Chris Rutherford (born 1955) is an English former 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 for

League of Ireland The League of Ireland is a national association football Sports league, league consisting of professional clubs in the Republic of Ireland and Derry, Derry City in Northern Ireland. It is governed by the Football Association of Ireland. It was ...

club

Sligo Rovers Sligo Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional association football, football club playing in the Premier Division of the League of Ireland. The club is based in Sligo in the west of Ireland. The club was founded in 1928 and have been in ...

Playing career

Liverpool-born Rutherford was given a free transfer from

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

at 20 years old, after failing to break into the first team. He then accepted the offer of a

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contract from

and quickly became an important player at The Showgrounds. During his second season with the

Border Region The Border Region (coded IE041) is a NUTS Level III statistical region within the Republic of Ireland. The name of the region refers to its location along the Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border. It is not a cross-border region, so ...

club he scored in a decisive win over

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club is an Irish professional Association football, football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is List of football clubs by competit ...

which secured the 1976–77 League of Ireland title. He also helped the club win the 1982–83

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

, although he was taken off injured 20 minutes into the final win over

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. A broken leg sustained in a 1984–85

League of Ireland Cup The League of Ireland Cup, also referred to in Ireland as the 'League Cup', was an annual knockout competition in men's football in Ireland. It was contested by League of Ireland clubs and invited clubs from the lower levels of the Irish footb ...

tie against Galway United ended Rutherford's playing career at the age of 28. He made 281 appearances for Sligo Rovers and was inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in November 2019.

Coaching career

Rutherford served as

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

of Strand Celtic in the Sligo/Leitrim junior league and then of

Finn Harps Finn Harps Football Club is an Irish football club that play in the First Division of the League of Ireland, as of 2023. The club was founded in 1954 and elected to the league in 1969. They hail from Ballybofey, County Donegal and play their ho ...

in the

League of Ireland First Division The League of Ireland First Division, also known as the SSE Airtricity League First Division for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland football league system. The division w ...

. He returned to Sligo Rovers and was assistant to several different managers. While serving as

caretaker manager In association footballing terms, a caretaker manager or interim manager is somebody who takes temporary charge of the management of a football team, usually when the regular manager is dismissed or leaves for a different club. However, a caret ...

in 1994, he oversaw Sligo Rovers' first ever win in European competition, a 1–0 home win over

Floriana Floriana ( or ''Il-Floriana''), also known by its title Borgo Vilhena, is a Floriana Lines, fortified town in the Port Region, Malta, Port Region area of Malta, just outside the capital city Valletta. It has a population of 2,205 as of March 2014 ...

in the

1994–95 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup The 1994–95 season of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup was won by Zaragoza in the final against defending champions Arsenal, the Spanish club winning thanks to a last-minute goal from midfielder Nayim with a shot from 40 yards. Moldova joined the comp ...

. He left Sligo Rovers in 1999 on the appointment of

Jim McInally James Edward McInally (born 19 February 1964) is a Scottish football manager and former player, who was most recently the manager of Scottish League Two club Peterhead. He played for Dundee United for 10 seasons in which he won the 1993–94 ...

player-manager A player–coach (also playing coach, captain–coach, or player–manager) is a member of a sports team who simultaneously holds both playing and coaching duties. Player–coaches may be head coaches or assistant coaches, and they may make chang ...

Personal life

During and after his football career, Rutherford worked as a glazier for Sligo Glass. After settling in Sligo he married Sligonian woman Bernadette Verdon and converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

. They have two daughters, Nina and Gemma, as well as a son, Stuart. The footballer

Emma Hansberry Emma Hansberry (born 26 May 1994) is an Irish footballer and coach who plays for Women's National League (WNL) club Sligo Rovers. She previously represented Castlebar Celtic and Wexford Youths. An attacking midfielder, she has also represent ...

is his niece.

Honours

;Sligo Rovers *

(1): 1976–77 *

(1): 1982–83

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rutherford, Chris Living people 1955 births Footballers from Liverpool English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders League of Ireland players Cardiff City F.C. players Sligo Rovers F.C. players Finn Harps F.C. managers Converts to Roman Catholicism from Anglicanism English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland English football coaches English football managers League of Ireland managers Expatriate association football managers in the Republic of Ireland