fully support athletes to step into roles in education, either part-time alongside football or full-time if they’re transitioning out of the game.

Ongoing Support and Community – every athlete has access to myself and our in-house psychologist for safeguarding, guidance and general support. What starts as ‘work’ often becomes a community — lads realise they’re not the only ones going through the same things.

"It’s free for athletes to join, because the funding comes from schools, councils and our own internal investment — something I wish existed when I left full-time football.

“It’s huge that the participants know that I have been through exactly the same experiences that they have. That’s why I put my face to the brand — I’m not interested in being a silent director behind a logo. Lads open up quickly because they know I’m not speaking at them; I’m speaking from experience.

“There’s a massive pressure in football around ‘making it’ and lads disappearing when they drop levels. When they walk into an Athlete Impact on-boarding session and realise every other person in the room has lived through the same thing — it changes the conversation completely.

“They’re not judged, they’re understood. And that’s when progress actually happens.

“To be able to give something back and fill a gap in the market that wasn’t there when I was in this situation is honestly the best feeling.

“When I sit in a room with the lads at training days, I can see younger versions of myself — players who still love football but just need structure, income and a bit of direction again.

“The best moments are the messages I get weeks later. I’ve received comments such as; ‘Mate, I’m really enjoying it in this school,’ ‘Confidence is back,’ ‘Buzzing again with football,’ and even ‘First time I’ve saved money in months!’

“Knowing I played a small part in that — that’s better than anything I’ve done on the pitch.

“We’re already expanding what we do, but the focus is on doing it properly — not just quickly. More athletes, more schools, more sports, more support systems. The long-term vision is big, but for now we’re taking it day by day, building strong foundations and letting reputation lead the growth.”

The 25 year-old went out on loan to the likes of Harrogate Town, Carlisle United, Oldham Athletic and Solihull Moors during his time at Blues before eventually joining Oxford City in October 2023.

He then moved to Boston United following their promotion into The National League and then linked up with Hereford in The National League North during the summer.

You can find out more about Athlete Impact via: athleteimpact.co.uk