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 1929, together with his teammate Emerich Vogl he went to Juventus București. 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. He also opened the score in the 3–0 victory against Gloria CFR Arad in the final. In 1931, he returned to Timișoara, to play for Ripensia, winning the title in the 1932–33 season, coach Jenő Konrád using him in 13 games in which he scored 11 goals, also playing in the final against Universitatea Cluj.
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. He came back to Romania in 1936, joining Rapid București where he ended his career in 1940. During his years with The Railwaymen, Raffinsky won four consecutive Cupa României titles, but played in only one of the finals, the 3–2 victory against CAM Timișoara in 1938, where he scored the victory goal from a penalty. In May 1938, he was arrested, together with three other Rapid teammates, Iuliu Baratky, Ștefan Auer and Vintilă Cossini, because of their 2–1 win in the 1937–38 Cupa României semi-finals 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. After one day spent in jail and following the decision that the semi-final be replayed, the four players were released. Rapid also won the replay 4–2 against Venus. Raffinsky also played four matches in the 1938 Mitropa Cup, scoring once to help Rapid eliminate Újpest in the opening round, before exiting in the quarter-finals against Genoa.
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. Raffinsky played in both Group 3 matches at that World Cup, a 3–1 win over Peru and a 4–0 loss to hosts and eventual world champions Uruguay. 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. Afterwards he appeared in three games in the 1932 Balkan Cup, which included two losses to Bulgaria and Yugoslavia and a win over Greece.
He was selected by coaches Săvulescu and Rădulescu to be part of the squad that participated in the 1938 World Cup. 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.
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.
