Ralph Caraffi (January 19, 1901 – January, 1978) was a U.S.

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who played 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 ...

. He played one season in the professional American Soccer League. The remainder of his nineteen-year career was with semi-professional and amateur leagues. He is a member of the

National Soccer Hall of Fame The National Soccer Hall of Fame is a private, non-profit institution established in 1979 and currently located in Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas, a suburb of Dallas. The Hall of Fame honors soccer achievements in the United States. Induction ...

Career

Caraffi was born in Dunlevy, Pennsylvania. In 1915, at the age of fifteen, he began playing with the semi-professional Vestaburg which competed in an obscure Pennsylvania league. He left Vestaburg in 1917 after which there is a two-year gap in the record of his career. However, the U.S. involvement in

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

caused the suspension of several leagues due to the loss of players to military service. Caraffi’s

profile notes that he played for the U.S. Army team in Europe and this may account for those missing two years. In 1919, Caraffi signed with the

Fall River Rovers Fall River Rovers were a United States soccer club, based in Fall River, Massachusetts. They won the 1888 and 1889 American Cups as well as the 1917 National Challenge Cup. In 1921 Rovers were disbanded and a new team, Fall River United were forme ...

of the semi-professional

Southern New England Soccer League The Southern New England Soccer League was a semi-professional soccer league based in New England which was established in 1914 and collapsed in 1921. During its short existence, it featured some of the top teams in the northeast United States. ...

. He spent two seasons with the Rovers until the team and the league folded in 1921. That occurred in response to the establishment of the American Soccer League which was formed by several of the top SNESL and

National Association Football League The National Association Football League (also spelled ''National Association Foot Ball League'') (NAFBL) was a semi-professional U.S. soccer league which operated between 1895 and 1898. The league was reconstituted in 1906 and continued to oper ...

teams. The Rovers were disbanded and a new, fully professional, team, Fall River United was formed and entered the ASL. Caraffi moved to Fall River United, playing six games that season. There is another between 1922 and 1926 when he is on record as playing for the semi-professional American Hungarians of the Northeastern Ohio major league in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

. In 1929, Caraffi joined Cleveland Bruell Insurance in the newly established Midwest Professional Soccer League. In 1930, Bruell Insurance went to the final of the

National Challenge Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States of America. It is the oldest ongoing national soccer competition in that country. The 2023 U.S. O ...

before falling to the Fall River F.C.U.S. Open Cup at RSSSF
/ref>

Later life

After retiring from playing in 1934, Caraffi became a youth soccer coach with Bartunek Clothes for three years. He was also a referee from 1954 to 1957. Caraffi was inducted as one of the first classes into the

in 1959 and the

Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame The Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame is a nonprofit organization in Cleveland, Ohio. It was established in 1976 to honor Greater Clevelanders who were outstanding in sport. Greater Cleveland is defined as Ashtabula, Cuyahoga, Geauga, Lake, Lor ...

in 1992. His wife continued to live in the Cleveland Area until her death in 2008. His family still resides in the Greater Cleveland Area.

References

External links

National Soccer Hall of Fame profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caraffi, Ralph 1901 births 1978 deaths People from Washington County, Pennsylvania American soccer coaches American men's soccer players American soccer referees American Soccer League (1921–1933) players Fall River F.C. (1922–1931) players Fall River Rovers players National Soccer Hall of Fame members Southern New England Soccer League players Soccer players from Pennsylvania Men's association football midfielders