City of Derry Rugby Football Club is a

rugby Rugby may refer to: Sport * Rugby football in many forms: ** Rugby league: 13 players per side *** Masters Rugby League *** Mod league *** Rugby league nines *** Rugby league sevens *** Touch (sport) *** Wheelchair rugby league ** Rugby union: 1 ...

club, formed in 1881 in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry (), is the second-largest city in Northern Ireland and the fifth-largest city on the island of Ireland. The name ''Derry'' is an anglicisation of the Old Irish name (modern Irish: ) meaning 'oak grove'. The ...

, Northern Ireland. They currently play in the Ulster Rugby Championship Division 1 after relegation from Division 2C of the All-Ireland League in 2022. The club's purpose-built facility is at Craig Thompson Stadium, situated just outside

Strathfoyle Strathfoyle (from ga, Srath Feabhail) is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland It is about north east of Derry. It was newly built in different phases between the late 1950s and the early 1960s, with many new recent additions to ...

. The stadium itself is named after the

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r of the same name, known as

Mini Ladd Craig Joseph Thompson (born 7 January 1995), known by the online community as Mini Ladd, is an Emirati-born British entertainer, comedian, vlogger, gamer and YouTuber. As of August 2019, he has accumulated over 10 million followers across all ...

, who sponsored the club in November 2017. The sponsorship ended on 1 July 2020 after sexual misconduct allegations toward Thompson.

History

The club was established in 1881, winning the Irish Provincial Towns Cup in the following season. In December 2001, the club was involved in a controversial appeal, involving a £4,000 fine and the deduction of 8 points after fielding an ineligible player. This resulted in the club being relegated from the AIB Division Two. In March 2007 the club hosted a youth project that saw 13 different primary schools compete. Following relegation, the club appointed New Zealander Bevan Lynch in June 2008 as head coach. He set about improving the club's fortunes and has introduced a number of new faces. The club were unbeaten in all competitions in the 2008 – 2009 season. In the following 2009–2010 season they won the All Ireland junior Cup, the Ulster Qualifying League and were promoted back into the All Ireland League. The club also has under 19, under 17, under 15 and under 13 teams, a thriving mini and ladies sections

Honours

Ulster Senior Cup The Ulster Senior Cup is a knock-out competition for senior rugby union teams in the province of Ulster. It is administered by Ulster Rugby. The most successful club is Queen's University with 23 wins. The current holders are City of Armagh RF ...

: 1 ** 1999–2000 * Ulster Senior League: 1 ** 1999–2000 *

Ulster Towns Cup The Ulster Towns Cup is a rugby union competition organized by the Ulster branch of the Irish Rugby Football Union. It is confined to teams outside of Belfast. Since the resumption of play after World War II, where a town is represented by a seni ...

: 12 ** 1882–83, 1888–89, 1890–91, 1891–92, 1892–93, 1896–97, 1897–98, 1907–08, 1934–35, 1935–36, 2008–09, 2012–13 (Shared with Ballyclare) *

Ulster Junior Cup The Ulster Junior Cup is a rugby union competition for clubs in the Irish province of Ulster that are not considered strong enough to play in the Ulster Senior Cup. It also includes the second teams of the senior clubs. The perpetual trophy that ...

: 3 ** 1897–98, 1945–46, 2008–09

Notable players

Ireland

The following City of Derry players have represented

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

at full international level. * Alexander Foster *

Noel Henderson Noel Joseph Henderson (10 August 1928 – 27 August 1997) was a rugby union player from Northern Ireland, who played in the centre position. Henderson played club rugby with North of Ireland F.C., was capped forty times for Ireland, and was a me ...

* Gerald Glynn Allen * Charles Elliott Allen *

Ken Goodall Kenneth George Goodall (23 February 1947 – 17 August 2006) was an Irish rugby union and rugby league player. He was an Irish international and British Lions player and vice principal at Faughan Valley High School, which is now part of Lisne ...

British and Irish Lions

The following City of Derry players have also represented the

British and Irish Lions The British & Irish Lions is a rugby union team selected from players eligible for the national teams of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. The Lions are a test side and most often select players who have already played for their national ...

. * Alexander Foster: 1910 *

1950 Events January * January 1 – The International Police Association (IPA) – the largest police organization in the world – is formed. * January 5 – 1950 Sverdlovsk plane crash, Sverdlovsk plane crash: ''Aeroflot'' Lisunov Li-2 cr ...

1968 The year was highlighted by protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechoslovakia. * Januar ...

AIB Junior Cup

In January 2010, City of Derry beat Armagh by 2 points to win their first ever AIB Junior Cup title.

References and Footnotes

External links

City of Derry RFCSummer Rugby Scheme, in association with CODRFCInformation on Napit
{{Rugby union in Ulster Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland Rugby clubs established in 1881 Sport in Derry (city) Senior Irish rugby clubs (Ulster) 1881 establishments in Ireland Rugby union clubs in County Londonderry Derry (city)