City of Derry Rugby Football Club is a

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club, formed in 1881 in

Derry Derry, officially Londonderry, is the second-largest City status in the United Kingdom, city in Northern Ireland, and the fifth-largest on the island of Ireland. Located in County Londonderry, the city now covers both banks of the River Fo ...

, 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 Judges Road, situated just outside

Strathfoyle Strathfoyle (from ) 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 village, includi ...

. The stadium itself was briefly named after the

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r Craig "Mini Ladd" Thompson, who sponsored the club in November 2017. The sponsorship ended on 1 July 2020 after sexual misconduct allegations against minors surfaced against him.

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. Lynch set about improving the club's fortunes, and 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, as well as 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 RFC, Queen's University with 24 wins. The current holder ...

: 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 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 ...

: 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 Ulster (; or ; or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional or historic provinces of Ireland, Irish provinces. It is made up of nine Counties ...

: 3 ** 1897–98, 1945–46, 2008–09

Notable players

Ireland

The following City of Derry players have represented

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 ...

at full international level. * Alexander Foster * Noel Henderson *Glyn Allen, Gerald Glynn Allen *Charles Elliot Allen *Ken Goodall

British and Irish Lions

The following City of Derry players have also represented the British and Irish Lions. * Alexander Foster: 1910 British Lions tour to South Africa, 1910 * Noel Henderson: 1950 British Lions tour to New Zealand and Australia, 1950 *Ken Goodall: 1968 British Lions tour to South Africa, 1968

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 RFC website
(archived 2022)
City of Derry RFC Information on Napit.co.uk
(archived 2005) {{Rugby union in Ulster Rugby union clubs in Northern Ireland Rugby clubs established in 1881 Sport in Derry (city) 1881 establishments in Ireland Rugby union clubs in County Londonderry Derry (city)