Dorchester Football Scandal

Archie Wellman, a Dorchester postman and his friend, Owen Wicks, a hairdresser’s assistant. were both charged at Dorchester Assizes in May 1910 with fraudulently seeking to obtain money from a football betting company based in Holland. To secure their ends, the two men put together an ingenious scheme. The betting company, Archer & Bacon offered money prizes if the match scores were accurately predicted in return for an entry fee. All entries had to be posted before 2pm on Saturdays.

Wicks made arrangements with a Cheshire based newspaper, the Athletic News to have the result of Saturday’s football matches telegrammed to him as soon as the games finished. These he would later post up in the hairdresser’s salon where he worked. Wicks received the football results at 4.56pm on the Saturday in question and immediately passed them to his friend who was on duty in Dorchester Post Office that afternoon. Wellman had already date stamped two envelopes at 12.30 and using the results provided by his friend submitted two competition entries to Archer & Bacon. One was in his name while the other claimed to be from Wicks. The entries arrived in Holland on the Monday morning. The Dutch company was suspicious as most of its entries arrived through the post no later than Sunday morning. Suspecting there was an irregularity, the General Post Office in London was notified of this concern. A GPO Detective interviewed Wicks and Wellman who both admitted what had happened.

Owen Wicks was acquitted but Archie Wellman was sentenced to six months in prison. Two thousand people signed a petition against his sentence and after two months he was released from prison on the instruction of the Home Secretary.

(Source: Dorset County Chronicle - 17th February 1910 and A Grim Almanac of Dorset (2011) by Nicola Sly.)

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