Nicolae Rainea (19 November 1933 – 1 April 2015[1]), nicknamed The Locomotive of the Carpathians, was a Romanian football referee and player.

[2] Nicolae Rainea played football in the lower leagues of Romania for Laminorul Brăila, Metalul Piatra Neamț and Constructorul Bârlad, he retired in 1959 to start his career as a referee, making his debut in Liga I in 1965.

Rainea was decorated by two presidents of Romania, Ion Iliescu and Traian Băsescu.

[5] He was made honorary citizen of Galați where he resided and served four local council terms.

[5] After an untreated mild cold turned into a pulmonary edema, Rainea suffered a cardiac arrest while in hospital and died on 1 April 2015 in Galați.