no that wouldn't work, too.
i can't tell you exactly, because i'm not a mysql guru, i just saw the mistake you made, but not how it would be correct
id suggest you should rename the field rank from userfield into cat_name
and then use this query:
Code:
SELECT rankcategories.cat_name, COUNT(*) AS count FROM userfield LEFT JOIN rankcategories USING (cat_name) GROUP BY userfield.cat_name
but as said, i don't know mysql very well, i just saw what has produced the error