Richard Rufus
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| Richard Rufus | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Richard Rufus | |
| Date of birth | January 12, 1975 (age 32) | |
| Place of birth | Lewisham, England | |
| Height | 6'1" | |
| Playing position | Defender | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 1993-2004 | Charlton Athletic | 288 (12) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
||
Richard Rufus (born January 11, 1975 in Lewisham) is a former football defender, who played his entire career at Charlton Athletic.
Rufus progressed through the youth system at The Valley, making his debut for the club as a teenager. He first came to prominence with a Man of the match performance away to Sunderland at Roker Park live on Sky Sports.
After that performance Rufus established his place in the first team, and before long was called up to represent the England U21 team. Richard's impressive performances for one so young were attracting plenty of interest from bigger clubs, Leeds United having a big money offer turned down for the defender. Despite the interest the Addicks kept hold of their prized possession.
Richard formed part of a miserly defence in the 1997-98 season alongside new boys Danny Mills and Eddie Youds, as well as the impressive Sasa Ilic between the sticks. With Clive Mendonca banging goals in at the other end, The Addicks were looking at promotion. They finished 4th, qualifying for the play offs, where Richard would have his most memorable moment in an Addicks shirt. Having made the final at Wembley, Charlton were trailing 3-2 to Sunderland with just minutes to go, Richard headed home a corner to score his first goal for the club in over 150 games. The Addicks went on to win on penalties, to give Richard a chance in the premiership.
A nightmare first Premiership appearance saw him Sent off against Newcastle United, although having served the suspension Richard became a key player in the Addicks ultimately unsuccessful attempt to avoid relegation at the first attempt. The following season was Richards best ever in terms of goals, notching 6 overall, including a brace against Grimsby Town, only being denied his hat-trick by the post. The Addicks won promotion back to the Premiership quite comfortably, giving Richard a chance to put himself in the window for full international duty.
An impressive first season back for both Richard and the club saw the addicks finish 9th, with Rufus taking many plaudits. Disaster was to strike though in just the second game of the following season, with Richard rupturing knee ligaments in an away match at Ipswich Town, forcing him to miss most of the season. He came back for the final few games, though the damage had been done. The following season, with the addicks safe from relegation fairly comfortably, Rufus had a second operation of his troublesome knee in order to be fit for the new season. The rehabilitation took longer than expected, before he eventually made it back for the reserves, and even indeed making the bench for a League Cup tie against Luton Town, however a bad reaction meant another operation for Richard. With the pain too much, Richard sadly called a day on his career at the club, aged just 29. He will however be fondly remembered as a full blooded centre half, who was strong in the air, amazingly fast and always totally committed, even though his distribution wasn't the best at times!
Since retiring, Richard, a born again Christian has been involved with plenty of charity work, alongside friends and fellow Christian footballers Darren Moore and Linvoy Primus, as well as the obligatory bit of punditry here and there.
