Paul Rachubka
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| Paul Rachubka | ||
| Personal information | ||
|---|---|---|
| Full name | Paul Stephen Rachubka | |
| Date of birth | May 21, 1981 | |
| Place of birth |  San Luis Obispo, U.S.A. |
|
| Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | |
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | |
| Club information | ||
| Current club | Blackpool | |
| Number | 1 | |
| Youth clubs | ||
| 1997-2000 | Manchester United | |
| Senior clubs1 | ||
| Years | Club | App (Gls)* |
| 2000-2002 2001 2001-2002 2002-2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004 2004-2007 2006-07 2007 2007- |
Manchester United → Royal Antwerp (loan) → Oldham Athletic (loan) Charlton Athletic → Burnley (loan) → Huddersfield Town (loan) → Milton Keynes Dons (loan) → Northampton Town (loan) → Huddersfield Town (loan) Huddersfield Town → Peterborough United (loan) → Blackpool (loan) Blackpool |
1 (0) 1 (0) 16 (0) 0 (0) 0 (0) 13 (0) 4 (0) 10 (0) 3 (0) 60 (0) 4 (0) 8 (0) 46 (0) |
| National team2 | ||
| 1999 |  England U-20 |
1 (0) |
|
1 Senior club appearances and goals |
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Paul Stephen Rachubka (surname pronounced Ra-Hub-Ka) (born 21 May 1981, in San Luis Obispo, California) is a professional football goalkeeper. He currently plays for English club Blackpool, to whom he was on loan for part of the 2006-07 season.[1]
Born in America to an English mother and an American father, he possesses dual nationality.[2][3]
Contents |
[edit] Club career
Rachubka began his career in Europe, signing as a youngster for Manchester United. He only made one first-team appearance in his two years at the club. During his time there, Rachubka was loaned out to Manchester United's Belgian feeder club, Royal Antwerp and to lower-division English team Oldham Athletic.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson was willing to sell him, and when Charlton Athletic bid £200,000 it proved too good to turn down for a player who was essentially an untested goalkeeper. Whilst at Charlton, Rachubka was loaned out to a number of clubs including Burnley, Huddersfield Town and Northampton Town.
After his contract expired with the London club, Rachubka took the option to re-sign for one of his old clubs, Huddersfield Town, in 2004. Rachubka was the first-choice goalkeeper at the Galpharm Stadium until Matt Glennon was signed during summer 2006 and seized his chance.
Rachubka was taken on loan to Peterborough United as cover for Mark Tyler and played four League Two matches over the Christmas/New Year period of 2006-07. On January 31, 2007, he went on loan to Blackpool as back-up for Rhys Evans, the ninth loan move of his career.[4] He made his debut for Blackpool on February 27, 2007 and kept a clean sheet in a 1-0 win at Oldham Athletic.[5]
On April 2, 2007, Rachubka was named in the Press Association's League One "Team of the Week", alongside Blackpool teammate Wes Hoolahan.[6] Also in April, Rachubka picked up an injury that kept him out of the team until early May. Blackpool's other 'keepers, Rhys Evans and Lewis Edge, also picked up injuries at the same time, which led to Seasiders boss Simon Grayson bringing in Manchester City's Joe Hart on loan as an emergency stand-in.
Rachubka returned to the Blackpool first team on May 13, 2007, for the first leg of the play-off semi-final against Oldham Athletic. Blackpool won both legs, and Rachubka played in the May 27 final at the newly-renovated Wembley Stadium. Blackpool won 2-0 against Yeovil Town, gaining promotion to The Championship.
On June 5, 2007, five days after his contract at Huddersfield expired, Blackpool signed him on a permanent two-year deal at Bloomfield Road.[7]
Rachubka was one of two ever-present players during Blackpool's 2007–08 league season, the other being Shaun Barker.
[edit] International career
Rachubka has represented England at U-16, U-18 and U-20 level.[8]
He was in the England U-20 team that played at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship alongside Stuart Taylor, Ashley Cole, Peter Crouch and Andy Johnson. However, the team finished bottom of their the group, with three defeats without scoring. Rachubka started the last game against Japan U-20.
[edit] Honours
Huddersfield Town
- Division Three play-off final winner: 2003-04
Blackpool
- League One play-off final winner: 2006-07
- The Championship "Team of the Week": August 13, 2007[9]
[edit] References
- ^ "Rachubka has gone" Huddersfield Vitalfootball.co.uk
- ^ Profile at PlayerHistory.com
- ^ "Rachubka, Ricketts and Cunningham demonstrate complexity of determining soccer nationality", Robert Wagman, Soccer Times, 26 April 2001
- ^ "Rachubka signs on for Seasiders", TeamTalk, 31 January 2007
- ^ Oldham 0-1 Blackpool - BBC Sport
- ^ League One Team of the Week (.pdf)
- ^ "Blackpool secure Rachubka signing", BBC Sport, 2007-06-06. Retrieved on 2007-06-06.
- ^ "Paul's the boy from Brazil", Lancashire Evening Telegraph, 30 January, 2004
- ^ Coca-Cola Championship Team of the Week, August 13, 2007
[edit] External links
- Paul Rachubka profile at blackpoolfc.co.uk
- Paul Rachubka profile at htafc.co.uk
- Paul Rachubka career stats at Soccerbase
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