| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (1901-01-19)January 19, 1901 | ||
| Place of birth | Dunlevy, Pennsylvania, U.S. | ||
| Date of death | January 1, 1978(1978-01-01) (aged 76) | ||
| Place of death | Cleveland, Ohio, U.S. | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1915–1917 | Vestaburg | ||
| 1919–1921 | Fall River Rovers | ||
| 1921–1922 | Fall River United | 6 | (1) |
| 1926–1929 | American Hungarians | ||
| 1929–1934 | Bruell Insurance | ||
| Managerial career | |||
| 1935–1938 | Bartunek Clothes | ||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ralph Caraffi (January 19, 1901 – January 1, 1978) was an Americansoccer player who played as amidfielder. Caraffi played one season in the professionalAmerican Soccer League. The remainder of his nineteen-year career was with semi-professional and amateur leagues. Caraffi is a member of theNational Soccer Hall of Fame.
Caraffi was born inDunlevy, Pennsylvania. In 1915, at the age of fifteen, he began playing with the semi-professionalVestaburg 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 inWorld War I caused the suspension of several leagues due to the loss of players to military service. Caraffi'sNational 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 theFall River Rovers of the semi-professionalSouthern 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 theAmerican Soccer League which was formed by several of the top SNESL andNational 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.[1] There is another between 1922 and 1926 when he is on record as playing for the semi-professional American Hungarians of the Northeastern Ohio major league inCleveland, Ohio. In 1929, Caraffi joinedCleveland Bruell Insurance in the newly established Midwest Professional Soccer League.[2] In 1930, Bruell Insurance went to the final of theNational Challenge Cup before falling to theFall River F.C.[3]
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 as one of the first classes into theNational Soccer Hall of Fame in 1959[4] and theGreater Cleveland Sports Hall of Fame in 1992.
His wife continued to live in theCleveland area until her death in 2008. His family still resides in the Greater Cleveland Area.