Andrew James Rafferty (born 27 May 1988) is an English former

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

. Rafferty played in

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

for

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

making the step up from part-time side Guisborough Town. Following his departure from Hartlepool, Rafferty signed for

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

side

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the , the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1983 afte ...

before playing for part-time side Spennymoor Town.

Club career

Early career

Rafferty started his career at

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...

but left the club aged 16. Upon leaving, Rafferty had trials at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

but a broken finger left him unable to sign. He went to play part-time for

Crook Town Crook Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Crook, County Durham, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Sir Tom Cowie Millfield. The club won the FA Amateur Cup five times. History Crook Town Football ...

and

Horden Colliery Welfare Horden Community Welfare Football Club is a football club based in Horden, County Durham, England. The club was formed as Horden Athletic in 1907, changing its name to Horden Welfare in 1928, and joined the North Eastern League in 1935, reaching ...

before joining Guisborough Town in 2008 and in two seasons he made 49 appearances for the club picking up the Player of the Year award in both seasons.

Hartlepool United

Rafferty joined

in the summer of 2010 from Guisborough Town. Shortly into the new season, Rafferty broke his hand and two bones in his finger in September 2010. When he returned from injury, Rafferty spent the majority of the season as back-up to Scott Flinders before making his Hartlepool United debut in a 1–1 draw against

Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club are a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, Merseyside, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1884 as Belmont Football Club, they ...

in April 2011. A knee injury during pre-season in the 2012–13 season ruled Rafferty out for the majority of the season which led to him undergoing an intricate operation to repair the patella tendon in his left knee and return to training for the first time at the start of March. He was named on the Hartlepool team-sheet as a substitute for the first time of the season in a 2–2 draw against

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

on the final game of the season. In April 2014, Rafferty made his first appearance of the season in a 1–0 defeat to

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in which he saved a penalty from Ryan Taylor. Rafferty made three further appearances before the end of the season. On 14 August 2014, he left

after his contract was cancelled by mutual consent.

Dover Athletic

On 19 September 2014 Rafferty joined

side

. The team had a run of 16 unbeaten games both home and away, including in two

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

shock wins over Football League sides

Morecambe Morecambe ( ) is a seaside town and civil parish in the City of Lancaster district of Lancashire, England, on Morecambe Bay, part of the Irish Sea. In 2011 the parish had a population of 34,768. Name The first use of the name was by John Whit ...

and

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1887, ...

. Rafferty did not concede in his first 8 home appearances starting with the match against

Alfreton Town Alfreton Town Football Club is a football club based in Alfreton, Derbyshire, England. The club are currently members of and play at North Street. History The club was formed in 1959 following the merger of Alfreton Miners Welfare and Alf ...

and ending against

Torquay United Torquay United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system. They have played their ho ...

. Dover Athletic went on to reach the third round of the FA Cup and played at home against

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

. Dover lost the match 4–0, Rafferty's performance earned him second place in The FA Cup's Third Round Top Five Saves. Dover beat

Wrexham Wrexham ( ; ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in the North East Wales, north-east of Wales. It lies between the Cambrian Mountains, Welsh mountains and the lower River Dee, Wales, Dee Valley, near the England–Wales border, borde ...

2–0 on 20 January 2015 to maintain their record 13 games unbeaten. Rafferty was part of the 2015/16 squad which achieved the club's highest finish in the

, missing out to

Forest Green Rovers Forest Green Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Formed in October 188 ...

in the play off semi-finals. Rafferty was released by Dover at the end of the 2015/16 season.

Spennymoor Town

On 1 July 2016, Rafferty moved back to the North East to join newly promoted

Northern Premier League Premier Division The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. Together with the Isthmian League and the Southern League it forms levels seven and eight of the English football league system. Geographically, the league c ...

side, Spennymoor Town. Rafferty left the club towards the end of the same season by mutual consent to start a new career outside of football.

Personal life

In 2017, Rafferty made the switch from playing football to become a paramedic.

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafferty, Andy 1988 births Footballers from Guisborough Living people English men's footballers Men's association football goalkeepers Darlington F.C. players Crook Town A.F.C. players Guisborough Town F.C. players Hartlepool United F.C. players English Football League players Dover Athletic F.C. players Spennymoor Town F.C. players Darlington Town F.C. players Northern Football League players Northern Premier League players National League (English football) players 21st-century English sportsmen