Dorchester Town F.C.
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| Full name | Dorchester Town Football Club |
|---|---|
| Nickname(s) | The Magpies |
| Founded | 1880 |
| Ground | The Avenue Stadium, Dorchester |
| Capacity | 5,229 (710 seated) |
| Chairman | Matt Lucas |
| Manager | Craig Laird |
| League | Southern League Premier Division |
| 2015–16 | Southern League Premier Division, 13th |
| Website | dorchestertownfc |
Dorchester Town Football Club are a semi-professional football club, based in Dorchester, Dorset, England. They currently play in the Southern League Premier Division, the seventh tier of English football.
The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association and is a FA chartered Standard club. They play at the Avenue Stadium, on land owned by the Duchy of Cornwall. They were founder members of the Conference South in 2004, which was the highest standard they have ever reached, but were relegated after ten years in 2014.
Founded in 1880, Dorchester Town were Dorset Senior Cup finalists in 1888 and 1890 before joining the Dorset League in 1896. Despite being founder members of the league, the club had little success before winning the championship in 1937/38 with a 2–0 victory at Sherborne on 25 April 1938.
The club joined the Western League in 1947, winning promotion from Division Two in 1950, and going on to take the league championship in 1954/55. The fifties proved to be a successful decade for the Magpies, winning the Dorset Senior Cup for the first time, and having a number of good runs in the FA Cup facing the likes of Norwich City, Queens Park Rangers, Port Vale and Plymouth Argyle. In 1954, Dorchester reached the 2nd Round before eventually losing out to York City in front of 5,500 fans at the old Avenue ground, in a season where York went on to reach the semi-finals.
Following four more victories in the Dorset Senior Cup, the club entered the Southern League (Division One South) in 1972. They first tasted success in this division when they finished runners-up to Margate in 1977/78, going unbeaten in the final 16 matches of the season, with manager David Best utilising his links with old club AFC Bournemouth to attract former first-teamers such as John O'Rourke, Jack Howarth and Harry Redknapp to the Avenue.
The formation of the Alliance League (now the Football Conference) unfortunately meant the Magpies ended up back in the reformed Southern Division a year later, but the club celebrated its centenary by winning the Southern Division in 1979/80 by a one-point margin over Aylesbury. Stuart Bell succeeded David Best as manager during the season, and the Magpies went unbeaten in the last 14 games to clinch the title. A young Trevor Senior impressed alongside ever-present top scorer Paul Thorne, whilst Graham Roberts joined neighbours Weymouth early in the campaign for £6,000 before going on to star for Tottenham Hotspur and England.
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