Ralph Caraffi

Infobox Football biography
playername = Ralph Carrafi
fullname = Ralph Carrafi
nickname =


dateofbirth = birth date|1901|1|19
cityofbirth = Dunlevy, Pennsylvania
countryofbirth = United States
dateofdeath = death date and age|1978|1|1|1901|1|19
cityofdeath = Cleveland, Ohio
countryofdeath = United States
height =
currentclub =
clubnumber =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1915-1917
1919-1921
1921-1922
1926-1929
1929-1934
clubs = Vestaburg
Fall River Rovers
Fall River United
Hungarian Americans
Bruell Insurance
caps(goals) =
6 (1)
manageryears = 1935-1938
managerclubs = Bartunek Clothes
pcupdate =
ntupdate =

Ralph Caraffi (born January 19, 1901 in Dunlevy, Pennsylvania; died January, 1978 in Cleveland, Ohio) was a U.S. soccer midfielder. He played on 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

Playing

In 1915, Caraffi, who was fifteen at the time, 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 caused the suspension of several leagues due to the loss of players to military service. Caraffi’s National Soccer Hall of Fame 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 of the semi-professional Southern New England Soccer League. 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 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. [cite book | last = Jose | first = Colin | title = American Soccer League, 1921-1931 | format = Hardback | publisher = The Scarecrow Press | year = 1998 | id = (ISBN 0-8108-3429-4) ] There is another between 1922 and 1926 when he is on record as playing for the semi-professional American Hungarians of an unknown league in Cleveland, Ohio. In 1929, Caraffi joined Cleveland Bruell Insurance in the newly established Midwest Professional Soccer League. [ [http://www.sover.net/~spectrum/cleveland.html Hatfield, Thomas History of Soccer in Cleveland] ] In 1930, Bruell Insurance went to the final of the National Challenge Cup before falling to the Fall River Marksmen. [ [http://www.rsssf.com/tablesu/usacuphist.html U.S. Open Cup at RSSSF] ]

Post playing career

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 into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1959 and the Greater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.

External links

* [http://soccerhall.org/famers/ralph_carrafi.htm National Soccer Hall of Fame profile]

References