Dorchester Town Community Football Club are delighted to be welcoming a record 200 youth teams across the South West to The Avenue Stadium for The Acerbis Magpies Football Festival 2024 between Saturday 4 May and Tuesday 7 May, including for the first time a Primary Inter-Schools Tournament.
We are also pleased to welcome a number of sponsors to our Football Festival this year including:
Acerbis are back with us to sponsor the 2024 Magpies Football Festival. This is a fantastic opportunity for all team managers or parents to speak face to face with Acerbis to get your kits ahead of next season. Acerbis are also offering a special ‘Festival Offer’ for all teams attending.
This year we are welcoming Minutemen Press to our tournament who will be partnering with Acerbis for exclusive kit branding for the club. There will be a special offer for new kits purchased at the tournament. Not only are Minuteman Press kit branding but they offer a wide range of printing services such as promotional items, stickers, banners and so much more. Please visit their stand at the tournament to see how they can help your club.
Finally we are pleased to be welcoming our new charity partner Ducks & Drakes Cancer Trust to The Avenue Stadium for the weekend. Along with our DTFC Supporters Club they will be running a 50/50 draw over the entire weekend. You can also find out more about the newly relaunched Dorchester Lottery, which also supports the invaluable work of Ducks & Drakes.
How to find us:
The Avenue Stadium is conveniently located at the southernmost point of the town, adjacent to the A35. If you are approaching Dorchester from Yeovil (A37) or Wimborne (A35), follow the bypass around the town centre, following signs to Weymouth. At the Stadium Roundabout, take the Weymouth Avenue road towards Dorchester, turning right at the two following roundabouts.
Parking:
We have a limited number of parking spaces at the stadium therefore we ask that people consider sharing cars to the tournament. We will be charging £3 parking on the days of the tournament which include 1 ticket for our 50/50 draw.
If you require special assistance parking please WhatsApp: 07599 219615.
Please be aware there are ANPR cameras in the adjacent KFC, Halfords and Tesco car parks - please do not park there as you will receive a penalty ticket.
Start times:
Managers are recommended to please arrive 45 minutes before the advertised time and parents/children 30 minutes before.
For the third year we are pleased to be powering our tournament by Tournify. We invite all parents and managers to download the app to view their fixtures. You will be able to save your team on the app and receive notifications on results, kick-off times and knockout stages. Tournify will also outline all the formats for each age groups.
Click HERE to view the fixtures on the Tournify website
There will be a managers meeting for every age group 30 minutes before the advertised start time, this will take place by the home dugout.
All matches are 12 minutes long.
Rules:
A full list of rules has been outlined in the PDF below. However there are a few key areas bullet pointed below:
- All players and team managers are required to wear the correct footwear for FIFA quality artificial pitch
- All age groups will field 6 players
- If a team fails to fulfil a fixture or is at the correct pitch at the time of the scheduled kick off time, three points are awarded to their opponents with a score recorded as 3-0.
- In the event of a clash of colours, the second named team on the referee’s sheet should provide alternative shirts. Each team should supply a set of bibs as an alternative colour.
- If two or more teams finish equal on points for a qualification position, then positions will be decided using the following criteria in this order a) count back b) goals scored c) goals conceded d) penalty shootout (best of 5).
Click here to download the full rules pdf
Stadium Rules
We ask that teams use the terraces around the pitch as basecamps to leave any bags and items. The main stand is to be used for spectators only.
Anyone who enters the pitch must be follow Dorchester Town Community Football Club footwear policy. Players will not be able to play and managers will need to manage from behind the perimeter wall if not wearing correct footwear.
If you have any questions or require further information please email us at tournament@dorchestertownfc.co.uk.
Thank you for supporting the Acerbis Magpies Football Festival 2024 and we hope you enjoy the tournament!