Merrymen

Merrymen were formed in 1992 and played in Section G at the New Inn, West Knighton on a Thursday, finishing third in their first season which saw them promoted to Section F for the 93-94 season.  Merrymen finished fourth in Section F in 95-96 which meant they were promoted to Section E. Merrymen were up again the following season, as although they finished sixth, they found themselves in Section D for the 97-98 season. The team were in Section C for the 00-01 season after finishing fourth in Section D the previous season, but a bottom place finish saw them relegated back to Section D. After a few promotions without finishing in the top two the Merrymen got their hands on some silverware  in 2002 finishing top of Section D. After one season in Section C Merrymen were in Section B, as the sections were enlarged from 14 to 16 teams. For the 05-06 season Merrymen switched nights to play on Fridays at the New Inn, a season that saw them relegated back to Section C. The team had a new home for the 06-07 season moving to the Frampton Arm’s, Moreton on a Friday.  After just over ten years in Section C Merrymen were relegated in 2018. When skittles resumed in 2021 the Frampton Arm’s alley had gone so Merrymen played on a Friday at the Three Compasses, Charminster, before moving back to where it had all started, the New Inn, West Knighton for the 22-23 season. The team had entered for the 24-25 season but after a few seasons struggling for a side captain Stan Hallett felt that with the sections back up to sixteen teams it would mean that with a longer season getting eight players would become even more difficult, so rather than withdraw during the season he had to unfortunately withdraw just after the AGM.   

Note: The committee excepted a late entry from Ship Apes to take the place of Merrymen.