Billy Rafferty – SkyBlueArchive

Position

Forward

Nationality

Place Of Birth

Glasgow

Date Of Birth

December 30, 1950

Age

Games Played

Per Game

Games Started

1.0

Per Game

Minutes

2916

85.8

Per Game

Goals

0.2

Per Game

Assists

Per Game

Centre-forward Billy Rafferty had a relatively short career at Coventry City between 1968 and 1972 and is better remembered for his exploits at Plymouth Argyle and Carlisle United. At Plymouth he built up a formidable striking partnership with Paul Mariner and they scored 100 goals between them for the Pilgrims in the years from 1974 to 1976.

City spotted the tall striker playing for Port Glasgow Rovers in 1968 and he became a key player in the Youth team alongside Dennis Mortimer, Bobby Parker and Alan Dugdale. He served his apprenticeship in the reserves alongside Brian Joicey and in April 1970 he was given his first team debut in a 0-4 defeat at Newcastle.

His real breakthrough came the following year when, following the sale of Neil Martin he played in the final nine games of the season, alongside City legend Ernie Hunt. Nicknamed ‘Chips’ after a 1940s Australian film star, Billy scored his first goal in a 3-0 home win over Burnley. The following season he played 14 games for City, the majority alongside Chris Chilton, but scored only three goals.

After four games in the 1972-73 season he was sold to Blackpool as part of the deal that bought Tommy Hutchison to Highfield Road. In total he made 31 league and cup appearances for the Sky Blues and scored four goals.

In eighteen months at Blackpool under the legendary Bob Stokoe he managed only nine goals in 36 appearances but was hampered by a knee injury. Next stop was Plymouth who paid £25,000 for his signature. The partnership with Mariner worked like a dream in 1974-75 and Billy with 23 goals even outscored Mariner as Argyle, under former Coventry coach Tony Waiters, won promotion to Division Two. In May 1976 Carlisle offered £25,000 for Billy and he moved the 400 miles to Cumbria.
At Carlisle Billy soon attracted the First Division scouts and in 1978 Wolves signed him for £125,000 and he teamed up with his old Coventry colleague Willie Carr. He scored four goals in his first 13 games at Molineux, including a brace in a win at Ipswich, upstaging his old mate Mariner.

Next stop was Newcastle United where he played for eighteen months before transferring to Portsmouth and finally Bournemouth where his career ended in 1985. In total he scored 145 goals in 468 games and usually helped clubs to promotion or saved them from relegation. In 1988 after three years with Farense in Portugal he returned to live in Carlisle.

League Cup (England)

1972-1973

180′

1971-1972

90′

270′

0 (0)

Football League First Division (England)

1972-1973

360′

1971-1972

1123′

2 (0)

1970-1971

765′

1 (0)

1969-1970

90′

2338′

3 (0)

The Texaco Cup (England)

1972-1973

180′

2 (0)

1971-1972

0′

180′

2 (0)

FA Cup (England)

1971-1972

90′

1 (0)

90′

1 (0)

Inter-Cities Fairs Cup (Europe)

1970-1971

38′

0 (0)

Totals:

2916′

6 (0)