The history of Dorchester Town Football Club can be traced back originally to 1871 and the founding of The Dorchester Football Club. Like many clubs of that era, the Club played the rules of football that later evolved to become what is known today as rugby, but nevertheless the club quickly “attained an enviable reputation for respectability and skill” according to the Dorset County Chronicle.

By the end of the decade, the craze of Association Rules for the game of football had swept along the south coast, and on Monday, 18th October 1880, the town’s men gathered in The Kings’ Arms Hotel to “resuscitate” The Dorchester Football Club under association rules. They would play their home games at The Recreation Ground on Weymouth Avenue, which was home to the cricket club in the summer months. Leonard Robinson became the club’s first-ever captain, a position he would hold for many years.

Due to the importance of the town’s economy to the wider region, while most of the country typically took their half-holiday on a Saturday afternoon, the townsfolk of Dorchester took theirs on a Thursday, the day after market day. While the Saturday team of Dorchester Football Club struggled in the Dorset League, the Thursday team excelled. The town’s unique weekend arrangements meant that many Dorchester clubs struggled to organise matches with opposition on Thursdays or to muster a team for Saturday matches outside of town. In the 1908/09 season, the club imposed a policy of only playing fellow Dorchester teams and visiting military teams.

However, this policy only lasted for one season, and in the following year, an alternative plan was drawn up. On 26 August 1910, representatives from Dorchester United (cricket), Rovers (cycling), Athletic, and Wanderers attended The Dorchester Football Club AGM and agreed to join them to create “a team worthy of the good old town of Dorchester.”

It was here that the club adopted its new name of Dorchester Town Football Club to signify its new united ambition for the town. In 1929, the club moved from the Recreation Ground to the dedicated Avenue Football Ground. Just five years later, a remarkable event took place at the ground on 30 August 1934. To commemorate the centenary of the Tolpuddle Martyrs, Lloyd George MP, the last of the Liberal Prime Ministers held a rally at a packed Avenue Ground. In the afternoon, Dorchester Town hosted the London Labour Football Club, followed in the evening by a game against an international workers’ XI.

With post-war football thriving across the country, the club joined the Western League in 1947 and two years later turned professional with Mr. K.W. Holland declaring, “People will not turn up in large numbers to watch Dorset league football.” With the club now averaging gates of between 1000-1500, the club were able to attract bigger names to the club - none more so than former Wolves Goalkeeper, Ken Bird, who joined as player-manager from AFC Bournemouth. Bird quickly led the Magpies to success, winning the Western League Championship in 1954/55. The same year also saw us reach the First Round Proper of the FA Cup. Qualifying rounds saw us score victories over Poole, Bournemouth Gasworks, Portland and Winchester. In the first round, the club hosted fellow non-leaguer's Bedford Town in front of a gate of 3,500. A 2-0 win saw the club rewarded with the plum tie of York City at home. A record crowd of 5,750 packed out the Avenuem Ground, but despite taking the lead, the Magpies would fall short, losing 5-2. York would go on to make the semi-finals that year.

The following year (1955/56), Dorchester Town once again made the first round proper. Having put aside Newport IoW in the final qualifying round, the club was drawn away to Norwich City. A packed Carrow Road saw the Magpies fall to a 4-0 defeat. They again reached the First Round proper in 1956/57. After being taken to a replay by Bideford, their reward was a trip to Loftus Road to face Queen’s Park Rangers, where they once again fell to a 4-0 defeat.For the fourth year running, Dorchester Town reached the First Round Proper in a campaign that really turned heads. A local derby was on the cards in the fourth qualifying round as the club was drawn away to then high-flying local rivals Weymouth. Almost 6,000 were in attendance as a 2-2 draw brought them back over the Ridge, where a packed-out Avenue Ground watched the Magpies defeat the old enemy 2-1. The prize was the visit of the then-famous amateur team - and indeed holders of the FA Amateur Cup - Wycombe Wanderers. The Magpies ran out 3-2 winners in a pulsating game. An away trip to Plymouth Argyle would await, but again, they would stumble to a heavy defeat to league opposition, this time 5-2.Then in ’59, Dorchester Town were at it again. A Dinky Curtis goal against Weymouth gave the club another derby cup victory and put them in the First Round hat, where they were drawn away to Port Vale. Bill Gillett equalised, but the team slipped to a narrow 2-1 defeat.

The club joined the Southern League (South) in 1972 and five years later finished runners-up to Margate to gain promotion to the Premier Division. The following season saw the Magpies curtailed by the formation of The Alliance League (now The National League). Struggling in their initial season in the Premier Division (1978-79), they fell four places short of making the cut into the new league and were placed into the reformed Southern Division. Dorchester Town celebrated their centenary season by winning the Southern Division at the first time of asking, but with no promotion to the Alliance Premier in its first season of existence, they were denied the chance to play at the highest level of non-league football.

The following season, the club once again tasted FA Cup glory. A replay win over Minehead saw them rewarded with an all-Dorset clash at home to AFC Bournemouth in front of a sold-out Avenue Ground. A famous Paul Thorne goal took the club back to Dean Court, where a last gasp extra-time goal broke Magpies hearts.

A severe financial crisis hit in the mid-eighties, with relegation and near bankruptcy. However, a remarkable season in 1986/87 saw the club win the league and return to the Premier Division. Having come so close to losing the club in the late 80s, Peter Aiken and the board realised that the old Avenue Ground had begun to outlive its purpose and brokered a deal with Tesco and the landowners, the Duchy of Cornwall, to develop a new stadium for the club. The move saw Dorchester Town establish themselves in the Southern Premier in the early 90s, before Stuart Morgan took over and led the club to sixth in 1994/95 and fourth in 1997/98, along with cup success including reaching the FA Cup First Round Proper once again, where they were knocked out away at Oxford United,

That season also saw the club reach the last sixteen of the FA Trophy. Having beaten Slough, Sutton, and Salisbury, the club hosted Woking at a sold-out Avenue Stadium. In a highly eventful game that will go down in club folklore, the Cards (and eventual winners) scored in the last minute to win 3-2. After a poor start to the 1999/2000 season, manager Stuart Morgan was relieved of his position as manager and was replaced by Mark Morris. Morris was able to steer the club out of the relegation zone in his first season but was unable to repeat the feat the following season when the Magpies lost the Premier Division place they had held for fourteen seasons. That season did see the club again reach the FA Cup First Round Proper, where, despite taking the lead, they lost 2-1 away to high-flying Wigan Athletic.

The Magpies threatened to regain their Premier Division status in their first season in the Eastern Division but finished in third place. 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 the first season back in the Premier Division, the club reached the play-offs for promotion to the newly launched Conference South. Having won away at Bath City, a swan-song Matty Holmes performance inspired the stripes to a 2-0 victory over Tiverton at Exeter City’s St James’ Park to become founding members of the Conference South. The Magpies almost reached the play-offs once again in their inaugural season in the Conference South, but missed out on another promotion opportunity on the final day of the season. The following season saw Mark Morris resign to be replaced by Mick Jenkins.  Jenkins reign was short lived and the club went through a handful of managers until former Dorchester player and reserve team manager Phil Simkin took over. The club stalwart guided the Magpies to their greatest FA Cup triumph in the modern era as the club beat Plymouth Argyle 1-0 in the first round proper, in a match televised live. The reward was a trip to Luton Town in the second round, where the Magpies narrowly lost 2-1 in a pulsating game. Simkin would lead the Magpies to eight in the Conference South the following season, before financial difficulties hit the club and they were subsequently relegated to the Southern Premier League South. Whilst the club fought to get its finances back in order, the club spent many years in the wilderness, constantly fighting against relegation.

That would eventually change when former player Glenn Howes returned to the club as manager and sparked a revival. That revival was further enhanced when Howes invited Tommy Killick to return to the club half way through the 23/24 season, to take over as manager, with Howes becoming his number two. Killick - an Avenue cult hero in his playing days - had seen remarkable success as manager at Poole Town, spanning well over a decade. Howes had been his number two at Poole for a number of years before embarking on his own managerial career, where he led Blackfield & Langley from the Wessex 1 to the Southern Premier League. Now reunited, the pair led Dorchester to 9th place in the 2023/24 season, before reaching the play-offs the following season. The Magpies would lose out to eventual play-off winners AFC Totton in the last minute of extra-time in a remarkable game.

‍Tom Killick - Manager Killick returns to the Avenue following a hugely successful 20 year spell as manager at Poole Town, where he took charge of nearly 1,000 games. He guided the Dolphins from the tenth tier to the National League South. The ex-Magpies striker is fondly remembered at the Avenue from his playing days in the 1990s scoring a number of memorable goals in the black & white stripes. Killick returned home in September 2023, to link up with Glenn Howes again, the two having played together at Basingstoke and later spells together at Salisbury and Poole Town.
‍Glenn Howes – Assistant Manager Glenn returned to the Avenue from AFC Totton in October 2021. A Magpie in his playing career, Glenn also featured for Eastleigh, Gosport Borough, Basingstoke Town and Poole Town. He took his first steps into management with Blackfield & Langley, where he had a successful five seasons, taking the Watersiders from the Wessex League into the Southern Premier. He then joined AFC Totton in 2020 before taking the top job at The Avenue the following season. In an act of incredible selflessness, Howes approached Killick upon his departure from Poole, and they teamed up once again, with Howes stepping aside to become Assistant Manager.
‍James Wood – First team Coach Wood joined the club from AFC Totton in October 2021, having worked alongside Howes at both Blackfield & Langley and The Stags. Following his playing career, Wood stepped into management with Wessex League side Bournemouth Poppies, where a successful three year stint almost culminated in leading them to a shock league title. He joined Poole Town as Tommy Killick’s assistant and alongside then coach, Howes. He left Poole to join Howes at Blackfield, where they have built up a partnership that has seen success wherever they go.
‍Brian Churchill – First Team Coach Churchill is an experienced coach and UEFA B licensed coach, who has previously been involved with AFC Bournemouth’s academy, as well as spells at Swanage Town & Herston and Hamworthy United. Was head coach of the club’s highly successful U23’s side before stepping aside at the end of last season.
‍Steve Dodge – Goalkeeper Coach An experienced goalkeeper who came up through the same Dorchester Town Youth team as former Liverpool player David West, Dodge went on to a career with Dorchester, Weymouth, Bashley and Christchurch amongst others, before moving into coaching with Portland United.