Rainey Rugby Football Club is situated in the market town of

Magherafelt Magherafelt ( ; , ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It had a population of 9,071 at the 2021 United Kingdom census, 2021 census. It is the biggest town in the south of the county an ...

County Londonderry County Londonderry (Ulster Scots dialects, Ulster-Scots: ''Coontie Lunnonderrie''), also known as County Derry (), is one of the six Counties of Northern Ireland, counties of Northern Ireland, one of the thirty-two Counties of Ireland, count ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ; ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, part of the United Kingdom in the north-east of the island of Ireland. It has been #Descriptions, variously described as a country, province or region. Northern Ireland shares Repub ...

playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. At present, they field 3 senior men's teams, 1 senior women's team and 3 youth teams (the Rhinos) under-18s, under-16s and under-14s as well as a girls under-14s side.

History

Junior rugby

The club was founded in 1928 as Magherafelt RFC. It was renamed Rainey Old Boys RFC in 1947 in recognition of its connection with Rainey Endowed School. When former Rainey Endowed School coach Dawson McConkey joined the club as player-coach in the mid-1960s, success began to follow, and by the mid-1970s they were a leading club in Ulster junior rugby. In 1982 they toured the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

, and in 1983 they won the

Ulster Towns Cup The Ulster Towns Cup is a rugby union competition organized by the Ulster Rugby, 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 represen ...

for the first time, with a team featuring forme

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

international Harry Steele and

Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties of Ireland, counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United Kingdom); t ...

regular Alan McLean. Club President from 1984 to 1990 was Bertie McConnell, a member of Ireland's 1948

Grand Slam Grand Slam or Grand slam may refer to: Games and sports * Grand slam, winning category terminology originating in contract bridge and other whist card games Athletics * Grand Slam Track, professional track and field league Auto racing * ...

-winning side. Coached by former

Ballymena RFC Ballymena Rugby Football Club is a rugby union club based in the town of Ballymena, Northern Ireland, playing in 2024–25 All-Ireland League (rugby union)#Division 2A, Division 2A of the All-Ireland League (rugby union), All-Ireland League. It is ...

number eight John Andrews, they were champions of the Ulster Qualifying League in 2005, but lost the playoffs for promotion to the

All-Ireland All-Ireland (sometimes All-Island) is a term used to describe organisations and events whose interests extend over the entire island of Ireland, as opposed to the separate jurisdictions of the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. "All-Irelan ...

. The following season they won the All-Ireland Junior Cup, and secured senior status by winning the AIL promotion playoffs."Club History"
Rainey Old Boys RFC, retrieved 19 January 2024

Senior rugby

2006-07 was Rainey's first season in senior rugby, and they finished seventh in Division 3 of the All-Ireland League, and sixth in the Ulster Senior League. Coach John Andrews left at the end of the season to coach

Dungannon RFC Dungannon RFC (Dungannon Football Club) is a rugby union club from Dungannon, Northern Ireland, playing in Division 2B of the All-Ireland League. History The 5th Earl of Ranfurly, who was President of Dungannon Football Club for 24 years an ...

. replaced by former Ireland international Willie Anderson, then by Rhys Botha as player-coach in 2008. Rainey Old Boys finished 10th in

AIB Division Three The All-Ireland League (AIL), known for sponsorship reasons as the Energia All-Ireland League, is the national league system for the 50 senior rugby union clubs in Ireland, covering both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. The league w ...

in the 2008–09 season. Rainey Old Boys finished 10th again in

in the 2009–10 season and 6th in

in the 2010–11 season. The following season they narrowly missed out on promotion to AIB Division 2A, coming 5th in the 2011–12 season. Finishing 4 points behind second place and promotion. In the 2012–13 they won AIB Division 2B, going undefeated in the league the whole season, winning 14 and drawing 1. Having scored more points, as well as conceding less, than any other team in the whole All-Ireland League, they gained promotion in some style. In what was to be the most successful season in the club's history, they also reached the final of the Ulster Senior Cup against all the odds, knocking out giants of ulster rugby Dungannon R.F.C. and Malone R.F.C., both away from home, en route to Ravenhill. Chris Campbell and Richard Boyd took over the coaching reigns of the club until 2013 after the 1st XV gained promotion into 2A after an undefeated season in 2B winning 14 matches and drawing 1. This was a highly successful season for the club who also contested their first ever Senior Cup final in Ravenhill in December 2012 where they were beaten by a strong Ballymena side. Richard Boyd remained as head coach assisted by John Andrews until 2015. John Andrews was Head Coach between 2015-2021 and over that period was assisted by Damien Campbell and Terry McMaster. Following relegation due to a re-jigging of the leagues in 2016, Rainey were promoted to 2B once again in 2017 by beating Tullamore in the playoff final at Hatrick Park. There was heartbreak the following year when a last minute Navan try at Hatrick Park prevented them from gaining promotion to 2A in 2018. This heartbreak was soon forgotten about the following season when the 1st XV regrouped for the 2018/19 season and performed consistently all year to secure a place in the playoffs for the 3rd season in a row. After beating Greystones away in a tight game in the semi final, they travelled to Stradbrook to take on Irish Rugby Kingpins, Blackrock College RFC in the final. Rainey achieved promotion to Division 2A of the Energia AIL with a 35-21 victory on a sunny day in Stradbook in one of the most famous days in the club's history. History was also created 8 months later in December 2019 when Rainey won the Ulster Senior League for the first time in their history. After an enforced break from competitive rugby due to the coronavirus pandemic, Rainey competed in Division 2A of the Energia AIL in 2021/22 season and were unfortunately relegated to 2B following a play off loss to Nenagh Ormond. Rainey finished 6th in Division 2B of the Energia AIL in the 2022/23 and finished top of Section 1B of the Ulster Senior League in the same season. The team finished 7th Division 2B of the Energia AIL in the 2023/24 season. In May 2024, it was announced that former Ulster, Glasgow and Castres second row, Tim Barker would be the Head Coach for the 2024/25 season. Tim had previously played for Rainey for many years and had been an assistant coach for the previous 2 seasons. Hooker

Bradley Roberts Bradley Roberts is a former rugby union player who played as a hooker for United Rugby Championship side Dragons RFC. He was called up to play international rugby for Wales in 2021. Roberts was born in Durban, South Africa where he attended Dur ...

was called into the

Ulster Rugby Ulster Rugby is one of the four professional provincial rugby union teams from the island of Ireland. They compete in the Irish regional pool of the United Rugby Championship and in the European Rugby Champions Cup, each of which they have won ...

squad in November 2020 and made his debut away to Edinburgh on 30 November 2020. He follows in the footsteps of fellow Rainey man

Tommy O'Hagan A list of players who have appeared for Ulster Rugby since rugby union was declared open to professionalism on 26 August 1995. Current players Jacob Boyd Loosehead prop. Son of former Ulster prop Clem Boyd. Captained RBAI to the Ulster Schools' ...

who played for Ulster in the 2018/19 season. Roberts made his Welsh debut against South Africa in November 2021. Local musician and former 1st XV Waterboy and Ballboy, J.C Stewart filmed part of a music video for MTV at the club in November 2019. The club was renamed Rainey RFC in 2023."Our Vision"
Rainey Old Boys RFC, retrieved 19 January 2023

Honours

* Ulster Youth Cup:2 ** 2022-23 U16 ** 2021-22 U14 * Ulster Youth Plate:1 ** 2022-23 U18 * Ulster Senior League: 1 ** 2019-20 *

: 2 ** 1982–83, 2000–01 *

Ulster Junior Cup The Ulster Junior Cup is a rugby union competition for clubs in the Irish province of Ulster Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties ...

: 2 ** 1975–76, 1978-79

Internationals

Dr A.A McConnell -

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

Harry Steele -

Paul Pritchard - Germany Conor Brockschmidt - Germany Mark Harbison - British Virgin Islands Paul Kelly - Bermuda Stephen McKinstry - ( Ireland Under 19s) Stephen Beattie - United States Under 19s Michael Glancy - ( Ireland Under 21s) and Hong Kong National Team Connor Lavery - ( Ireland Under 19s) John McCusker - Ireland U18s Jack McIntosh - Ireland U18s Mark Lee - Ireland U18s

Sources

{{Ulster Rugby Links Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland Rugby union teams in Ireland Rugby union clubs in County Londonderry All-Ireland League rugby union clubs Ulster Senior League (rugby union) teams Rugby clubs established in 1928 1928 establishments in Northern Ireland Magherafelt