Dartmouth A.F.C. Explained

Clubname:Dartmouth A.F.C
Fullname:Dartmouth Association Football Club
Nickname:The Darts
Founded:1999
Ground:Longcross, Dartmouth
Manager:Robbie Bowker and Dan Cartright
League:South Devon Football League
Pattern La1:ee2e26
Pattern B1:ee2e26
Pattern Ra1:ee2e26
Leftarm1:ee2e26
Body1:ee2e26
Rightarm1:ee2e26
Shorts1:ee2e26
Socks1:ee2e26

Dartmouth Association Football Club is a football club based in Dartmouth, Devon, England. They are currently members of the Devon Football League and play at Longcross.

History

Established in 1908 as Dartmouth United, the club began competing in the Torbay and District League. They later moved into the Plymouth and District League, winning the title five times, but went back to the South Devon League for the 1968–69 season. They finished in the top two in each of their first three seasons in the South Devon League, winning the competition twice. In 1995, the club finished as runners-up in the South Devon League, winning automatic promotion to the Devon County League. They finished 4th in their first season and, the following season (1995–96), won the Premier League Cup, and finished runners-up in both the League and League Cup.

In mid-1999, Dartmouth United and Dartmouth Y.M.R.C. amalgamated to form Dartmouth A.F.C. The new club won the Devon County League title in 2001–02 and 2002–03, but opted to remain in the Devon League rather than climb the non-league pyramid.

In June 2012 before the 2012–13 season, the club faced some bad news when the FA refused to allow them to enter any national FA competitions due to not meeting the required criteria to compete. Shortly after, the club resigned from the South West Peninsula League altogether and the first team took the place of the reserve side in the South Devon League Division One. They finished in a respectable 4th in their first season in Division One before winning the division in the 2013/14 season to move up into the Premier Division. The club also won the Firewatch Devon Senior Cup in the 2013/14 season.[1]

Dartmouth's first season back in the Premier Division (2014/15) ended with them finishing in third place and they finished as runners-up the following season (2015/16) The reserve side also won the Division Three double that year. At the end of the 2018/19 season, Dartmouth AFC won 2-0 vs Buckland Reserves to win the George Belli Cup at Dartington, with goals scored by Ryan Frost and Scott McRoy, captained by Ben Greeno. At the end of 2018–19 the South West Peninsula League was restructured, and Dartmouth successfully applied for a double promotion to the Premier Division East, at Step 6 of the National League System.The club badge was designed by Neil Patey on the amalgamation of Dartmouth United and Dartmouth YMRC, the castles represent Dartmouth and Kingswear castles and the black and red stripes are the former colours of the two clubs. The badge was updated by player and designer, Scott Mcroy.

Ground

Dartmouth play their home games at Longcross, Milton Lane, Dartmouth, Devon, TQ6 9LW.

Former players

One of their most famous former players is Ralph Birkett, who left Dartmouth to play for Torquay United and went on to play for the England national football team.

Season-by-season record since 1995

SeasonDivisionPosition
1995-96Devon County League4th
1996-97Devon County League2nd
1997-98Devon County League9th
1998-99Devon County League7th
1999-2000Devon County League8th
2000-01Devon County League5th
2001-02Devon County League1st
2002-03Devon County League1st
2003-04Devon County League9th
2004-05Devon County League3rd
2005-06Devon County League5th
2006-07Devon County League1st
2007-08South West Peninsula League7th
2008-09South West Peninsula League, Premier Division7th
2009-10South West Peninsula League, Premier Division15th
2010-11South West Peninsula League, Premier Division18th
2011-12South West Peninsula League, Premier Division14th
2012-13South Devon Football League, Division One4th
2013-14South Devon Football League, Division One1st
2014-15South Devon Football League, Premier Division3rd
2015-16South Devon Football League, Premier Division2nd
2016-17South Devon Football League, Premier Division5th
2017-18South Devon Football League, Premier Division6th

Honours

References

50.3476°N -3.5994°W

Notes and References

  1. https://archive.today/20121205061748/http://www.thisiscornwall.co.uk/Peninsula-teams-suffer-FA-Vase-setbacks/story-16433927-detail/story.html Peninsula teams suffer FA Vase setbacks