Danny Racchi

Danny Racchi

Racchi playing for Bury in 2008
Personal information
Full name	Daniel Craig Racchi [1]
Date of birth	(1987-11-22) 22 November 1987 (age 36) [1]
Place of birth	Elland, England
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) [1]
Position(s)	Defender / Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Grantham Town
Youth career
0000–2007	Huddersfield Town
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2007–2008	Huddersfield Town	6	(0)
2008–2010	Bury	43	(0)
2010	Wrexham	0	(0)
2010–2011	York City	17	(1)
2011–2013	Kilmarnock	35	(3)
2013	Valur	8	(2)
2015	Hyde	3	(1)
2015	Halifax Town	4	(0)
2015	Tamworth	5	(2)
2016	Torquay United	14	(0)
2017–2018	FC United of Manchester	16	(0)
2018–2019	Curzon Ashton	5	(0)
2019	Hednesford Town	9	(0)
2019	Grantham Town	15	(0)
2019–2020	Ilkeston Town	6	(0)
2020–	Grantham Town	5	(0)
Managerial career
2020	Grantham Town (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:29, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

Daniel Craig Racchi (born 22 November 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender or a midfielder; he currently plays for Grantham Town.

Racchi started his career with Huddersfield Town in their youth system, signing a professional contract with the club in 2006. He made his first-team debut in 2007, and having made six appearances he was released by Huddersfield in 2008. He was signed by Bury and played for them in the League Two play-offs in his first season. After being released in 2010, Racchi joined Conference Premier side Wrexham on non-contract terms, but after failing to make an appearance joined divisional rivals York City. He spent the remainder of the 2010–11 season with York, and after being released in 2011 signed for Kilmarnock of the Scottish Premier League.

Career

Huddersfield Town

Born in Elland, West Yorkshire, Racchi joined the Huddersfield Town youth system at the age of eight and signed a professional contract on 1 July 2006. ^{[1] [2]} He continued to train with the academy before getting his first call-up to the first team for Huddersfield's game against Port Vale on 31 March 2007, in which he replaced John McAliskey as a substitute with 10 minutes remaining. ^{[3] [4]}

On 15 May 2007, he signed a new one-year contract with Huddersfield. ^[5] Although he had yet to make his first start for Huddersfield, manager Andy Ritchie said at the time that he and some of the other academy players such as Lucas Akins and Mitchell Bailey still had a good future at the club. After three appearances during the 2007–08 season, he was released from the club in May 2008 by new manager Stan Ternent.

Bury

On 28 July, he signed for League Two side Bury. ^[6] In his first season at the club, Racchi made 24 appearances in all competitions mainly as back up to on-loan winger Elliott Bennett, helping the club reach the play-offs. ^{[7] [8]} At the end of the 2009–10 season, he was released by the club. ^[9]

Wrexham

He joined Conference Premier club Wrexham on trial and appeared in their pre-season friendly matches against Crewe Alexandra and Stoke City, hoping to win a contract for the coming season. ^{[10] [11]} On 16 August, he signed with the Welsh club on a non-contract basis. ^[12]

York City

Racchi playing for York City in 2010

He had a trial with fellow Conference Premier team York City in September 2010 and played for the reserve team in a 1–1 draw against Chesterfield. ^[13] He eventually signed on a one-month contract on 18 September and made his debut that day after starting in a 2–0 victory over Hayes & Yeading United before being substituted in the 52nd minute. ^{[14] [15]} Racchi's contract was extended on 19 October by new manager Gary Mills, who said "I have been impressed with his enthusiasm and qualities". ^[16] His first goal for the club came with the opener in a 2–0 victory at Kidderminster Harriers in the FA Cup fourth qualifying round on 23 October. ^[17] He scored his first league goal with the opener from a 25-yard free kick in a 4–0 victory at Rushden & Diamonds on 20 November. ^{[18] [19]} He left the club on 17 December after his contract expired, although Mills said he wanted to re-sign him once the January transfer window opened. ^[20] Racchi accepted a contract with York that would last until the end of the 2010–11 season on 27 December, which was signed on 1 January 2011. ^{[21] [22]} After requesting a transfer he was released from his contract with immediate effect on 7 April, having been unable to hold down a regular place in the team. ^[23]

Kilmarnock

Following a trial, he was offered a two-year contract by Scottish Premier League club Kilmarnock in May. ^[24] He signed for them on 21 June 2011. ^[25]

Racchi made his debut for Kilmarnock on 10 September in a 3–2 victory home to Dunfermline Athletic, coming on as a second-half substitute. ^[26] He scored his first goal for Kilmarnock in a 2–1 defeat to Celtic at Celtic Park on 24 December, after coming on as a substitute. ^[27] Racchi then started nine days later on 2 January 2012 and scored an 89th-minute winner against St Mirren with the game finishing 2–1 to Kilmarnock. ^[28] After the match, Rachhi says: "It has been a little bit frustrating and there's definitely more to come from me. I can provide goals for Killie but you need to be on the pitch to do that." ^[29] In April, Racchi continues to be in and out in the first team, but he would score the opening game before making an assist, in a 4–3 win over Inverness CT. ^[30] In his first season at Kilmarnock, Racchi made nineteen appearances and scored three times.

His second season started for Racchi when he made three appearances, mostly coming on as a substitute. Racchi scored his first goal of the season on 15 September 2012, in a 2–1 loss against Hibernian. ^[31] Following this, Racchi began making assists in two matches. Despite described as a star player in the 2012–13 season by Manager Kenny Shiels, ^[32] his first team opportunities was limited furthermore, as he soon sustained a knee injury during a match against Aberdeen in a 3–1 loss. ^[33] He made his return in late-November, in a 2–1 loss against St Johnstone. ^[34] Afterwards, Racchi expressed happiness to be back on the pitch, though sitting out made him feel miserable. ^[35] However, he was absent again after suffering a serious illness. ^[36]

Towards the end of the 2012–13 season, Racchi was fined four weeks wages and released by the club early.^{[ citation needed ]} After being released, Racchi took the board of the Scottish Professional Football League in a preliminary hearing over a contractual dispute. ^[37]

Valur

After being released by Kilmarnock, Racchi moved to Iceland, joining Icelandic club Valur for the second half of the season in the 2013 Úrvalsdeild. ^[38] Racchi made his debut two days later, where Valur lost 3–1 against Fylkir and Racchi played 90 minutes. ^[39] Racchi next appearance came on 29 July 2013, where he scored twice in a 6–4 victory over Keflavík. ^[40] Since then, Racchi became the first team regular, though he made eight appearances this season, though he began to have discipline issue. It started when he received a second yellow card in a 2–2 draw against Þór Akureyri on 25 August 2013. ^[41] After meeting with the Discipline and Complaints Committee, Racchi would miss the match towards the end of the season. ^[42]

Ahead of the 2014 Úrvalsdeild season, Racchi was linked with a move back to Scotland, with a proposed move to Scottish Championship side Dundee. ^[43] The move never happened and Racchi returned to Valur.

Return into non-League football

On 7 January 2015, Racchi returned to England to sign for Conference North club Hyde. ^[44] He went on trial with his former club Wrexham for pre-season training, in the hope of winning a contract for the 2015/16 season. ^[45]

On 31 August 2015, Racchi signed for his hometown team, National League club F.C. Halifax Town. ^[46] Racchi, who grew up as a supporter of Halifax and used to be a ballboy at The Shay,^{[ citation needed ]} made his debut in a 3–1 home win over Barrow. ^[47] He signed for National League North club Tamworth in October 2015. ^[48] He scored twice from five appearances, ^[47] but was released by Tamworth on 1 December 2015 because of the long commute to the club. ^{[49] [50]}

On 1 February 2016, Racchi signed for National League team Torquay United on a contract until the end of the season, after impressing on trial. ^[51] Despite helping Torquay avoid relegation, he was released by the club in May 2016. ^[52]

On 22 February 2019, Racchi joined Hednesford Town. ^[53] Three months later, he joined Grantham Town. ^[54] On 18 November 2019, he moved to Ilkeston Town. ^[55] In January 2020, he returned to Grantham Town. On 27 February 2020, Racchi was appointed joint-caretaker manager. ^[56] The duo was replaced on 3 March 2020 after one game in charge, which they won, and Racchi continued as a player. ^[57]

In October 2020, Racchi joined Brighouse Town where he remained until the club announced his retirement on 11 January 2022. ^[58]

Personal life

Racchi is of Italian heritage. ^[12]

Career statistics

As of match played 10 March 2020

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Huddersfield Town	2006–07 [59]	League One	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	2007–08 [60]	League One	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	3	0
	Total		6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
Bury	2008–09 [7]	League Two	21	0	1	0	0	0	2 [lower-alpha 1]	0	24	0
	2009–10 [61]	League Two	22	0	1	0	1	0	2 [lower-alpha 2]	1	26	1
	Total		43	0	2	0	1	0	4	1	50	1
York City	2010–11 [17]	Conference Premier	17	1	5	1	—		1 [lower-alpha 3]	0	23	2
Kilmarnock	2011–12 [62]	Scottish Premier League	19	2	3	0	1	0	—		23	2
	2012–13 [63]	Scottish Premier League	16	1	1	0	1	0	—		18	1
	Total		35	3	4	0	2	0	—		41	3
Valur	2013 [47]	Úrvalsdeild	8	2	0	0	0	0	—		8	2
Hyde	2014–15 [64]	Conference North	3	1	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 4]	0	5	1
F.C. Halifax Town	2015–16 [47]	National League	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	4	0
Tamworth	2015–16 [47]	National League North	5	2	0	0	—		0	0	5	2
Torquay United	2015–16 [47]	National League	14	0	0	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 3]	0	17	0
FC United of Manchester	2017–18 [47] [65] [66]	National League North	12	0	0	0	—		2 [lower-alpha 5]	0	14	0
	2018–19 [47]	National League North	4	0	0	0	—		0	0	4	0
	Total		16	0	0	0	—		2	0	18	0
Curzon Ashton	2018–19 [47]	National League North	5	0	0	0	—		0	0	5	0
Hednesford Town	2018–19 [67] [68]	Northern Premier League Premier Division	9	0	0	0	—		0	0	9	0
Grantham Town	2019–20 [69]	Northern Premier League Premier Division	20	0	2	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 6]	0	25	0
Career total			185	9	13	1	3	0	15	1	216	11

1. One appearance in Football League Trophy; one appearance in League Two play-offs
2. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
3. Appearance(s) in FA Trophy
4. One appearance in FA Trophy; one appearance in Cheshire Senior Cup
5. Appearance(s) in Manchester Premier Cup
6. One appearance in FA Trophy; one appearance in Northern Premier League Challenge Cup; one appearance in Lincolnshire Senior Cup

References

1. Hugman, Barry J., ed. (2010). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2010–11. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 345. ISBN   978-1-84596-601-0.
2. "Racchi Signs!". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. 15 May 2007. Retrieved 11 October 2012.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
3. "James Handed Contract". Huddersfield Town A.F.C. 19 May 2006. Archived from the original on 5 December 2012. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
4. "Huddersfield 2–2 Port Vale". BBC Sport. 31 March 2007. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
5. "Racchi pens new Huddersfield deal". BBC Sport. 16 May 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
6. "Bury seal Racchi deal". Sky Sports. 28 July 2008. Retrieved 28 July 2008.
7. "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2008/2009". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
   "Bury 2–1 Shrewsbury". BBC Sport. 10 April 2009. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
8. "Danny's the boy". Bury Times. 9 July 2009. Retrieved 17 August 2010.
9. "Bury release goalkeeper Wayne Brown". BBC Sport. 14 May 2010. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
10. "Reds Field Trialist at Crewe". Wrexham F.C. 31 July 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
11. "Fuller sees red for Potters". Sky Sports. 6 August 2010. Archived from the original on 20 October 2012. Retrieved 6 August 2010.
12. "Racchi To Join on Non-Contract". Wrexham F.C. 31 July 2010. Retrieved 11 October 2012.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
13. Flett, Dave (8 September 2010). "York City manager Martin Foyle puts trio of trialists under Bootham Crescent spotlight". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
14. "York make double signing". Vital York. 18 September 2010. Archived from the original on 5 March 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2010.
15. "York City 2–0 Hayes & Yeading". BBC Sport. 18 August 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
16. Flett, Dave (19 October 2010). "David McDermott back at York City". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
17. Appearances and goals for this season are taken from:
    "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
    Flett, Dave (25 October 2010). "Kidderminster 0, York City 2". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
    Flett, Dave (13 December 2010). "Match report: York City 0, Boston United 1 – FA Trophy, first round". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
18. "Rushden & D'mnds 0–4 York". BBC Sport. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
19. Flett, Dave (22 November 2010). "Match report: Rushden and Diamonds 0, York City 4". The Press. York. Archived from the original on 8 October 2012. Retrieved 27 December 2010.
20. Flett, Dave (17 December 2010). "Match preview: Luton Town v York City". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
21. Flett, Dave (27 December 2010). "New deals at York City for David McDermott and Danny Racchi". The Press. York. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
22. "Gateshead 0–3 York City". BBC Sport. 1 January 2011. Retrieved 16 March 2011.
23. "York boss Gary Mills releases midfielder Danny Racchi". BBC Sport. 7 April 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
24. "Racchi offered Killie deal". Sky Sports. 18 May 2011. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
25. "Patrick Ada and Danny Racchi sign for Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. 21 June 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
26. "BBC Match Report: Kilmarnock 3 – 2 Dunfermline Athletic". BBC Sport. 10 September 2011. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
27. "SPL: Celtic 2 Kilmarnock 1". Daily Record. 24 December 2011. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
28. "SPL: Kilmarnock 2 St Mirren 1". Daily Record. 3 January 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
29. "Danny Racchi: I'm making up for lost time at Kilmarnock after back injury". Daily Record. 4 January 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
30. "SPL: Kilmarnock 4 Inverness CT 3". Daily Record. 29 April 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
31. "Hibernian 2-1 Kilmarnock". BBC Sport. 15 September 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
32. "Thursday's Scottish gossip". BBC Sport. 27 September 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
33. "Kilmarnock suffer Danny Raachi injury setback". BBC Sport. 11 October 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
34. "Kilmarnock FC: Liam Kelly is an injury doubt after training ground accident". Daily Record. 23 November 2012. Retrieved 17 April 2014.
35. "Fit again Kilmarnock midfielder Danny Racchi raring to go after making life misery for club doctors". Daily Record. 24 November 2012. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
36. "Danny Racchi: I was 95 per cent sure I had cancer...but I kept my secret from Kilmarnock team-mates". Daily Record. 26 January 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
37. "Danny Racchi takes Kilmarnock FC to SPFL over contractual dispute". STV Sport. 15 April 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
38. "English midfielder selection" [Enskur miðjumaður til Vals] (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 19 July 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
39. "Review, interviews and ratings: Valur 1-3 Fylkir" [Umfjöllun, viðtöl og einkunnir: Valur 1 – 3 Fylkir] (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 22 July 2013. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
40. "Vals Triumph ten game mark" [Valssigur í tíu marka leik] (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 29 July 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
41. "Ten Valsmenn ventured equation" [Tíu Valsmenn héldu jöfnu] (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 25 August 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
42. "Three banned from Pepsi-division" [Þrír í bann úr Pepsi-deild karla] (in Icelandic). mbl.is. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
43. "Dundee take a look at former Kilmarnock midfielder Danny Racchi". The Courier. 23 January 2014. Archived from the original on 19 April 2014. Retrieved 16 April 2014.
44. McAnulty, Andy. "Hyde Bring in Three". Hyde United F.C. Archived from the original on 21 September 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
45. "Wrexham AFC boss Gary Mills looks forward to Friday friendly with Lex XI". The Leader. Wrexham. Retrieved 2 July 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
46. "FC Halifax Town: Shaymen sign midfielder Racchi". The Star. Sheffield. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 21 September 2015.
47. "D. Racchi". Soccerway. Perform Group. Retrieved 20 February 2018.
48. "Tamworth FC sign former Halifax and York City midfielder". Tamworth Herald. 17 October 2015. Archived from the original on 17 October 2015. Retrieved 17 October 2015.
49. "Former FC Halifax ace Racchi leaves Tamworth FC". Tamworth Herald. 1 December 2015. Archived from the original on 5 January 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
50. "Tamworth FC boss reflects on Racchi departure". Tamworth Herald. 2 December 2015. Retrieved 6 January 2015.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
51. "Torquay United complete pursuit of experienced midfielder Danny Racchi". Western Morning News. Plymouth. 1 February 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
52. "Torquay United: Releasing Danny Racchi was 'the hardest decision' says manager Kevin Nicholson". Herald Express. Torquay. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.^{[ permanent dead link ]}
53. Hednesford Town sign Racchi and O'Hanlon, nonleaguedaily.com, 22 February 2019
54. Grantham Make First Summer Signing, evostikleague.co.uk, 23 May 2019
55. DANNY RACCHI JOINS ILKESTON TOWN, ilkestontownfc.com, 18 November 2019
56. Caretakers in charge after management trio quit Grantham Town, thenonleaguefootballpaper.com, 27 February 2020
57. Grantham Town confirms new manager, granthammatters.co.uk, 3 March 2020
58. Wales, Damian (11 January 2022). "PLAYER NEWS | DANNY RACCHI ANNOUNCES RETIREMENT". Brighouse Town AFC. Retrieved 25 April 2023.
59. "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2006/2007". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
60. "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2007/200". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
61. "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2009/2010". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
62. "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
63. "Games played by Danny Racchi in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 January 2015.
64. "Daniel Racchi – Hyde United". hydeunited.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
65. "Match Report – Hyde United 0 – 1 FC United of Manchester – 13th February 2018". fc-utd.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
66. "Match Report – FC United of Manchester 2 – 2 Trafford – 24th April 2018". fc-utd.co.uk. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
67. "Player Stats 2018-2019". pitmenweb. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
68. "England – Hednesford Town FC – Results and fixtures – Soccerway". uk.soccerway.com. Retrieved 15 August 2022.
69. "Danny Racchi – Grantham Town FC First Team". pitchero.com. Retrieved 15 August 2022.

External links

• Danny Racchi at Soccerbase