Claire Rafferty

Claire Rafferty
Personal information
Full name Claire Lauren Rafferty[1]
Date of birth (1989-01-11) 11 January 1989
Place of birth Orpington, London, England
Height 1.64 m (5 ft 4 1⁄2 in)[2]
Playing position Left Back/Left Winger
Club information
Current team
 Chelsea Ladies
Number 11
Youth career
Kent Magpies
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
2003–2007 Millwall Lionesses
2007– Chelsea Ladies
National team‡
2010– England 9 (0)
2012– Great Britain 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.
† Appearances (goals)

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:40, 31 May 2015 (UTC)

Claire Lauren Rafferty (born 11 January 1989) is an English female international footballer. She plays as a left back or left winger for Chelsea Ladies in the FA WSL.

Club career

Rafferty became a first team regular with Millwall Lionesses as a 14-year-old.[3] After recovering from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury,[3] she signed for Chelsea Ladies in 2007[4] and became a regular on the left of midfield.[5]

In August 2011 Rafferty suffered another ACL injury.[6] She returned to the Chelsea team as a substitute in their televised 2012 FA WSL opening game against Doncaster Rovers Belles. Earlier in April 2012 Rafferty had been appointed as one of eight digital media ambassadors, one from each team, who wear their Twitter account name on their sleeves to raise the profile of the WSL.[7]

In 2014 Rafferty helped Chelsea to second place in the FAWSL. There was a dramatic final day of the season which saw Chelsea narrowly missing out on the title by one goal difference.[8] Rafferty is currently the longest standing Chelsea player in the squad.

International career

England

Rafferty was involved with England at U15 development, U17, U19, U20 and U23 level.[9] She had been called into the U19 squad at the age of 15.[3] Her full debut came on 25 March 2010 against Austria.[9]

In June 2011 Rafferty was named in the 21–player squad for the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup. At the quarter final stage of the competition against France, she was substituted on for regular left back Rachel Unitt in the 81st minute, to make her World Cup debut. England coach Hope Powell considered Rafferty better equipped to cope with the pace of Élodie Thomis.[10]

When the match finished 1–1 after extra-time, Rafferty missed England's fourth penalty in the shootout, sending her spot kick wide of the post.[10] Although England were knocked out when Faye White also missed, Hope Powell praised Rafferty for stepping forward when other, more experienced team mates were exhibiting "cowardice."[11]

Rafferty’s international career has been plagued with injury having ruptured her ACL three times, most recently in 2013. After overcoming this for the third time Rafferty was recalled back into the England squad in late 2014 for the Friendly vs. Germany at Wembley Stadium.[12]

Great Britain Olympic

In June 2012 Rafferty was named in the 18–player Great Britain squad for the 2012 London Olympics.[13]

Personal life

She studied economics at Loughborough University, and graduated in 2011.[14] As well as her football commitments she is a full time Analyst at Deutsche Bank.[15] During the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup, Rafferty was named 43rd in the ZOO Magazine "Hot 101" issue.[16]

References

  1. ↑ "Player Statistics". FIFA. Retrieved 13 October 2010.
  2. ↑ 2015 World Cup
  3. 1 2 3 "Congratulations Claire". Millwall FC. 29 November 2004. Archived from the original on 26 June 2010. Retrieved 10 August 2009.
  4. ↑ "Chelsea Ladies Start Season". Chelsea FC. Retrieved 20 April 2014.
  5. ↑ "Claire Rafferty". Chelsea FC. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  6. ↑ "Injured Kelly Smith missing from England squad". BBC Sport. 25 August 2011. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  7. ↑ "Women's Super League launches Twitter kit initiative to raise profile". BBC Sport. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 10 April 2012.
  8. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/29552164
  9. 1 2 "Claire Rafferty". TheFA.com. Retrieved 17 May 2010.
  10. 1 2 Chris Bevan (9 July 2011). "Women's World Cup: England 1–1 France (France win 4–3 on pens)". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  11. ↑ Greg Leedham (11 July 2011). "Powell blasts England 'cowards'". Morning Star. Archived from the original on 28 May 2012. Retrieved 11 July 2011.
  12. ↑ http://www.fawsl.com/news/sampson_names_final_qualifier_squad.html
  13. ↑ "Team GB women's squad for London 2012 announced". BBC Sport. 26 June 2012. Retrieved 26 June 2012.
  14. ↑ "Who's who in the England women's squad?". BBC Sport. 20 June 2011. Retrieved 10 July 2011.
  15. ↑ "Claire Rafferty's linkedin profile". 9 July 2015. Retrieved 9 July 2015.
  16. ↑ "@clrafferty1 You're in ZOO's Hot 101 issue! RT and let your followers know!". Zoo Weekly. 7 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.

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