"Dale came to Ipswich as a 15-year-old with myself and was involved in the FA Youth Cup in 1972 and 1974 and later was my assistant as manager for seven years and took the club into the Premiership and Europe." said Burley
"Sometimes the assistant manager doesn't get the credit he deserves and that was the case with Dale. But he played a major part into taking the club into Europe.
"It was no coincidence that when he was not by my side the club's fortunes did not go as well. Dale was my best man, my best friend. I was godfather to his children and he mine and we could not have been much closer."
Meanwhile former Town star Darren Ambrose also spoke of his memories of Roberts, who played a big part in his career developing: "Dale took me into the reserves when we won the reserve league and he was a great bloke and great coach." said Ambrose.
"He gave me some great advice on and off the pitch. He kept your feet on the ground and even now I remember things he said to me. Everything that came out of his mouth was positive and if you took notice you couldn't help but get better."
Town will face Newcastle in the 2004/5 pre-season for the Dale Roberts testimonial match, where it is likely that the trio of Darren Ambrose, Titus Bramble and Kieron Dyer will all play.