The Brian Newton Cup

The league has introduced a new competition to provide the teams in Section B and C with the same number of games as teams in Section A. This will provide the pubs and clubs who support skittles with the maximum amount of games that we can.  

To honour Brian Newton’s long service to the league the cup will be named in his honour. Brian first joined the committee in 1978 and was assistant secretary for the 81-82 season before taking over the Secretary role in 1982, a post he has held ever since.  Until 1986 he was also the fixture secretary.

On the alley Brian’s skittle career spans over 60 years during which time he has been successful in winning Section A with both Rebels and Dewlish Monsters, plus many other trophies down the years.

Brian has been the lynchpin of Dorchester & District skittles always doing his best to keep the league going. He has gone above and beyond the call of duty to encourage new teams to join the league and to ensure that alleys are kept playable for teams.  

Whilst the initial format for the new trophy may not survive beyond the forthcoming season, owing to the unknown structure of the league in the years to come, it is the intention of the league to use it for other new competitions. Such changes will be discussed by the committee and brought to the AGM for endorsement.

Composition of the league for 26-27

SECTION A – Barmy Army, Breakaways, Colliton Imps, Dewlish Monsters, Essentials, Goldies Wurzels, Half Pints, Hammers, Heathens, Patriots, Skimmers, Trinity Allsorts, Vic Reeves, Wareham Legionaires, Wide Boys, Woodmen.

SECTION B – Alcotops, Colliton Magpie Imps, Country Boys, Ladettes, Muckspreaders, Puddletown Wanderers, Plodders, Steamers, Strugglers, Swankers, The Wafflers, Vic Apes, Vic’s Brown Bullocks, Yokels On Tour@Colliton.

SECTION C – Brewers Bees, Colliton Flingers, Colliton Spares, Easy Beats, Funseekers, Hartstoppers, Jokers, Misfits, New Inn Chuckers, Puddletown Nomads, Ship Wrecked, Trinity Mix Ups, Untouchables, Vixens. 

Relegated from Section A - Puddletown Wanderers. Swan Abbots are not entering. 

Promoted from Section B - Monsters and Allsorts. Jolly Green Giants are not entering. Relegated - Hartstoppers.

Promoted from Section C - Ladettes and Strugglers. Vixens are the new team in Section C. 

Teams that have changed alleys are, 

Barmy Army to Colliton 2 on a Friday 

Patriots to Tom Browns on a Thursday 

Wide Boys to Tom Browns on a Friday 

Country Boys to Spitfire Club on a Friday 

Steamers to Colliton 2 on a Thursday 

Vic Apes to Victoria Hotel on a Wednesday (this was done towards the end of last season)

AGM, a brief round up

The AGM was held at the Colliton Club on Friday evening, here’s a brief round up.

1.The Hon Treasurer Philip Slade reported that for the first time in many years the league recorded a profit in our accounts. There will be no increase on league and competition fees for the 26-27 season.

2.Changes to the rules (a brief breakdown)

The list of registered players will now need to be submitted to the fixture secretary (Terry Gosney) by the end of the second week of fixtures at the latest.

A missing player can join the game as long as they are present at the completeion of both teams second hand.

The score card must contain the full name of each player.

Three teams will be promoted and three relegated from each section. This will be determined by there being 16 teams in Section A.

A maximum of 24 players can register for a team in a single season.

3.We have 44 teams entered with Vixens the last champions of the ladies league re-joining after a season out. We have lost Swan Abbots, Jolly Green Giants and Any Pin Will Do from last season.


The composition of the league will be 16 teams in Section A, with 14 teams in Section’s B and C.


To give the teams in Section B and C the same number of games a new competition called ‘The Brain Newton Cup’ will be played for. The fixtures for this will depend on the byes each week.


The forthcoming season will start week commencing 31st August.

Advertising on website

Thank you to the following company’s who placed an advert on the league’s website during the 25-26 season.

MB Builders
Valet2U Dorchester
JAIC Ltd
Sash Window Joiners
SJR Carpentry
B A Gosney Ltd painter & decorator
Kev Holbrook Ceramic wall & floor tiler
Manor Park Flooring
Artiscapes Ground Maintenance Ltd
Albert Goodman Chartered Accountants
Bathroom Inspirations Ltd
Sam Scaffolding Dorset Ltd
All In Interiors 
Barry Knight Building and Maintenance  
Fox Typesetting Services 
Case & Brewer Fish and Chips
The Colliton Club & Bar

If you would like to advertise your business on the website for the 26-27 season for the price of £25 a year please email a PDF of your advert/business card to terry.gosney@btinternet.com

Presentation Evening 2026

A big thank you to Andrew and Nikki Fowler who presented the trophies at the league’s presentation evening in memory of their dad Roy Fowler who sadly passed away during the season. Roy was a longstanding member of the league, and would rarely miss a Wide Boys match long after he stopped playing, keenly chalking the board. Our Vice Chair-person Sally Childs-Slade presented Nikki with a bouquet of flowers.

Thank you to the Colliton Club and all of it’s staff for their hospitality.

Thank you to our committee for all their hard work throughout the season and on making sure Friday ran smoothly, especially Adam Barnes who took the photos.

Lastly thank you to all of you skittlers who supported the evening.

Enjoy your summer and we’ll see you all back on the alley for the 26-27 season.

Start time

Please would all captains be reminded of rule 14

Games shall commence between 8.30 p.m. and 8.45 p.m. Any team short of players must commence the game with the players available. If there are no representatives of a team present on the alley by 8.45p.m. that team will be deemed to have cancelled and the match awarded to the opposing team.

History pages

Check out the history pages on the website. This is an ongoing project which will be updated to give you all an insight on the past history of the league. If anyone can help with any missing teams/years or mistakes please contact terry.gosney@btinternet.com , especially any information about league winners from the 50’s, 60’s and 70’s as the skittle fixture books only started putting in the previous seasons tables from 1980.

Social media

The Dorchester & District Skittles League accepts no responsibility or liability in respect of any material relating to Dorchester skittles posted by any team or person on social media.

Stickers up

It is the responsibility of both captains to ensure that the stickers up operate in a competent and safe manner at all times. The use of mobile phones, ipads, headphones etc whilst the game is in progress is not permitted.