STURMINSTER NEWTON UNITED - HISTORY
In 1874 the club, which was then known as the Panthers FC, became the first ever club from the West Country to participate in the FA Cup, reaching the second round on three occasions. In 1877-78 they played the legendary Wanderers in the first round but lost 9-1.
In the 1890’s their name was changed to Sturminster St Mary’s, with the current name adopted in 1945.
They were among the founding members of the Dorset Combination in 1957, having previously played in the Dorset League. After leaving the league due to financial difficulties in 1960, they played in the lower Dorset Senior League until they re-joined the Combination in 1972. They remained in that competition (since 2002 known as the Dorset Premier League) until 2011, when they were relegated to the Dorset Senior League. During this time, they won the Combination Cup twice, in 1981 and 1995.
They moved from a public recreation ground to their own stadium in Honeymead Lane in 1996.
In 2011-12 under Gary Head, in his first full season in charge, the club won the Dorset Senior Trophy with a 1-0 win over Parley Sports at Wimborne Town.
In 2021-22 under the management of Nick Squires the club won its second Dorset Senior Trophy, beating Merley Cobham Sports 2-1 at The County Ground, Hamworthy.
In 2022-23 the club continued their success adding the Dorset Premier League Cup to the trophy cabinet beating Sturminster Marshall 4-1 at Wimborne Town.
The 2023-24 season was one of the most successful in the clubs history as they won the Dorset Premier League for the first time and gained promotion to Step 6.
The 2024-2025 season exceeded our wildest dreams. Although not everything went our way on the pitch, overall it was a terrific season with manager Nick Squires leading the club to eighth position just a few points behing the play off places. Our reserves reached the Dorset League's Division 2/3 cup final but lost out to Bournemouth Electric.
Then came the 2025-2026 season! We started off well leading the division for the first few weeks but were overtaken by Devizes Town. We remained in the or around the play-off positions and kept the pressure on the other teams eventually returning to the top spot when Devizes had a bad run.
A few results that unexpectedly went against us meant that we ended up a very close and credible second to Devizes Town. The play-offs awaited us - a well fought 0-0 draw at home to Bristol Telephones (where we won on penalties) and then a 2-2 draw at home in the final against Wells City which again we managed to win on penalties saw us promoted to step 5 for the first time in the club's history.
For 2026-2027 we say goodbye and a hearty thanks to the Western League as we move laterally to the Wessex League Premier Division to start our new adventure.
