After undergoing heart surgery and an ACL operation, a former Pompey youngster celebrated his comeback by scoring with his second touch.
After the double surgical surgery last year, Alfie Rutherford was sidelined for 13 months.
The talented Dorking striker, who had not played since September 2022, started playing again six weeks ago after returning to training.
The 25-year-old last week returned to his former club Bognor on a month’s loan because he needed game time to help him catch up.
As a result, Rutherford was selected as a replacement for the FA Trophy match on Saturday at Nyewood Lane against Hayes & Yeading.
And he made a memorable arrival, scoring with his second touch of the game just three minutes after coming off the bench.
In the 64th minute, he finished former Blues player Dan Smith’s pass from the left to give Robbie Blake’s team a 3-1 victory. Craig Robson and Lucas Pattenden also scored.
Rutherford later wrote: “13 months out, heart surgery, ACL surgery, it’s been a long road but such a good feeling to be back out there” on X, formerly Twitter.
The Rutherford family is well-known in the local football community, and on Sunday, Leeta Rutherford, a midfielder for Pompey Women, contributed to their 7-0 victory over Billericay.
While dad Miles, who formerly managed Moneyfields, is the seasoned manager of Chichester City in the Isthmian League South East Division.
Alfie, a former Miltoncross Academy student, was enrolled at Pompey until he was 16 years old, at which point they decided against giving him a scholarship due to concerns about a heart condition.
Nevertheless, he continued playing football with Moneyfields, Eastbourne, and the Hawks, becoming one of the most productive strikers in non-league.
He scored an impressive 32 goals for National League Dorking in 2021–2022 before suffering two injuries that ultimately ended his career.
Rutherford missed nine months of action due to an ACL tear he sustained in September 2022 against Wrexham.
The protracted unemployment also gave the patient the perfect chance to have open heart surgery at Southampton General Hospital to replace an aortic valve.
The Copnor roofer has since recovered from both, with a month-long loan at the Rocks serving as the most recent challenge to overcome.
The striker is already scoring goals once more as he targets a return to Dorking’s first squad, who are now ranked 14th in the National League.
