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Opinion
It’s been a frustrating season for Perth Glory, forced to play a disproportionate number of matches all around Australia due to Western Australia’s draconian border laws.
With no sign of the lockout laws ending, the club confirmed on Monday morning it had agreed to a four-game deal to play in Launceston in late February.
The Tasmanian state government deserves a round of applause for once again being welcoming of a sport that has the potential to firmly establish itself in a state that has no real allegiance to a particular code.
While the AFL has long harboured claims to Tasmania, it has been reluctant for a team to enter its league. There are, however, professional cricket and basketball teams playing in each sport’s national competitions.
Tasmania, while not the biggest state, has been able to produce talented footballers over the years. Hobart-born Dominic Longo was one of the most underrated players of his generation and had a very successful career at NSL level, notably with Marconi.
Josh Hope, also from Hobart, was a gifted midfielder who became a target of internet trolling while at Melbourne Victory. He was subsequently lost to the sport, announcing his premature retirement due to mental health reasons.
Nathaniel Atkinson was born in Devonport and became a mainstay in Melbourne City’s all-conquering A-League side last season before completing a move to Europe in January.
Tasmania is still very underrated when it comes to footballing prospects. More A-League and European club scouts should be paying closer attention.
Before the pandemic really hit, Football Tasmania was very excited to be sending boys and girls squads to compete at the 2021 Football Australia National Youth Championships. Amazingly, 18 of the pupils selected came from the same school – Taroona High School, which is starting to be a breeding ground for talented footballers.
(Photo by Speed Media/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
Football has the highest participation rate of any sport in the state for children aged five to 14 years and is well funded by the federal government.
Tasmania has long held aspirations of having a team represent the state in the A-League. Several years ago there was an ill-fated ‘Tasmania United’ bid, whose consortium had behind it one of the richest men in the world, Mohammed Hussein Ali Al-‘Amoudi.
Last year Football Tasmania president Bob Gordon was very confident a Tasmanian club would likely be entering the competition as soon as early as 2023 with the full backing of the government.
But the problem with Tasmania’s bids has always been to do with stadiums, more specifically its lack of rectangular stadiums. Bellerive Oval and Aurora Stadium are both well-known grounds, but they are also large oval stadiums better suited to Australian rules football and cricket.
Football Tasmania has found North Hobart Oval as a preferred option for many through its feasibility testing but, once again, this stadium is not rectangular.
Tasmanian NPL 2021 champions Glenorchy Knights play out of KGV Park, which is where all the major local football matches are played. It is a small stadium that holds close to 4000 people and would need a costly redevelopment to get it up to a required standard, which will require the removal of the artificial pitch.
Somerset FC, winners of the 2021 NPL Northern Championship Men, play at Somerset Recreation Ground, but it holds barely a few hundred people. Runners-up Devonport have the better stadium in northern Tasmania. Their Valley Road Ground can hold a few thousand spectators but, like KGV Park, would require an expensive redevelopment.
Western United played two matches in Tasmania last year for an average of 2865 spectators. The FA will be hoping for an improvement on these figures when Perth come to town.
Once again this will be an acid test for Tasmania’s football community. If these games achieve a good turnout, it might finally be time for football to take a bite out of the Apple Isle.
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