Joseph Gerard Rafferty (born 6 October 1993) is a 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 le ...

who plays for

EFL League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

. Rafferty can operate as a fullback, wingback and as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

. Born in England, he has represented the Republic of Ireland at youth level. He was born and raised in the city of Liverpool where he started his footballing career. Rafferty has played internationally for the Republic of Ireland three times at under-18 and once at under-19 level.

Club career

Liverpool

Rafferty spent his youth career with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, and in 2011 was made captain of the Under-18 side. Whilst at Liverpool he was capped by the Republic of Ireland at Under 18 level making his debut in 2010 in the Jerez tournament against Czech Republic in Prague. The following season Rafferty represented Republic of Ireland at Under 19 levels.

Rochdale

He joined

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, at the foothills of the South Pennines in the dale on the River Roch, northwest of Oldham and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough ...

on 2 July 2012. On 4 September 2012 Rafferty made his first-team debut for Rochdale in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

against

Fleetwood Town Fleetwood Town Football Club is an English professional association football club based in the town of Fleetwood, Lancashire. Established in 1997, the current Fleetwood Town F.C. is the fourth incarnation of the club; it was originally formed in ...

coming on as an 82nd-minute substitute for Brian Barry-Murphy. On 16 May 2013 Rafferty signed a new 1-year contract at Rochdale. on 8 October 2013 Rafferty scored his first professional goal with a header against

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

in the Football League Trophy. On 26 April 2014 Rafferty was part of the Rochdale team which won promotion to League One. On 1 July 2014, Rafferty agreed a new two-year contract extending his stay at Spotland until May 2016. At the end of the 2016–17 season, Rochdale AFC confirmed Rafferty had signed a new two-year deal with the club. At the end of season awards Rafferty won both the Rochdale supporters player of the year and the SMAC Dale supporters club player of the year.

Preston North End

On 23 January 2019 Rafferty joined

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...

on a three and a half year deal for an undisclosed fee. Rafferty scored his first goal for the club away at Swansea on 17 August 2019. Rafferty was released at the end of the 2021–22 season.

Portsmouth

On 11 July 2022, Rafferty joined

club

on a two-year deal.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rafferty, Joseph 1993 births Living people Republic of Ireland association footballers English footballers Association football defenders Rochdale A.F.C. players Liverpool F.C. players Preston North End F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players English Football League players Republic of Ireland youth international footballers