László Raffinsky

László Raffinsky (; 23 April 1905 – 31 July 1981) was a Romanian football player of Hungarian ethnicity who was a member of the Romanian team that participated at the 1930 FIFA World Cup in Uruguay and the 1938 edition of the same competition held in France. He holds the record of most goals scored in a Romanian first league match, having netted ten goals for Juventus București against Dacia Unirea Brăila in the 1929–30 season.

Club career Raffinsky was born on 23 April 1905 in Miskolc, Austria-Hungary and began playing football at age 19 in 1924 at Unirea Timișoara. In 1925, he moved to CA Timișoara where he spent two years before going to Chinezul Timișoara. In the 1929–30 Divizia A season, he helped Juventus win the championship title. During this season, he set a Divizia A record by netting 10 goals in a single match, a 16–0 victory from the quarter-finals against Dacia Unirea Brăila.

In 1934, Raffinsky left Romania to go play for a few years in the Czechoslovak First League for SK Židenice, Viktoria Plzeň and DFC Prag. In 1940, he was arrested, together with three other Rapid teammates, Iuliu Baratky, Ștefan Auer and Ion Bogdan, because of their win in the Cupa României final against Venus București. The arrest was at the order of Gabriel Marinescu, the Minister of Internal Affairs and the Prefect of București, who was also the chairman of Venus. He scored his first and only goal for the national team in a 8–1 home victory against Greece during the successful 1929–31 Balkan Cup.

He was selected by coach Rădulescu to be part of the squad for the 1930 World Cup, but the chairman of Astra Română, a company where Raffinsky and his teammate Emerich Vogl were office workers, forbade the two players from leaving their workplace. Eventually, after the Romanian Football Federation's secretary Octav Luchide went to the company with a letter from King Carol II, they were allowed to participate. In the match against Peru, Plácido Galindo fouled him and was sent off, marking the first-ever dismissal in FIFA World Cup history. He was also included in the 1930 World Cup Best XI.

Raffinsky was not called up again to the national team until 1932, when he played in a 6–3 friendly victory against France. He played for the entirety of both games against Cuba, the first one ended in a 3–3 draw, followed by a surprising 2–1 loss in the replay. These two matches were Raffinsky's last appearances for the national team.

International goals Scores and results list Romania's goal tally first. "Score" column indicates the score after each László Raffinsky goal. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition1. 25 May 1930 ONEF Stadium, Bucharest, Romania 4–1 8–1 1929–31 Balkan Cup

Managerial career Raffinsky began his managerial career in 1944, coaching Prahova Ploiești. He was the manager of the Ploiești team until 1945. Subsequently, he was the coach of several Divizia B and Divizia C clubs, such as Mica Brad, Chimica Târnăveni and Aurul Zlatna, and also made a comeback at Prahova Ploiești in 1953. In 1962, he moved to Cluj-Napoca, being for two years the manager of Tehnofrig, a small football club of the factory with the same name. In 1964, Raffinsky retired from football.

Death Raffinsky died on 31 July 1981 at age 76 in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.

Honours Club Juventus București Divizia A: 1929–30 Ripensia Timișoara Divizia A: 1932–33 Rapid București Cupa României: 1936–37, 1937–38, 1938–39, 1939–40 International Romania Balkan Cup: 1929–31