He appeared once for the Gunners, was loaned out to Colchester United, then sold to Bradford City in 1998 where he was part of the squad that gained promotion to the Premier League.

Rankin was not considered a first team regular during Bradford's two-year stay in the top flight and featured in only ten of their Premiership matches during that time.

[5] Rankin was loaned out twice by Bradford, firstly to Birmingham City and then Bolton Wanderers, before finally leaving the club permanently to join Yorkshire rivals Barnsley.

The offer was accepted by caretaker manager Graham Rodger and Rankin signed for The Mariners initially for a one-month loan period.

[7] Thordarson stated that Rankin would never play for Barnsley again, and the player had his contract terminated with immediate effect, which allowed him to sign for Grimsby on a permanent basis until the end of the season.

[8] Grimsby appointed Nicky Law as manager but he could not prevent the club's relegation, despite Rankin's goal in a 1–0 win against Brentford on the second-last game of the season.

[11] During his spell at the Griffin Park club, his goal against Southampton in the 2004–05 FA Cup Fifth Round was nominated on Match of the Day's 'Goal of the Month' competition, but did not win the top prize.

[13] With favoured goalscoring partner Michael Reddy injured, Rankin struggled with fitness problems and by the end of the season the pair had only scored three goals between them.

Rankin remained at Blundell Park for the beginning of the 2007–08 season but his contract was eventually terminated by mutual consent during the January 2008 transfer window.

[18] In January 2009, Crawley were deducted four league points and fined after failing to register Rankin with the Conference at the start of the 2008–09 campaign, despite the fact that the Football Association received his papers.

Following his release from Crawley, Rankin remained out of the game up until December 2009, when he signed for fellow Conference National team Forest Green Rovers on a non-contract basis.

Rankin scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 Boxing Day victory over Salisbury City, and his second in a 1–0 win over Gateshead at the New Lawn on 16 January 2010.