The striker began his career with
Brentford as an apprentice, going on to make 51
Football League appearances for them. He later played in the league for
Southend United (loan),
Notts County,
Exeter City (loan),
Scunthorpe United and
Colchester United, before joining
Football Conference side
Chester City in July 2003. His first season at the club ended with Chester winning the title and promotion back to the League, where he played for one more season (but part of it was spent on loan at
Forest Green Rovers). Unfortunately, he struggled to land a regular place in the Chester side throughout his time at the club and had a relatively poor scoring record, meaning it came as no surprise when he was released by the club in 2005. Rapley's
2005–06 season started well but petered out through the season, which ended with
Droylsden losing to
Stafford Rangers in the
Conference North play-off final on penalties. In February 2007, he signed for
Leigh RMI, where he helped them avoid relegation from the Conference North at the end of
2006–07. In October 2007, after 12 goals from 32 appearances at Leigh, Rapley moved to
Barrow, who were also struggling in the
Conference North. The fans at Barrow reacted positively to the move, believing Rapley's wealth of experience would lift them up the table and he enhanced his reputation by scoring in a 1–1 draw with
Football League One side
AFC Bournemouth in the
FA Cup First Round in November 2007. On 3 January 2008, Rapley joined
Vauxhall Motors on loan to gain match practice.{{cite news ==Honours==