This article needs additional citations for verification .(September 2011) |
Founded | 1957 |
---|---|
Country | England |
Divisions | 1 |
Number of teams | 18 |
Level on pyramid | Level 11 |
Promotion to | Wessex League Division One Western League Division One South West Peninsula League Division One |
Relegation to | Dorset Football League |
Current champions | Sturminster Newton United (2023–24) |
Website | Dorset Premier League |
The Dorset Premier Football League is a football league based in Dorset, England, which sits at Step 7 of the National League System, or level 11 of the overall English football league system.
The league was formed in 1957 under the name Dorset Football Combination League when a number of senior clubs within the county became disillusioned at being dictated to by junior and minor clubs.
The objective of the league on its formation was to increase the standard of football and competition throughout Dorset and neighbouring counties, an ideal that still holds today.
In 1991 the Dorset Football Combination League accepted an invitation to become a feeder to the Wessex League, thus giving its member clubs the opportunity to progress through the National League System. The league has now been placed at the Regional Feeder League level of the National League System, standing parallel to the Hampshire Premier League. Clubs promoting from the DPL usually join the 2nd level of the Wessex League. However, the conclusion of the 2005–06 season saw Sherborne Town move to the Western League Division One. Bridport, who maintain a reserve team in the DPL, also play in the Western League. The bottom club may be relegated to the Dorset Senior League, which is a level 12 league of the English football pyramid.
The 2002–03 season saw the League change its name to the Dorset Premier Football League. It was felt that this more reflected the League's status. In 2010 the League was awarded the FA Charter Standard status, only the third league in the FA’s jurisdiction to be so awarded. [1]
Season | Champions |
---|---|
1998–99 | Portland United |
1999–2000 | Portland United |
2000–01 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2001–02 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2002–03 | Hamworthy United |
2003–04 | Hamworthy United |
2004–05 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2005–06 | Holt United |
2006–07 | Westland Sports |
2007–08 | Portland United |
2008–09 | Portland United |
2009–10 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2010–11 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2011–12 | Westland Sports |
2012–13 | Portland United |
2013–14 | Portland United |
2014–15 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2015–16 | Shaftesbury Town |
2016–17 | Holt United |
2017–18 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2018–19 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2019–20 | No Competition as a result of COVID-19 pandemic |
2020–21 | No Competition as a result of COVID-19 pandemic |
2021–22 | Hamworthy Recreation |
2022–23 | Holt United |
2023–24 | Sturminster Newton United |
Dorset is a ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, the Isle of Wight across the Solent to the south-east, the English Channel to the south, and Devon to the west. The largest settlement is Bournemouth, and the county town is Dorchester.
The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but clubs from adjoining counties such as Wiltshire, Berkshire, and the Isle of Wight are also eligible. The Premier Division is one of the sixteen recognised leagues to form the ninth level of the English football league system, and Division One is one of seventeen recognised leagues at level 10.
Upton is a town in south-east Dorset, England. Upton is to the east of Holton Heath and Upton Heath, and to the north of the Poole suburb of Hamworthy. It is the second largest town in the Purbeck Hills.
Dorset is a rural county in south west England. Its archaeology documents much of the history of southern England.
Wimborne Town Football Club is a football club based in Wimborne Minster in Dorset, England. They were established in 1878 and won the FA Vase in 1992. They reached the First Round Proper of the FA Cup in the 1982–83 season for the first time.
Swanage Town & Herston Football Club is a football club based in Swanage, Dorset, England. The club is affiliated to the Dorset County Football Association. They are currently members of the Dorset Premier League.
Dorset is a county in South West England. The county is largely rural and therefore does not have a dense transport network, and is one of the few English counties without a motorway. Owing to its position on the English Channel coast, and its natural sheltered harbours, it has a maritime history, though lack of inland transport routes has led to the decline of its ports.
The Southampton and Dorchester Railway was an English railway company formed to join Southampton in Hampshire with Dorchester in Dorset, with hopes of forming part of a route from London to Exeter. It received parliamentary authority in 1845 and opened in 1847.
The Dorset Senior Cup is a knockout cup competition involving association football teams from the county of Dorset, England, affiliated with the Dorset County Football Association. The current holders of the Dorset Senior Cup are Poole Town who beat Hamworthy United 2–1 after extra time in the final on 1 March 2022 at the County Ground, Hamworthy.
Dorset is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the area covered by the non-metropolitan county, which is governed by Dorset Council, together with the unitary authorities of Poole and Bournemouth. Dorset is an average sized county with an area of 2,653 square kilometres (1,024 sq mi); it borders Devon to the west, Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north-east, and Hampshire to the east. Around half of Dorset's population lives in the South East Dorset conurbation. The rest of the county is largely rural with a low population density.
Dorset and Wilts Rugby Football Union is the governing body for rugby union in the counties of Dorset and Wiltshire, England. Dorset & Wilts RFU is a Constituent Body of the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and is responsible for the management and administration of the game within the counties of Dorset and Wiltshire of all forms and at all levels. Originally Dorset and Wiltshire had their own county teams but would start to merge into one body towards the end of the 1930s, having already played a combined match against Hampshire in 1935–36 which Dorset & Wilts won 9–6. By 1939 Dorset & Wilts agreed to become a unified rugby football union to take part in the 1940–41 County Championships but this was postponed by the outbreak of World War II. After the war Dorset & Wilts played its first official county match in 1947 and attained full county status from the RFU in 1949.
Joshua John Christopher Wakefield is an English footballer who plays as a midfielder.
Dorset & Wilts 1 South is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Dorset, sitting at tier 8 of the English rugby union system. Originally a single league, Dorset & Wilts 1 split into north and south regional divisions in 2004. Teams based in Berkshire participated until 2001 when they left to join the Buckinghamshire & Oxon leagues.
Dorset & Wilts 2 South is an English Rugby Union league, forming part of the South West Division, for clubs primarily based in Dorset, sitting at tier 9 of the English rugby union system. Promoted teams tend to move up to Dorset & Wilts 1 South. Relegated teams used to drop to Dorset & Wilts 3 South but since that division was cancelled at the end of the 2018–19 season there has been no relegation. Each year 1st XV clubs in this division also take part in the RFU Junior Vase, a level 9–12 national competition.
The 2020 Wareham Forest fire was a wildfire in Wareham Forest, Dorset, in May 2020. It destroyed over 220 Hectares of the heathland, and was described "one of the most devastating fires in Dorset, in living memory" by Dorset and Wiltshire Fire and Rescue Service.