The Dorset Premier Football League is a football league based in

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset. Covering an area of , ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

, which sits at Step 7 of the

National League System The National League System comprises the six levels of the English football league system immediately below the level of the English Football League. It comes under the jurisdiction of The Football Association. The National League System has a h ...

, or level 11 of the overall

English football league system The English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the Isl ...

History

The league was formed in

1957 1957 ( MCMLVII) was a common year starting on Tuesday of the Gregorian calendar, the 1957th year of the Common Era (CE) and ''Anno Domini'' (AD) designations, the 957th year of the 2nd millennium, the 57th year of the 20th century, and the 8th year ...

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 A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, an ideal that still holds today. In

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phi ...

the Dorset Football Combination League accepted an invitation to become a feeder to the

Wessex League The Wessex Football League is an English association football league formed in 1986, with its premier division currently at the fifth step of the National League System, or the ninth tier of the overall English football league system. The part ...

, thus giving its member clubs the opportunity to progress through the

. The league has now been placed at the Regional Feeder League level of the

, standing parallel to the

Hampshire Premier League The L4 Teamwear Hampshire Premier League is a football competition based in Hampshire, England. The league was formed in 2007 and currently consists of a 'Senior Division' of 17 teams - including some previous members of the disbanded Division ...

. 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 Bridport is a market town in Dorset, England, inland from the English Channel near the confluence of the River Brit and its tributary the Asker. Its origins are Saxon and it has a long history as a rope-making centre. On the coast and wit ...

, 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 English football league system, also known as the football pyramid, is a series of interconnected leagues for men's association football clubs in England, with five teams from Wales, one from Guernsey, one from Jersey and one from the ...

. 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.History of the Dorset Premier League
Official League Website

Recent champions

Member clubs (2022–23)

* Balti Sports * Blandford United * Bournemouth Sports *

Reserves * Dorchester Sports * Hamworthy United Reserves * Holt United * Merley Cobham Sports * Poole Borough * Portland United Reserves * Shaftesbury Town Reserves * Sherborne Town Reserves * Sturminster Marshall * Sturminster Newton United * Swanage Town & Herston * Wareham Rangers * Westland Sports * Wimborne Town Reserves

Locations 2021-22

References

{{Reflist

External links

Official Website
Sports leagues established in 1957 Football leagues in England 1957 establishments in England Football in Dorset