Kevin Rapley (born 21 September 1977) is an English footballer. After playing for several

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 ...

and non-league clubs, Rapley is now playing for

Witton Albion Witton may refer to one of several places in England: *Witton, historic name of an area of Northwich, Cheshire **Witton Albion F.C. *Witton Gilbert, County Durham *Witton-le-Wear, County Durham *Witton, an area of Blackburn, Lancashire * Witton, B ...

Career

The striker began his career with

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

as an apprentice, going on to make 51

appearances for them. He later played in the league for Southend United (loan), Notts County, Exeter City (loan),

Scunthorpe United Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Scunthorpe, Lincolnshire, England. The side currently competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The tea ...

and Colchester United, before joining Football Conference side Chester City in July 2003. His first season at the club ended with Chester winning the title and promotion back to the League, where he played for one more season (but part of it was spent on loan at Forest Green Rovers). Unfortunately, he struggled to land a regular place in the Chester side throughout his time at the club and had a relatively poor scoring record, meaning it came as no surprise when he was released by the club in 2005. Rapley's 2005–06 season started well but petered out through the season, which ended with Droylsden losing to

Stafford Rangers Stafford Rangers Football Club is a semi-professional English football team from Stafford which plays in the Northern Premier League Premier Division. The team wear black and white stripes with black shorts. Stafford Rangers' rivals include T ...

in the Conference North play-off final on penalties. In February 2007, he signed for Leigh RMI, where he helped them avoid relegation from the Conference North at the end of 2006–07. In October 2007, after 12 goals from 32 appearances at Leigh, Rapley moved to

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

, who were also struggling in the Conference North. The fans at Barrow reacted positively to the move, believing Rapley's wealth of experience would lift them up the table and he enhanced his reputation by scoring in a 1–1 draw with

Football 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 ...

side

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

in the FA Cup First Round in November 2007. On 3 January 2008, Rapley joined Vauxhall Motors on loan to gain match practice. The following month he joined

on a permanent basis.

Honours

Club

;

* Football League Division Three Winner (1): 1998–99 ; Chester City * Football Conference Winner (1): 2003–04

External links

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rapley, Kevin 1977 births Living people Sportspeople from Reading, Berkshire English footballers Brentford F.C. players Southend United F.C. players Notts County F.C. players Exeter City F.C. players Scunthorpe United F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Chester City F.C. players Forest Green Rovers F.C. players Droylsden F.C. players English Football League players Leigh Genesis F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Vauxhall Motors F.C. players Association football midfielders National League (English football) players Witton Albion F.C. players