Stefan Guy Ratchford (born 19 July 1988) is an English

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 11 ...

footballer who plays as a for the

Warrington Wolves The Warrington Wolves are a professional rugby league club based in Warrington, England, that competes in the Super League. They play rugby at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, having moved there from Wilderspool in 2004. Founded as Warrington ...

( Heritage No. 1097) in the

Betfred Super League The Super League (officially known as the Betfred Super League due to sponsorship from Betfred and legally known as Super League Europe), is the top-level of the British rugby league system. At present the league consists of twelve teams, of w ...

and the

England Knights England Knights (previously known as Emerging England and England A) is considered the feeder team for the England rugby league team. The Knights play a key role in the development of emerging talent, allowing players to gain experience in an i ...

and

England international The England national football team has represented England in international football since the first international match in 1872. It is controlled by The Football Association (FA), the governing body for football in England, which is affilia ...

at international level. He previously played for the

Salford City Reds The Salford Red Devils are a professional rugby league club in Salford, Greater Manchester, England, who play in the Super League. Formed in 1873, they have won six Championships and one Challenge Cup. Their home ground since 2012 has been t ...

between 2007 and 2011 in the Super League and National League One. Throughout his career Ratchford has played as a and .

Background

Stefan Ratchford was born in

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the north-east and Warrington t ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a metropolitan county and combined authority area in North West England, with a population of 2.8 million; comprising ten metropolitan boroughs: Manchester, Salford, Bolton, Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Stockport, Tam ...

, England. He started playing

at the age of six, initially playing junior rugby for Wigan St Cuthberts before later switching to Wigan St Patricks.

Playing career

Ratchford signed with

in 2005, and made his first team début for the club in 2007 in a fourth round Challenge Cup match against

Gateshead Thunder Gateshead Thunder may refer to: *Gateshead Thunder (1999) Gateshead Thunder was a professional rugby league club founded in 1999 in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England, which competed in the 1999 Super League but then merged with Hull Sharks af ...

. In 2008, following the club's relegation to National League One, Ratchford established himself as a regular first team player. He formed an effective halfback partnership alongside

Richie Myler Richard David Myler (born 21 May 1990) is a professional rugby league footballer who plays as a and for the Leeds Rhinos in the Betfred Super League. He is a member of the Ireland squad for the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup, having d ...

, helping the team win the

Northern Rail Cup The Championship Cup, (known as the Northern Rail Cup for sponsorship reasons), and previously known as the National League Cup, was a rugby league football competition for clubs in the United Kingdom's Rugby League Championships. Although the F ...

, and the Division One Grand Final. Ratchford played in the

2012 Challenge Cup Final The 2012 Challenge Cup Final was the 111th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2012 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2012, kick off 14:30. The final was contested by Leeds Rhinos and Warrington Wolves ...

victory over

Leeds Leeds () is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds district in West Yorkshire, England. It is built around the River Aire and is in the eastern foothills of the Pennines. It is also the third-largest settlement (by popula ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 2002 to 2003. The stadium ...

. Ratchford played in the

2012 Super League Grand Final The 2012 Super League Grand Final was the 15th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XVII season. The match was held on Saturday 6 October 2012, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested b ...

defeat by

at Old Trafford. Ratchford played in the

2013 Super League Grand Final The 2013 Super League Grand Final was the 16th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of Super League XVIII. The game was held on Saturday 5 October 2013, at Old Trafford, Manchester, and was contested by Wigan Warri ...

defeat by

at Old Trafford. Ratchford signed a new deal in 2014 keeping him at the Warrington club until 2018. Ratchford played in the

2016 Super League Grand Final The 2016 Super League Grand Final was the 19th official Grand Final and conclusive and championship-deciding match of the Super League XXI season. It was held on Saturday 8 October 2016, at Old Trafford, Manchester, with a 6pm kick-off time. Bri ...

defeat by

at Old Trafford. Ratchford played in the

2018 Challenge Cup Final The 2018 Challenge Cup Final was the 117th cup-deciding game of the rugby league 2018 Challenge Cup Season. It was held at Wembley Stadium in London on 25 August 2018, kick off 15:00. The final was contested by Catalans Dragons and Warrington W ...

defeat by the

Catalans Dragons The Catalans Dragons (French: ''Dragons Catalans'', Catalan: ''Dracs Catalans'') are a professional rugby league club from Perpignan, Pyrénées-Orientales department, France. The team competes in the Super League and are the only team from outs ...

. During Warrington's defeat by

in the

2018 Super League Grand Final The 2018 Super League Grand Final was the 21st official Grand Final and championship-deciding game of Super League XXIII. It was held at Old Trafford in Manchester on 13 October 2018, kick off 18.00. The final was contested by Warrington Wolves ...

Ratchford was voted winner of the

Harry Sunderland Trophy The Harry Sunderland Trophy is awarded annually to the man of the match in the Super League Grand Final. Named after Harry Sunderland, who was an Australian rugby league football administrator in both Australia and the United Kingdom, the Troph ...

making him only the fourth recipient of the award to have played for the losing side. Ratchford played in the

defeat by

at Old Trafford. Ratchford played in the 2019 Challenge Cup Final victory over St. Helens at

. In round 8 of the

2021 Super League season Super League XXVI, known as the Betfred Super League XXVI for sponsorship reasons, was the 26th season of the Super League and 127th season of rugby league in Great Britain. The 2021 season was originally scheduled to begin on 11 March 2021, how ...

, he scored a try and kicked 11 goals in Warrington's 62–18 victory over Salford.

International career

Ratchford was named in the England squad for

2009 Four Nations The 2009 Rugby League Four Nations tournament (officially known as the Gillette Four Nations due to sponsorship) was the first Rugby League Four Nations since its expansion from the Tri-Nations tournament. Played in England and France over three ...

, but did not appear in any games during the tournament. At the end of the 2011 season, Ratchford rejected a new contract offer from Salford and joined

. He also made two appearances for the

in 2011 and 2012. In October 2017 he was selected in the England squad for the

2017 Rugby League World Cup The 2017 Rugby League World Cup was the fifteenth staging of the Rugby League World Cup tournament and took place in Australia, New Zealand and Papua New Guinea between 27 October and 2 December 2017. The tournament featured the national teams ...

Honours

* Challenge Cup: 2 ::

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

League Leaders' Shield The League Leaders' Shield is a shield awarded to the team finishing the season top of Super League in the sport of rugby league football. Currently, and for most of Super League's history, the championship is decided on the basis of a play-off se ...

: 1 ::2016

Personal life

In 2015, Ratchford set up a business with former Salford City Reds teammate Matty Smith called Future Stars, which runs coaching sessions for junior rugby league players.

References

External links

Warrington Wolves profile
*(archived by web.archive.org
Statistics at rlwc2017.comSL profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ratchford, Stefan 1988 births Living people England national rugby league team players England Knights national rugby league team players English rugby league players Rugby league five-eighths Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wigan Salford Red Devils players Warrington Wolves captains Warrington Wolves players