William Henry Rafferty (born 30 December 1950) is a retired Scottish

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 ...

who played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

. He appeared 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, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed the ...

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, between the Ribble and Wyre rivers, and ...

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park ...

Carlisle United Carlisle United Football Club ( , ) is a professional association football club based in Carlisle, Cumbria, England. The team compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They have played their home games at Brunton Park ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Ro ...

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional Association football, football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football league system, English football. The club was ...

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city status in the United Kingdom, city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is admi ...

and AFC Bournemouth, scoring 145 goals in 468 matches. He finished his career in Portugal with spells at

Louletano Louletano Desportos Clube is a Portuguese club from Loulé, founded on 6 June 1923. The association football team currently play in the Campeonato Nacional de Seniores (Portuguese fourth level), H series. The club plays at the Estádio Algarve, ...

and Farense. Rafferty began his league career with

after joining them from

Port Glasgow Port Glasgow ( gd, Port Ghlaschu, ) is the second-largest town in the Inverclyde council area of Scotland. The population according to the 1991 census for Port Glasgow was 19,426 persons and in the 2001 census was 16,617 persons. The most rece ...

but found opportunities few and far between. A move to

in 1972 saw him play and score more regularly before joining

a year later. With his striking partner,

Paul Mariner Paul Mariner (22 May 1953 – 9 July 2021) was an English football player and coach. A centre forward during his playing days, Mariner began his career with Chorley. He became a professional player in 1973 with Plymouth Argyle, where he score ...

, he became an important player in the Argyle side that won promotion to the

Football League Second Division The Football League Second Division was the second level division in the English football league system between 1892 and 1992. Following the foundation of the FA Premier League, the Football League divisions were renumbered and the third t ...

in 1975. Their partnership contributed 47 goals to the campaign, with Rafferty scoring 26. He then joined

where he continued to score regularly. He moved on to

and

. After Newcastle he joined

in 1980. At Portsmouth, Rafferty once again became a key striker, winning the Third Division championship in 1983 before joining AFC Bournemouth, which would be his last league club in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

."Billy Rafferty"
Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database. Retrieved 24 January 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rafferty, Billy 1950 births Living people Coventry City F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players Carlisle United F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players AFC Bournemouth players Louletano D.C. players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Footballers from Glasgow Association football forwards Scottish footballers Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Portugal Primeira Liga players