Paul Leslie Rutherford (born 10 July 1987) is an English

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 as a winger for

Cymru Premier The Cymru Premier, known as the JD Cymru Premier for sponsorship reasons, is the national football league of Wales. It has both professional and semi-professional status clubs and is at the top of the Welsh football league system. Prior to 200 ...

club

Bala Town Bala Town Football Club ( cy, Clwb Pêl-droed y Bala) is a Welsh football team from Bala, Gwynedd, who play in the Cymru Premier. They play their home games at Maes Tegid. History For a full history see; '' List of Bala Town FC seasons'' Al ...

Career

Born in Moreton, Wirral, he was brought up through the ranks in Liverpool's academy with his brother John before joining Chester City. In 2005, he signed his first professional contract after impressing in Chester City's Youth Team. He made his First Team début for Chester City against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They compete in EFL League one , the 3rd tier of the English football league system. The club is based at the Abbey Stadium on N ...

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 ...

in 2005 and over the past few years has been involved in first–team duties. He scored his first league goal in the 2–1 win over

Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. The River Skerne flows through the town; it is a tributary of the River Tees. The Tees itself flows south of the town. In the 19th century, Darlington underwen ...

on 22 March 2008. Rutherford was part of the Barrow side who won the 2009-10 FA Trophy at Wembley against

Stevenage Borough Stevenage Football Club (known as Stevenage Borough Football Club until 2010) is a professional association football club based in the town of Stevenage, Hertfordshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier o ...

2–1. On 25 June 2013, Rutherford signed for Southport. On 23 May 2016, Rutherford signed for Wrexham. He made his debut for the club on the opening day of the 2016–17 season, in a 0–0 draw with

Dover Athletic Dover Athletic Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in the town of Dover, Kent, England. The club currently competes in the National League South, the sixth tier of English football. The club was formed in 198 ...

, scoring his first goal for the club in their following match with a 93rd minute winning goal during a 3–2 victory over

Guiseley Guiseley ( ) is a town in metropolitan borough of the City of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Otley and Menston and is now a north-western suburb of Leeds. It sits in t ...

. On 2 June 2021, it was announced that Rutherford would leave Wrexham after spending five years at the club. He features prominently in the first two episodes of the documentary series ''

Welcome to Wrexham ''Welcome to Wrexham'' is an American sports documentary series that premiered on August 24, 2022, on FX. The series documents the events of Welsh association football club Wrexham A.F.C., as told by the club's owners Rob McElhenney and Ryan R ...

'', where he is shown getting a

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or d ...

that is implied to cost the team the playoff spot and the reason for his dismissal; despite the unfortunate circumstances, Rutherford maintains his support for both the club and the documentary, saying that the latter is "arguably one of the best things that's happened to im, and that "it probably makes iscareer look better". On 25 June 2021, Rutherford signed for

. He made his European debut in July 2021, as Bala lost 2-0 on aggregate to

Larne Larne (, , the name of a Gaelic Ireland, Gaelic territory) is a town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland, with a population of 18,755 at the United Kingdom census, 2011, 2011 Census. It is a major passenger and freight Roll-on/ro ...

in the

Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

. In 2023, Rutherford returned to representing Wrexham in

The Soccer Tournament The Soccer Tournament (TST) is a seven-a-side association football tournament played in the United States, established by TBT Enterprises, creator of The Basketball Tournament (TBT). TST was announced on October 11, 2022 to feature 32 teams with ...

Career statistics

References

External links

Paul Rutherford Profile
a
BarrowAFC.com
*
Port Online Player Profile
1987 births Living people English men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Chester City F.C. players Barrow A.F.C. players Southport F.C. players Wrexham A.F.C. players Bala Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Cymru Premier players Sportspeople from Wirral Footballers from Merseyside {{England-footy-forward-1980s-stub