Rory Nicholas Gaffney (born 23 October 1989) is an Irish 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 plays 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) ** Smal ...

for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

club

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 ...

Career

Limerick

Gaffney started his career at League of Ireland First Division team

Mervue United Mervue United A.F.C. is an Irish association football club based in Mervue, Galway. Their senior men's team currently plays in the Galway & District League. The club has previously fielded teams in the Connacht Senior League, the League of Ir ...

before joining Premier League team

Limerick Limerick ( ; ) is a city in western Ireland, in County Limerick. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster and is in the Mid-West Region, Ireland, Mid-West which comprises part of the Southern Region, Ireland, Southern Region. W ...

in July 2011. He completed his studies at the

Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT; ) was an institute of technology, located in Galway, Ireland. In April 2022, it was formally dissolved, and its functions were transferred to Atlantic Technological University (ATU). Now a con ...

while playing in Ireland.

Cambridge United

On 25 November 2014 Gaffney agreed a move to League Two club

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

when the transfer window opened. His first season was beset with injury and he made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 26 September 2015, replacing Conor Newton in the 81st minute in a 1–0 win against

Stevenage Stevenage ( ) is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, about north of London. Stevenage is east of junctions 7 and 8 of the A1(M), between Letchworth Garden City to the north and Welwyn Garden City to the south. In 1946, Stevenage w ...

at the

Abbey Stadium The Abbey Stadium, currently known as the Cledara Abbey Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Cambridge, England. It has been the home ground of Cambridge United since 1932, and currently has a maximum capacity of 7,937 spe ...

providing the cross from which Cambridge scored. Gaffney went on to score twice on his first start for

in the 3–2 away win over Yeovil Town on 23 October.

Bristol Rovers

On 14 January 2016, Gaffney moved permanently to League Two club

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers FC is a men's professional football club in Bristol. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club is affiliated to Bristol Rovers W.F.C., whose team play in the FA Women's National Leag ...

after a successful loan spell. After scoring five goals in seven games for the West Country Club. Gaffney ended the season with a tally of eight league goals as he played a useful part in the club's promotion to

Football League One The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...

. Gaffney scored his first goal in Sky Bet League One and his first for the club since 16 April 2016 on 1 October 2016 with his club's first goal in a dramatic 3–2 win over

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the c ...

. Rory scored his first goal since 10 December 2016 in the 4–2 victory over Bury on 11 March 2017 in a 2–0 victory over

Southend United Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...

. He scored his second goal in a week scoring what would prove to be the winner in a 2–1 victory over Chesterfield taking his season total to four league goals. Gaffney ended the season with a total of nine goals including two in a 4–2 loss vs

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

as his side narrowly missed the playoffs. Gaffney scored his first goal of the 2017–18 season to make it 3–1 in a 4–1 defeat to Peterborough United on 12 August 2017 when he headed home a Lee Brown cross at the back post.

Salford City

In June 2018 he joined Salford City on a three-year contract. He made his debut in the opening match of the 2018–19 season on 4 August as Salford drew 1–1 at home to

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...

. His first season with the club ended in success as Salford City won promotion to the Football League for the first time in their history in their first season in the fifth tier. Gaffney scored a penalty in a play-off semi-final shootout victory against

Eastleigh Eastleigh is a town in Hampshire, England, between Southampton and Winchester. It is the largest town and the administrative seat of the Borough of Eastleigh, with a population of 24,011 at the United Kingdom 2011 census, 2011 census. The town ...

and came off of the bench in the 3–0 final victory over

AFC Fylde AFC Fylde is a professional football club based in Wesham in the Borough of Fylde, Lancashire, England. They are currently members of the and play at Mill Farm. Originally known as Kirkham & Wesham following a merger of Kirkham Town and Wes ...

Walsall (loan)

On 31 August 2019 he joined

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season, linking up with former-Rovers manager

Darrell Clarke Darrell James Clarke (born 16 December 1977) is an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played in the English Football League. He is the head coach of club Bristol Rovers ...

. After 25 appearances, scoring just once, Gaffney had his loan terminated in February 2020.

Shamrock Rovers

On 24 February 2020, Salford City announced they and Gaffney had mutually parted ways and he had left the club and later that day signed for

. In April 2021, Gaffney opened his scoring for the club with a late equaliser against

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 ...

. Gaffney scored twice at

KF Teuta Durrës Klubi i Futbollit Teuta, commonly referred to as ''Teuta'', is an Albanian professional football club based in Durrës Durrës ( , ; sq-definite, Durrësi) is the List of cities and towns in Albania#List, second most populous city of the Al ...

in a

2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League The 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League was the inaugural season of the UEFA Europa Conference League, Europe's tertiary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The final was played at the Arena Kombëtare in Tirana, Albania, with Rom ...

tie where Rovers won 2-0 In the

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League was the 68th season of Europe's premier club Association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions ...

Gaffney scored against

Hibernians F.C. Hibernians Football Club is a Maltese professional football club based in the town of Paola. They are the only Malta football club to have never been relegated from the Premier League. History The club played one season in 1922 as Constituti ...

When Gaffney scored at

KF Shkupi FC Shkupi (, ) is a professional association football, football football team, club based in Municipality of Čair, Čair, Skopje, North Macedonia. The club plays in the Macedonian First Football League, which is the top tier of football in Nort ...

in the

2022–23 UEFA Europa League The 2022–23 UEFA Europa League was the 52nd season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 14th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. Sevilla defeated Roma in the final pl ...

he completed his scoring record in all three main European club competitions At the end of the 2022 season, a season in which Shamrock Rovers won the league for a third consecutive season, Gaffney was named the PFAI Players' Player of the Year at the end of season awards. He was also awarded the SSE Airtricity League Player of the Year award Having originally being allowed leave the club at the end of the 2024 season following the end of his contract, Gaffney returned to

on 21 February 2025, 3 competitive games into the season, after proving his fitness following 10 months without a competitive appearance.

Career statistics

Honours

Limerick *

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 ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Bristol Rovers *

Football League Two The English Football League Two, simply known as League Two and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet League Two, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League Two is the fourth division of the English Football League (EFL ...

third-place promotion: 2015–16 Salford City *

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 ...

play-offs:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Shamrock Rovers *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

President of Ireland's Cup The President of Ireland's Cup, also known simply as the President's Cup, is an association football super cup featuring clubs from the Republic of Ireland football league system. It is a one-off match between the winners of the previous season's ...

Individual *

Player of the Month: October 2022 *

PFAI Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association of Ireland Team of the Year (often called the PFAI Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to the group of eleven players voted by their fellow players as having perform ...

* PFAI Players' Player of the Year:

* SRFC Player of the Year: 2022 * FAI League Player of the Year:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gaffney, Rory 1989 births Living people Association footballers from County Galway Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football forwards Mervue United A.F.C. players Limerick F.C. players Cambridge United F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. players League of Ireland players English Football League players National League (English football) players Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century Irish sportsmen