| Australian Rules Football In Tasmania |
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It is the most popular winter sport in the state. HISTORY The origins of Australian Rules Football in Tasmania can be traced back to 1864, when a club existed at New Town but disbanded soon after and also about this time. The Derwent and Stowell Football clubs were formed while in 1871 the Break O'Day club was formed. In 1875 the Launceston Club was created. Other clubs to start soon after were Longford - 1878, Launceston Church Grammar School - 1876 and Cornwall - 1879 which became City in 1880. The City and Richmond clubs were formed in 1877 and the Oatlands and Railway clubs in 1879. New Town formally started in 1878 and along with City and Richmond formed the basis of the game in Hobart while in Launceston the abovementioned clubs formed the basis for the NTFA. On May 1st 1879, members of the Tasmanian Cricket Association met and decided to form a club for their members which was to be called Cricketers. Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian Football League had existed as far back as 1879 and matches were played in the Greater Hobart area, it became the TFL Statewide League in 1986, comprising of six (6) teams from the South, and two (2) teams from Launceston, in 1987 a further two (2) teams were added from Burnie and Devonport . In 1994 one further addition was made, with Launceston being admitted. The local leagues have been extremely popular and atttracted large crowds, including a Tasmanian record of 24,968 in 1979 for the TFL Grand Final between Glenorchy and Clarence at the North Hobart Oval , which has still not been broken. The TFL Statewide League was hæmorrhaging badly in the 1990s with most clubs in severe financial difficulty, suffering from very poor crowd attendances, and was losing players to rival competitions including the STFL (Hobart), NTFL (North & North West Coast) and the NTFA (Launceston) as well as various mainland competitions where money was more abundant. The League was reduced to six teams by the late 90's, and public interest had gone. The final TFL match occurred at York Park (now Aurora Stadium) in Launceston between Northern Bombers (North Launceston) and Clarence in the 2000 Grand Final which resulted in a 49-point win to Clarence. Ironically, the crowd attendance of just 6124 was the lowest TFL Grand Final crowd in 40 years, and the second lowest since the 1930's. It was the first TFL Grand Final held away from North Hobart Oval since the early 1920's. Interstate Competition Tasmania was a strong competitor in early Interstate Matches In Australian Rules Football , before being incorporated into the Allies representative team. Tasmanian VFL/AFL Bids With a historically strong supporter base for Australian Rules Football, one of the highest participation rates in the country and strong local leagues, Tasmania had held back from expressing serious interest in the VFL . With the relocation of the Sydney Swans and admission of teams from Perth , Brisbane and Adelaide , Tasmania began a push to enter the national competition. Between 1996-98, a bid was prepared which involved the construction of a 30,000 capacity Glenorchy Stadium in the Hobart showgrounds in Glenorchy at the cost of $34 Million. The stadium would have been the team's only home ground, but the appeal was unsuccessful and the stadium never built. On several occasions, the AFL has dismissed notions of admitting a Tasmanian side into the national competition (frequently citing a relatively small state population and a lack of sponsorship interest). A rift between the two major population centres of Hobart and Launceston and in which a ''home ground'' would be located has also contributed to problematic bids. Some argue that AFL clubs, like Geelong with its 300,000 local people have catchment areas with less people than Tasmania (with 500,000 people). North Melbourne's home turf has even less people. According to this argument Tasmania's larger size isn't thought to be very important. AFL Exhibition Matches The Hawthorn Football Club and St Kilda Football Club have been playing ''home'' matches at Aurora Stadium since 2001, supported by the Tasmanian government and in an attempt to build a local following and leave open a possibility of future relocation. In 2006, St Kilda announced that the club would be ceasing its deal with the Tasmanian government and would not play games in Tasmania in 2007. Crowds for these matches average around 15-20,000 per match. The Tasmanian Devils and the VFL To quell bids for a Tasmanian team in the AFL, the Australian Football League largely instigated the formation a Tasmanian team for the VFL. The Tasmanian Devils Football Club formed in 2001 and was admitted into the VFL in its inaugural year. The team is owned by the AFL. The Devils regularly attract large crowds, however the following is not considered as significant as would be if the state had a team in the national competition. GREAT TASMANIAN FOOTBALLERS Several Tasmanians went on to play at the elite level, including greats such as Ian Stewart , Royce Hart , Peter Hudson , Gary Lyon and modern greats such as Alastair Lynch , Matthew Richardson , Nick Riewoldt , Brad Green , Russell Robertson , Jade Rawlings and Brodie Holland . PRINCIPLE VENUES REFERENCES
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