Josh Ruffels

Joshua Andrew Bernard Ruffels (born 23 October 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL League One club Huddersfield Town. He will become a free agent on 30 June 2025.

Josh Ruffels

Ruffels in 2025.
Personal information
Full name	Joshua Andrew Bernard Ruffels[1]
Date of birth	(1993-10-23) 23 October 1993 (age 31)[2]
Place of birth	Oxford, England
Height	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3]
Position(s)	Left-back[4]
Team information
Current team	Huddersfield Town
Number	3
Youth career
0000–2011	Coventry City
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2013	Coventry City	1	(0)
2013–2021	Oxford United	257	(21)
2021–2025	Huddersfield Town	74	(3)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:33, 26 April 2025 (UTC)

Early life

Ruffels was born in Oxford, Oxfordshire.^[5]

Career

Coventry City

Ruffels made his first-team debut for Coventry City as a substitute on 16 August 2011 in a 2–1 defeat to Crystal Palace in the Championship, coming on to replace injured Gary McSheffrey after 18 minutes.^[6][7] He was released by Coventry at the end of the 2012–13 season.^[8]

Oxford United

Ruffels playing for Oxford United in 2013.

Oxford United signed Ruffels on a free transfer on 30 July 2013.^[9] He made his debut as a substitute in a 3–1 league win over Torquay United on 17 August 2013^[10] and his first starting appearance in a 2–1 home defeat to Portsmouth in the Football League Trophy on 8 October 2013.^[11] He scored his first senior goal in a 1–1 League Two draw versus Bury on 4 February 2014.^[12] On 17 April 2014, Ruffels signed a new contract keeping him at the club for a further two years.^[13] Nine days later, he was voted 'Young Player of the Year' after he established himself in the first team in his first full season for the club.^[14] On 20 October 2017, Ruffles agreed a new contract keeping him at Oxford until the end of the 2019–20 season, with an additional one-year option available.^[15] Ruffels won the Supporters' Player of the Year Award for the 2018–19 season.^[16] Signed as a midfielder, he now plays at left back.^[17]

Huddersfield Town

Ruffels agreed to join EFL Championship club Huddersfield Town on 1 July 2021.^[18] After contracting COVID-19 just as the season was about to commence in August 2021, Ruffels had to miss a lot of the early part of the season, but he finally made his Terriers debut as a substitute in their 3–2 win over Blackburn Rovers on 28 September 2021, where he also became the 1,000th player to play for Huddersfield Town.^[19]

He scored his first goals for Huddersfield when he scored twice in a 2-1 win at Queens Park Rangers on 8 November 2022.^[20]

He was released by the club at the end of the 2024–25 season.^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 11 November 2023

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			FA Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Coventry City	2010–11[22]	Championship	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2011–12[23]	Championship	1	0	1	0	0	0	—		2	0
	2012–13[24]	League One	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Oxford United	2013–14[25]	League Two	29	1	5	0	0	0	1[a]	0	35	1
	2014–15[26]	League Two	33	0	1	0	2	0	1[a]	0	37	0
	2015–16[27]	League Two	16	0	1	0	2	0	3[a]	0	22	0
	2016–17[28]	League One	20	2	3	1	1	0	6[b]	0	30	3
	2017–18[29]	League One	38	5	1	0	1	0	5[b]	0	45	5
	2018–19[30]	League One	44	4	3	0	2	0	3[b]	0	52	4
	2019–20[31]	League One	35	3	4	0	4	0	5[c]	0	48	3
	2020–21[32]	League One	42	6	1	1	1	0	4[d]	0	48	7
	Total		257	21	19	2	13	0	28	0	317	23
Huddersfield Town	2021–22[33]	Championship	8	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	2022–23[34]	Championship	33	3	0	0	0	0	—		33	3
	2023–24[35]	Championship	11	0	0	0	0	0	—		11	0
	Total		52	3	3	0	0	0	0	0	55	3
Career total			310	24	23	2	13	0	28	0	374	26

1. Appearance(s) in Football League Trophy
2. Appearances in EFL Trophy
3. Two appearances in EFL Trophy, three appearances in League One play-offs
4. Two appearances in EFL Trophy, two appearances in League One play-offs

Honours

Oxford United

• Football League/EFL Trophy runner-up: 2015–16,^[36] 2016–17^[37]