Andrew George Rankin (11 May 1944 – 21 August 2023) was an English professional

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 in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in the world, and was the top-level football league in England from ...

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 ...

for Everton,

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

and

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

. He also made an international appearance for the England under-23 team.

Career

Club career

Rankin joined Everton as an amateur at the age of 17 whilst also a Liverpool City Police Cadet. He turned professional, and left the police, five months later. Rankin's debut appearance came in November 1963 in a 2-2 draw at

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

. The first ever penalty shootout in the European Cup took place at

Goodison Park Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

on 4 November 1970. It ended when Rankin saved a kick from Ludwig Müller of

Borussia Mönchengladbach Borussia Verein für Leibesübungen 1900 e.V. Mönchengladbach, better known as Borussia Mönchengladbach () and colloquially known as just Gladbach, is a professional Association football, football club based in Mönchengladbach, North Rhine-W ...

to give Everton a 4-3 win. Afterwards the Everton manager,

Harry Catterick Harry Catterick (26 November 1919 – 9 March 1985) was an English football player and manager. As a player Catterick played for Everton and Crewe Alexandra, in a career that was interrupted by World War II. However, he is most notable as a v ...

, commented: "I still say these penalties to decide a match are like a circus." Rankin stayed with Everton until 1971, part of a squad that won the FA Cup in 1966 and the League Championship in 1970, but only made 85 league appearances as he was mostly kept out of the team by first choice goalkeeper

Gordon West Gordon West (24 April 1943 – 10 June 2012) was an English professional football goalkeeper. He won three international caps in a career that included a long stint at Everton. Club career Blackpool West played as a defender for Barnsley, ...

. His final appearance for the Toffees was in a 3-2 loss to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

in the 1971 FA Cup 3rd Place match held at

Selhurst Park Selhurst Park is a football stadium in Selhurst, in the London Borough of Croydon, England, which is the home ground of Premier League club Crystal Palace. The stadium was designed by Archibald Leitch and opened in 1924. It has hosted interna ...

. Rankin joined Watford for a fee of £20,000, and in 1973 became the inaugural

Watford Player of the Season Watford Football Club are an English football club, from Watford, Hertfordshire. Founded in 1881 as Watford Rovers, the club has competed in the Football League since 1920 and since the 2015–16 season have competed in the Premier League. F ...

, an accolade he would reclaim in the 1974–75 season. After over 300 games for the Hornets he joined

in 1980, before retiring in 1982.

International career

Rankin made a single appearance for England Under-23, in a 3-2 win against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

at the

Racecourse Ground The Racecourse Ground (), is a football stadium in Wrexham, Wales. It is the home of Wrexham A.F.C., Wrexham AFC. It is the largest stadium in North Wales and the List of football stadiums in Wales, fifth-largest in Wales. It is the world's o ...

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 ...

Personal life

Rankin was born in

Bootle Bootle (pronounced ) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England, which had a population of 51,394 in 2011; the wider Bootle (UK Parliament constituency), Parliamentary constituency had a population of 98,449. It is pa ...

, Lancashire and attended Bootle Grammar School. His grandfather, Bruce Rankin, and cousin,

George Rankin George James Rankin, (1 May 1887 – 28 December 1957) was an Australian soldier and politician. He served in both the House of Representatives and the Senate, representing the Country Party of Australia. Early life Rankin was born at Bamawm ...

, were both professional footballers who played for Everton. He died on 21 August 2023, at the age of 79.

References

1944 births 2023 deaths Footballers from Bootle English men's footballers Footballers from Liverpool Men's association football goalkeepers England men's under-23 international footballers English Football League players Everton F.C. players Watford F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players {{England-footy-goalkeeper-1940s-stub