Roberts took up a broadcast journalist position with Radio Tees (renamed TFM) paired with his existing football commentary role covering Middlesbrough FC.
Roberts has stated he was only presented the chance of commentating fame due to an England v New Zealand test match taking place in Nottingham the same day resulting in him being the only TV or radio broadcaster at Edgbaston in Birmingham as the Warwickshire batsman took Durham apart.
Roberts moved back to commercial radio to present the Big Mal Football Phone-In on Century with legendary coach Malcolm Allison.
He later presented Supermac at 6 a phone-in show with England and Newcastle United legend Malcolm Macdonald, as well as his regular commentaries and overseeing role for sport.
Roberts became part of the TalkRadio France 98 World Cup team, working alongside his Sky Sports colleagues Alan Parry and Andy Gray.
Gray mentions in his autobiography 'Gray Matters' how Roberts was charged with the task of overcoming strict accreditation criteria in France to enable the TalkRadio team to carry out their commentaries – as the station did not have the necessary credentials.
Despite his now full-time TV career, Roberts continued his association with TalkRadio for another 18 months – presenting regular programmes Weekend Sports Breakfast and Friday Football First as well as his reporting and commentaries.
Roberts confided in colleagues that he was offered a presenter role for a new BBC TV show, Row Z, but was unable to accept due to his full-time commitments with SKY.
Whilst with ESPN Star, Roberts covered Euro 2004 from Portugal, 2005 UEFA Champions League Final and World Cup Germany 2006 – anchoring and reporting ESS' output from site.
This was not his only brush with trouble, in 2005 a Singapore newspaper claimed he was 'roughed up' by Thai Prime Minister's secret police at Government House after asking the then PM questions in a press conference on his attempt's to buy Liverpool FC.
Roberts' employment with ESPN appeared to end after the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa as he was next seen fronting the 2011 FA Cup Final, Community Shield and the Champions League Final (Barcelona 3–1 Manchester United) from London's Wembley Stadium for his former employer ESPN Star Sports – where he sat alongside the likes of former England manager Steve McClaren and pundit Gerry Armstrong.
He also owns Fan media operation RedArmy which includes the TV channel RedArmyTV and 24/7 radio station RedArmy Radio, operations that are staffed by Middlesbrough fan volunteers with Roberts providing technical infrastructure and professional development to enable volunteers to develop skills in order to enter the media job market or improve personal skills.
RedArmy Radio can be heard online at http://streamingv2.shoutcast.com/redarmy-radio On air Roberts broadcast his passion for refereeing football, often giving unique insight into on-the-field situations through match official eyes.
He was presented to the India media at a news conference the day before the game where he sent a message to the rival teams claiming "I guess the decibel level will be four times more than the matches I have deputed to date but I know I will have things under my control".
[5] The normal fiery affair passed with little incident with only 3 yellow cards shown and plaudits coming to Roberts from unexpected sources – "I am not supposed to comment but he was good",[6] and, "He was always on the ball and is very fit.
[7] Roberts was again invited back to India to referee the semi-finals and final of the IFA Shield competition featuring Bayern Munich II.
The competition was screened live on ESPN Star Sports and Roberts agreed to wear a microphone that the TV broadcaster could tune into to hear what was being said on the field.
He led instructor courses in Philippines & in the UK where he now works closely with North Riding County FA coaching young up-and-coming match officials.
In May 2015, Roberts ran for Mayor of Middlesbrough, finishing third behind winner Dave Budd and second placed former hedge fund manager Andy Preston.