Tasmanian franchise must be a priority for the A-League

Interesting both bellerive and york park would make suitable A-league grounds with necessary upgrades which would benefit all codes in Tasmania. The only way forward is indeed with games in hobart and launceston and we could definately steal the march on the codes like we did in the central coast.

Cappuccino i think wollongong would be ahead of Geelong

Team 11: West Sydney Team 12: Tasmania Team 13: Canberra Team 14: Geelong

Team 11:

I think a team from tasmania would be great for the league. I'm from WA and I think a team from freo would be good and very successful, I mean most people in WA think the Glory are rubbish because they've finished the last few a-league seasons lowely, so a freo team would get good support I think and would create a great rivalry for perth football(soccer).

Charles - I can back you up on that. I was there at the MVFC v. AU match. It was FREEZING. A lot of people who had tickets, many of which were handouts btw, didn't go. Come to think of it, it was also freezing at the U21 Tas. v. QR match. For the latter, I turned up thinking maybe 50 people would go along. 1200 for an U-21 match! They don't get those numbers for domestic cricket matches (Sheffield Shield and OD - Twenty20 is quite the opposite). Admittedly a lot of kids there probably got passes, but that 1200 (followed by 1500 for the MV v. Tas) was what got me thinking a Tasmanian A-League team could be viable. Were the push to be marketed effectively, current playing numbers certainly suggest there might be enough grass roots support across the state to make the cause viable. I think "The Mercury" recently published youth participation figures for kids up to 14 years for the major sports: roughly 12500 for football, 8500 for Australian football, 4500 for cricket. As for the culture of supporting a 'soccer' team, the jury is out on this one. Did you know that on a per capita basis, the state of Tasmania is where support for the AFL is strongest! Ironically, an A-League team would be far more viable than an AFL team because Tasmanians would prefer to continue supporting their traditional AFL team. Tasmanians would more likely attend AFL matches to watch their AFL team rather than the Tasmanian team! What makes me nervous are 3 things: Basketball: Casino City (based in Launnie) and The Hobart Devils (based in Hobart) - both folded partly because both soley based themselves in one city only. Footy (VFL): Tassie Devils (played games in Hobart and Launnie) - the history of this club was riddled with ridiculous in-fighting and squabbling as to where games were to be played, and where the team was to train. Not to mention the ongoing bickering. Tasmanian have a habit of supporting something strongly at first then 'losing interest' over time - as with Wellingtonians' support for The Phoenix. I'd put money on the HAL expanding thus: Gold Coast Townsville ------------- Melbourne (Casey?) South Coast (Wollongong) ------------- Western Sydney Canberra ------------- Tassie - dependent upon the Phoenix being either in - then out (thnx to Mohamed Bin Hamman) - then back in (thnx to Sepp Blatter) - then perhaps out again (thnx to Mohamed Bin Hamman) Did you also know - IF that well-known joke about Tasmanians were true, I'd be known as "The two Ronnies from Lonnie". Mmmhh.

Sam, The difference is we dont have to wait for a special event to get a big crowd atmosphere with the MCG on our doorstep. The roar is unbeleivable when they bounce the ball. Redb

Just to clarify a few things already mentioned: Launceston pre-season attendances have been 6800, 8000 and 4700 for the past three seasons. The last one was in 6 degrees in the rain. Tasmania's U21 team played four friendly matches vs NYL teams in Nov/Dec. They lost to Sydney 4-1 at SFS, defeated Queensland 1-0 at North Hobart Oval, defeated Melbourne 1-0 at NHO, and defeated Adelaide 3-2 at Hindmarsh. AFLs dominance in Tas can be compared to NRL's dominance in the Central Coast. Ignored by the dominant code, embraced their A-League team, which is turning a profit after four years - and look at the facility that CCM is building now!

Interesting comparison Adrian of Tasmania with the the Mariners. The Mariners work extremely hard in their community to get the fans in and they do a lot of spruiking in Sydneys North, one of the biggest football areas in the country. Tasmania don't have that luxury. I believe there are 3 socceroos working on a bid for a second Sydney/Wollongong team - Lucas Neill, Mark Schwarzer and Tim Cahill as well as a group of businessmen in Sydney's West, so would be very difficult for Tassie to get the jump on 2nd Sydney, 2nd Melbourne , Wollongong or Canberra for the last 2 remaining positions in 2011.

Ara I agree. Let's hope Lucas Neill has found some funding to put a team forward in 2010/2011.

I am a Westie and would love to see a team based in either Blacktown or Parramatta. I have been to Socceroos games but have not attended any Sydney FC games as I cannot see myself support them due to geographical reality as well as me not having anything in common with the FC Supporters. If there was a team in the West I would definitely become a member. I believe my view is fairly common among my soccer/football supporting mates in the West.

Red B We've still got our memories: Cathy Freeman, 2000 Olympics, 2003 Rugby Union World Cup Final, 2005 World Cup Qualifier v Uruguay. I rate those events right up there against anything for atmosphere.

Sam, You should try 80,000 screaming fans at the MCG for atmosphere. Red

Red B I know what you're saying, but all the Melbourne AFL tend tend to be very inner city based from what I gather. Even when they had their own grounds they weren't too far from the centre of the city. The consolidation of the two stadiums was just a way of providing better facilities for the public to go to, but in the meantime it in my opinion has lost that character of teams having their own home ground. That is another story though.. This make makes Melbourne a more centralized city. Didn't they knock over Waverley? In the meantime you travel from the centre of Sydney to Penrith, Campbelltown or Wollongong. This is a different story all together. When AFL teams play everyone goes to the Melbourne CBD. When NRL teams play Manly supporters don't travel to Penrith or vice versa. Hence at most club games you get really only one set of supporters and crowds of 10,000 to 15,000. That is why clubs don't like ANZ Stadium. It doesn't give them that home ground advantage they crave. You'll be surprised how good even a crowd of 15,000 in a small stadium can sound when they make enough noise.

Melbourne did have surburban grounds for all of its teams. But after several high profile collapses of soccer stadiums in europe the league decided to move away from surburban grounds as the up keep was too high, and a lot of the stadiums were getting old. There is talk of a third, 'boutique' sized stadium in Melbourne in case no teams merge or relocate.

Sam, I dont think you grasp the reality of the 9 AFL clubs in Melbourne, they may share only two venues but that is due to the need to provide state of the art stadiums with crowd capacities of 30,000+. the difference with the NRL is that their suburban clubs rarely attract 30,000+ plus crowds thus their suburban venues can cope. There is no need for the NRL to consolidate into the SFS and ANZ stadium for example. Melbourne is also very spread out like Sydney. Casey as mentioned above is some 40kms from the Melb CBD. I still question how a second melb HAL team will work, how will it differentiate from Melbourne Victory? I agree Western Sydney maybe different enough from Sydney FC though. Redb

MIchael & Sam Well I hope your right,but there still seems a lot of grey areas for a 2nd Melbourne team judging by your comments,as opposed to Sydneys West. I know this for Sydney as I lived there for a number of years equally shared between the Eastern Suburbs & Campbelltown(Big problems out that way now). You can still stuff it up even on this basis as SFC have done but its harder if you have no "Real" identity to sell. It will in interesting to see if a second Melbourne team ever comes off as Geoff Lord has publicly stated he is opposed to it.

Towser If you look at the Melbourne AFL competition format, 9 inner city clubs clubs play out of the same two grounds in the centre of the city. This is Melbourne. It is centralized, whereas Sydney is decentralized. The NRL has regional based clubs. This is the differnce between the two cities The new Melbourne team will differentiate itself through some kind of identity eg maybe more generally broad based than Victory in its fan base (don't know?). This is what I've been trying to explain where every market is different and West Sydney won't necessarily steal many Sydney FC supporters despite what people think.

Towser, you're right that there isn't a clear geographical divide to separate Victory and the 2nd team. Finding an audience will be the biggest challenge. However, what should not be underestimated is Melbourne's more 'centralized' nature, which has been a success for the AFL. By all reports, the City of Casey in Melbourne's Southeast will be the training and administration a base, but don't read too much into that. Every AFL club in Melbourne has its suburban roots, yet these clubs have a relatively broad appeal across the entire city. This is what the new club is trying to replicate. They'll be playing at the new bubble stadium, just like Victory. Which community will they be targeting? I doubt they would go after any specific community, that would risk their 'broad' appeal. Melbourne (and Victoria) is a big enough place for two clubs to engage with the community. There are enough clubs to attend training at and enough schools to hold clinics at that both clubs can succesfully share the load. I was actually going to write an article on this up until my credibility on the football tab was shot down.