Charlie Trafford (born 24 May 1992) is a Canadian former professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Youth and College

Born in

Calgary Calgary () is a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Trafford spent time playing local youth soccer before joining the Whitecaps Residency. He later played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

with

York University York University (), also known as YorkU or simply YU), is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, and it has approximately 53,500 students, 7,000 faculty and staff, ...

, and also spent time with Dutch club

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

. In 2012, he played with

SC Toronto SC Toronto is a Canadian soccer team, founded in 1994. The team was a member of the Canadian Soccer League, and played its final home games at Lamport Stadium in the city of Toronto, Ontario. The club found success early on since its incepti ...

of the

Canadian Soccer League The Canadian Soccer League (CSL; ) is a semi-professional league for Canadian soccer clubs primarily located in the province of Ontario, and claims the history of the Canadian National Soccer League (CNSL). It is a non-FIFA league previously ...

Finland

Trafford began his senior professional career in Finland, playing with

IFK Mariehamn IFK Mariehamn is a Finnish football club based in Mariehamn, the capital of the Åland Islands. It plays in the Finnish Premier Division (''Veikkausliiga''), winning their first title in 2016. The club is managed by Gary Williams, and it plays ...

TPS TPS or Tps may refer to: In arts and entertainment *Télévision Par Satellite, a French satellite television company *Third-person shooter, a game genre * Torsonic Polarity Syndrome, in ''South Park'' animation * Trailer Park Sex, a band from ...

and

KuPS Kuopion Palloseura, commonly referred to as KuPS, is a Finnish professional football club based in Kuopio. KuPS competes in Veikkausliiga, the top flight of Finnish football. The team plays its home matches at Kuopio Football Stadium. KuPS ha ...

. While with KuPS, Trafford won their 2014 Player of the Year and Goal of the Year awards.

Poland

Trafford signed with

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

club

Korona Kielce Korona Kielce (, Korona – ''Crown'' – symbol of club and city, Kielce – name of city where club is based) is a Polish professional football club based in Kielce, competing in Ekstraklasa in the 2025–26 season. From 2002 to ...

on 24 November 2015 and joined the club on 1 January 2016. He made his debut against

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

on 15 February 2016. Trafford would struggle to receive playing time with Korona Kielce, and in March 2017 would transfer to

I liga I liga (, ), currently named Betclic I liga due to its sponsorship by Betclic, is the men's second professional association football division of the Polish football league system, below the Ekstraklasa and above the II liga via promotion/rel ...

side

Sandecja Nowy Sącz Sandecja Nowy Sącz is a Polish football club from Nowy Sącz, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, that was formed in 1910. In the 2025–26 season, they will compete in II liga, the third tier of Polish football, after winning group IV of the 2024–2 ...

Return to Finland

Trafford returned to Finland and signed with

RoPS Rovaniemen Palloseura (RoPS) is a football club founded in 1950 and based in Rovaniemi, Finland. RoPS played in the Finnish Premier Division, (''Veikkausliiga'') for 32 years, from 1981 to 2021. In 2021, RoPS withdrew from professional football ...

on 14 July 2017. He made his debut for them against

FC Lahti FC Lahti is a Finnish professional football club based in the city of Lahti. It currently plays in the Finnish second tier Ykkösliiga, after relegating from Veikkausliiga after the 2024 season. The homeground of Lahti is Toolpoint Arena. La ...

on 16 July.

Scotland

After only a month with RoPS, Trafford transferred to Scottish side

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

on 18 August 2017. He made his debut the next day against

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the . The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Greenock Morton in 1994 to celebr ...

. Trafford would start regularly for the club during his first two months, but would lose his starting spot after injuring his thumb. Trafford would be in and out of the starting lineup during his first 2.5 years at Inverness, showing good form when getting a regular run of games. He left the club at the end of the 2019–20 season. He then signed for

Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...

. On 19 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Hamilton at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract.

Wales

Trafford signed with

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

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 ...

on 25 October 2021, signing a short team deal following a successful trial. In January 2022, it was announced that Trafford's contract had expired without making an appearance for the club.

Cavalry FC

On 17 February 2022, Trafford signed a two-year contract with his hometown club,

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

side

Cavalry FC Cavalry Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer club based in the Calgary metropolitan region of Alberta. The club competes at the top of the Canadian soccer league system in the Canadian Premier League, and plays their home matches ...

, where he joined his cousin

Mason Mason may refer to: Occupations * Mason, brick mason, or bricklayer, a worker who lays bricks to assist in brickwork, or who lays any combination of stones, bricks, cinder blocks, or similar pieces * Stone mason, a craftsman in the stone-cutti ...

. In January 2024, Trafford extended his contract with Cavalry through the 2025 season, with a club option for 2026. He scored his first goal for the club in May 2024 against

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The club is based in Langley, British Columbia (district muni ...

. In March 2025, he announced his retirement.

International career

Trafford received his first call up to the Canada national team on 6 October 2015 as a replacement for

Kyle Bekker Kyle Edward Bekker (born September 2, 1990) is a Canadian professional soccer midfielder and team captain for Forge FC of the Canadian Premier League. Club career Youth Bekker was born in Oakville, Ontario and began his youth soccer career wi ...

, who withdrew from the squad due to injury. He earned his first cap seven days later on 13 October, starting in central midfield against

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

Personal life

His cousin

Mason Trafford Mason Trafford (born August 21, 1986) is a Canadian former association football, soccer player who most recently played for Canadian Premier League club Cavalry FC. Besides Canada, Trafford has played in the United States, Finland, and China. C ...

is also a professional soccer player. Both have played for

and

. In November 2023 he started an urban farming business with his sister Sya. Trafford is a part-owner of

Northern Super League The Northern Super League (NSL; ) is a Canada soccer league system#Women, top-division professional women's association football, women's soccer league in Canada. The league is owned and operated by Project 8 Sports, Inc., and includes six team ...

club

Calgary Wild Calgary Wild FC is a professional women's soccer club based in Calgary, Alberta, that competes in the Northern Super League, a league at the top of the women's Canadian soccer pyramid. History In December 2022, it was announced that Calgary ...

Career statistics

Honours

Sandecja Nowy Sącz *

: 2016–17

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Trafford, Charlie 1992 births Living people Soccer players from Calgary Canadian men's soccer players Canada men's international soccer players Men's association football midfielders Whitecaps FC Academy players De Graafschap players SC Toronto players IFK Mariehamn players Turun Palloseura footballers Kuopion Palloseura players Korona Kielce players Sandecja Nowy Sącz players Rovaniemen Palloseura players Inverness Caledonian Thistle F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Calgary Foothills FC players Wrexham A.F.C. players Cavalry FC players Canadian Soccer League (1998–present) players Veikkausliiga players Ekstraklasa players I liga players III liga players IV liga players Scottish Professional Football League players Canadian Premier League players Canadian expatriate men's soccer players Canadian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Finland Expatriate men's footballers in Finland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Scotland Expatriate men's footballers in Scotland Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Wales Expatriate men's footballers in Wales 21st-century Canadian sportsmen University and college men's soccer players in Canada