Country England Number of teams 17 Relegation to Dorset Football League | Founded 1957 Level on pyramid Level 11 | |
Promotion to Wessex League Division One
Western League Division One | ||
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.
History
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.
At present the league is operating with 17 clubs, covering the entire county of Dorset, ranging from Bridport in the west and Swanage in the south plus South Cheriton and Westland Sports from Somerset, and Mere Town from Wiltshire.
The inaugural season saw 12 clubs in membership with Swanage Town lifting the Championship and the 15th Training Battalion R.A.S.C. finishing as runners up. The following season the top two places were reversed.
In the first 5 seasons, Swanage Town won the Championship four times and finished in runners up spot on one other occasion.
Parley Sports have also reached the final of the Combination Cup 21 times, lifting the trophy on 11 occasions, and have also won the league title on 12 occasions as well as finishing in the runners-up place 9 times. On one occasion they won the Combination League 5 times in a row from 1962 to 1966.
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 Step 7 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.