Shaftesbury Football Club are a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club based in

Shaftesbury Shaftesbury () is a town and civil parish in Dorset, England. It is on the A30 road, west of Salisbury, Wiltshire, Salisbury and north-northeast of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester, near the border with Wiltshire. It is the only significant hi ...

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, 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, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The club is affiliated to the

Dorset County Football Association The Dorset County Football Association is the County Football Association for Dorset. The Dorset County FA traces its root back to the South Hants and Dorset Football Association which was founded in 1884. Three years later in 1887, due to the g ...

and is a FA chartered Standard club. They are currently members of the .

History

The club was established in 1888 and by the 1905–06 season were winners of the Dorset Junior League. The club became members of the Dorset Senior League for the start of the 1931–32 campaign and a season later were winners of the competition. After the Second World War the club played in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

for the first time, reaching the Extra Preliminary Qualifying round before being knocked out by Alton Town. The club became one of the founder members of the Dorset Football Combination League at the start of the 1957–58 season. Four seasons later the club reached the final of the

Dorset Senior Cup 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 Weymouth who ...

, for the first time but lost out to Dorchester Town. The club continued in the Combination until the end of the 1961–62 competition, when they dropped into the Dorset leagues again. The 1976–77 season saw the club return to the Dorset Combination league. The club went on to win the combination league in the 1988–89 competition. They repeated another title success again in the 1996–97 campaign. When the

Wessex Football League The Wessex Football League, known as the Velocity Wessex Football League for sponsorship reasons, is an English regional men's Association football, football league in southern England. Its members are primarily from Hampshire and Dorset, but c ...

expanded for the start of the 2004–05 campaign, the club moved to the newly created Division Two. The next season saw the club enter the

FA Vase The Football Association Challenge Vase, also known as the Isuzu FA Vase for sponsorship reasons, is an annual football competition run by and named after The Football Association (The FA), for teams playing in Steps 5 and 6 of the English Nation ...

for the first time, where they were knocked out in the First Qualification round by Westbury United. The club stayed in the Wessex League a further season, when they finished bottom of the league and were relegated to the

Dorset Premier Football 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. History The league was formed in 1957 under the na ...

. In 2013–14, Shaftesbury Town continued their

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. History The league was formed in 1957 under the na ...

challenge, starting on 10 August against Wareham Rangers. The 2023–24 season saw Shaftesbury promoted from the Wessex Premier Division, defeating

AFC Stoneham A.F.C. Stoneham is a football club based in Eastleigh, Hampshire, England. They are currently members of the and play at the Stoneham Football Complex. History The club was established in 1919 by demobilised soldiers under the name Royal Engin ...

1–0 in the play-off final.

Ground

Shaftesbury play their home games at Cockrams, Coppice Street, Shaftesbury, SP7 8PF. But, when the council refused to give planning permission, the club called upon the local sponsor and supermarket, Tesco. Tesco built the club a new playground and a huge sheltered stand which is estimated to have around 2–300 persons capacity. The club have played at Cockrams since moving there in 1974. The ground belongs to the local Shaftesbury council who lease the ground to the club.

Honours

League honours

Wessex League 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 co ...

Premier Division ** Playoff winners (1): 2023–24 * Dorset Football Combination League : ** Winners (2): 1988–89, 1996–97 *Dorset Senior League : ** Winners (1): 1932–33 *Dorset Junior League : ** Winners (2): 1905–06, 1962–63

Cup honours

: ** Runners-Up (3): 1960–61, 2017–18, 2023–24 * Dorset Football Combination League Challenge Cup : ** Winners (2): 1988–89, 1994–95 ** Runners-Up (1): 1987–88 *Dorset Junior League Cup : ** Winners (3): 1899–1900, 1905–06, 1975–76 ** Runners-Up (1): 1896–97 *Dorset Junior Cup : ** Winners (1): 1907–08

Records

*Highest League Position: 3rd Wessex Premier League 2021–22 *

best performance: Second qualifying round 2021–22 *

best performance: Second Round 2022-23

Former players

# Players that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league). # Players with full international caps. * Steven Thompson

Former coaches

# Managers/Coaches that have played/managed in the football league or any foreign equivalent to this level (i.e. fully professional league). # Managers/Coaches with full international caps. * Stuart Housley * Ken Wookey

References

External links

{{coord, 51, 00, 23, N, 2, 11, 23, W, region:GB_type:landmark, display=title Association football clubs established in 2007 2007 establishments in England Shaftesbury Dorset Premier Football League Football clubs in Dorset