Page 23 - Yate Town v Dorchester Town 260920

Founded in 1880, Dorchester Town Football Club participated in The Dorset League from
1896 to 1947, and The Western League between 1947 and 1972, before joining The
Southern League, where they remained until gaining entry into the newly formed Football
Conference South in 2004. They were relegated back into The Southern League in 2014.
The Magpies won the Championship of The Dorset League in 1937/38, and the
Championship of The Western League in 1954/55.
After joining The Southern League in 1972 the early years were a struggle, and it was not
until season 1977/78 that the Club first tasted success, when they finished as runners up to
Margate in Division One (South) and were promoted into The Premier Division. At the end
of the following season, after a difficult campaign, The Alliance League (now the
Conference) was formed, and The Magpies found themselves back in the reformed Southern
Division.
Dorchester then celebrated their centenary by winning the Championship of Division One
(South) in 1979/80, by a one-point margin over Aylesbury. Relegated from The Premier
Division at the end of the 1983/84 season, following a severe financial crisis, they only just
avoided dropping out of the League in season 1985/86. However, a remarkable
transformation was achieved, and Dorchester returned to The Premier Division as
Champions at the end of the following season.
For most of the seasons that they were back in The Premier Division, Dorchester were a mid-
table team but season 1997/98 saw The Magpies achieve their highest ever Premier Division
placing when they finished in fourth place, but the next two seasons were very
disappointing, with relegation only just being avoided on both occasions and in 2001 The
Magpies lost The Premier Division place that they had held for fourteen seasons. The
Magpies threatened to regain their Premier Division status in their first season in The Eastern
Division, but finished in third place behind Champions Hastings Town and Runners Up
Grantham Town, however they achieved their objective the following season, when after a
fine campaign, with only five defeats, the Club returned to The Premier Division as
Champions.
In season 2003/04 Dorchester won The Southern League end of season play off competition,
defeating Bath City in the Semi-Final and Tiverton Town in the Final, played at Exeter City’s
St. James Park, to gain entry to the newly formed Conference South. Following their
elevation to the Conference regional division, apart from the first two, and seasons 2011/12
and 2012/13, they invariably struggled in the lower half of the table, but in season 2012/13
The Magpies finished in their highest position, when they attained eighth place, which was
a great achievement for the small market town of Dorchester with a population of 15,000.
Sadly season 2013/14 was a nightmare campaign, and The Magpies finished rock bottom,
and were relegated back into The Southern League Premier Division, where they initially
struggled to “stop the rot”, but results improved following a managerial change at the turn
of the year, and Dorchester ended the season safe from the threat of another relegation in
seventeenth place in the final league table. The Magpies position in The SPL was
consolidated in season 2015/16 when they finished in thirteenth position. Season 2016/17
was another difficult season, and relegation was just avoided with a draw on the last day of
the season, and the following season they finished in nineteenth position, comfortably
avoiding any relegation threat, whilst in season 2018/19 The Magpies ended the season in
a comfortable fifteenth place. Last season saw a season long battle to avoid the relegation