Born in Park Royal, London, Roberts was playing football from an early age, and spent time in the youth academies at several professional clubs, but was not retained.

After the club failed to gain promotion, Roberts handed in a transfer request and was sold to West Bromwich Albion in July 2000.

He trained at the youth academies of a number of these clubs, including Tottenham Hotspur,[4] Watford,[5] and Chelsea,[6] but failed to earn a contract.

[8] Only when his uncle Cyrille arranged a trial at former club Hayes in the Isthmian League Premier Division Roberts returned to football.

Roberts scored 17 goals in 50 appearances in 2000–01; he formed a successful partnership with Lee Hughes and took Albion to the First Division playoffs.

He was loaned out for much of the 2003–04 season to Portsmouth, where he scored once against Everton,[15] with three further goals in the League Cup against Northampton Town (2)[16] and Nottingham Forest.

[19] Roberts made his debut for Wigan on 17 January 2004 in a 4–2 win against Preston North End, scoring his first goal for the club inside the first 35 seconds of the match.

Roberts continued to find the net in the 2004–05 campaign, ending the season with 21 goals in league play—second in The Championship, behind teammate Nathan Ellington.

With Wigan Athletic's promotion to the top flight of English football in May 2005, Jason Roberts was able to establish himself in the Premier League.

[22] He scored his first goal for Blackburn in the 2–1 FA Cup semi-final defeat against Chelsea, he missed three months of the season with a broken foot.

The following season, he struggled to maintain a place in the Blackburn starting line up due to the signing of Bayern Munich striker Roque Santa Cruz.

He scored his third goal in four starts in a 1–0 win against Burnley, after looping a Jobi McAnuff cross over keeper Lee Grant.

He scored his sixth goal for Reading in an important top of the table clash against Southampton, connecting with Jimmy Kébé's pinpoint cross.

Roberts scored the first two goals of a 10–0 rout of the US Virgin Islands on 26 March 2008, in the first game of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification.

[29] In Spring 2007, he founded the Jason Roberts Foundation, which aims "to provide a range of sporting opportunities for children and young people in the UK and Grenada".

[32] Roberts was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours list, for his services to sport in Grenada and in London, England.

[33] Upon receiving the award he stated in one of Blackburn's match-day programme notes that he was humbled to get it and thanks everyone who has supported his charity work.