Tasmanian Football League

Tasmanian State League

Most recent season or competition: 2024 TSL season
Formerly	List TFA (1879–1886) STFA (1887–1896) STFL (1897) STFA (1898-1905) TFL (1906–1927) TANFL (1928–1985) TFL Statewide League (1986–1998) TSFL (1999) SWL (2000) TSL (2009–2024)
Sport	Australian rules football
Founded	12 June 1879; 145 years ago (1879-06-12)
No. of teams	7
Headquarters	Hobart
Region	Tasmania
Most recent champion(s)	North Launceston (8th premiership)
Most titles	North Hobart (27 premierships)
TV partner(s)	Southern Cross Seven
Official website	tasmanianstateleague.com.au

The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the Tasmanian Football League (TFL), was the highest-level Australian rules football competition in the state of Tasmania. It disbanded following the end of the 2024 season in preparation for the Tasmania Football Club to enter the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 2026.^[1][2]

The league has a long and convoluted history which dates back to its founding on 12 June 1879 as the Tasmanian Football Association (giving it some claim to the title of the third-oldest club football league in the world), but the name "TFL" (also the state's football governing body) was removed after it was liquidated with crushing debts in February 1999 and replaced by an independent commission (Football Tasmania) and the competition was renamed the Tasmanian State Football League (1999) and the SWL (2000) until the number of clubs in financial difficulty made the league unsustainable and it collapsed in December 2000. After long negotiations and discussions it was reinstated as a ten club competition in 2009.

In 1944, the Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL) directors met to discuss restructuring of the league which was scheduled to return in 1945 after three seasons in recession due to World War II. The clubs would represent their various districts rather than being individual clubs.

Two new clubs (Hobart & Sandy Bay) would join North Hobart and New Town at the expense of Cananore and Lefroy which went out of existence during the World War II cessation.

In 1947 the TANFL voted to include a further two clubs (Clarence –formed in 1903– and New Norfolk –formed in 1878–) from the Southern District Football Association for a three-year probationary period. On 7 August 1950, the clubs unanimously voted to retain the two clubs as permanent members of the competition.

At the end of the 1956 season, New Town FC relocated itself to the municipality of Glenorchy and absorbed the already existing local club Glenorchy Rovers; on 8 April 1957 the TANFL ratified the club's new name as "Glenorchy District Football Club", its new home ground was the 1950-built KGV Park.^[3]

This era would be the strongest one for the league with a succession of star players in its ranks, record crowds and huge public support.^[4]

From 1979 to 1985 the TANFL would be known as the "Winfield League" under a naming-rights sponsorship arrangement with a tobacco company.

The league disbanded due to a dwindling of clubs able to financially cope and fell under the umbrella of Football Tasmania (which was soon renamed AFL Tasmania).^[5]

Three regional leagues absorbed the clubs from the Statewide League. This was represented by the 2 main north–south leagues and subsidiary regional leagues which underpinned the Tasmanian Devils VFL team, created in 2001 which was owned and funded by the Australian Football League and administered by AFL Tasmania.

After a hiatus of eight years, AFL Tasmania announced plans for a return of the statewide league in 2009.^[6]

The concept attracted widespread public and media debate on the return of a statewide competition, with many in the football world hesitant over such a move due to the perilous financial position most of the participating clubs were left in after the previous competition was disbanded in 2000.
Many believed the push for a return of the league was a direct result of the media and the Tasmanian State Government's strong campaign in getting a Tasmanian team admitted into the AFL.^[7]

Under the AFL Tasmania plan, ten (10) clubs were invited to join the competition.^[8]

Clarence, Glenorchy, Hobart and North Hobart along with former Southern amateur club Lauderdale in the South. North Launceston, South Launceston and Launceston from the North and Devonport and Burnie Dockers from the North-West Coast.

The response from many clubs was initially lukewarm at best with many concerned at the lack of detail in the AFL Tasmania plan and the rushed decision-making process of the move.

Ulverstone from the North West Coast bowed to pressure from its playing list and some factional groups within the club to put in a submission to join the competition in 2009. Despite a membership vote narrowly ending in favour of joining, the Robins had missed the AFL Tasmania enforced deadline and were initially to be included in the 2010 roster, however the remaining clubs (most notably its closest and most bitter rival Devonport) exerted considerable pressure upon the League not to alter the current makeup of teams for a period of ten years, therefore Ulverstone were excluded from joining.

SFL Premier League club Kingborough also lobbied AFL Tasmania to be included in the competition, but their case for inclusion was dismissed by the game's governing body due to their inadequate facilities and poor standard Kingston Beach Oval headquarters.^[9] Former TFL club New Norfolk (1947–1999) was also not invited to join the league because of their poor financial position. Also, as a result of the new competition getting off the ground, the Tasmania Devils VFL team was disbanded.^[10]

On 4 April 2009, the opening match of the reformed competition took place at King George V Park between the reigning premiers of the SFL Premier League, Glenorchy and reigning NTFL premier Launceston and resulted in a 21-point triumph to the Blues.

The inaugural Grand Final was held at Bellerive Oval on 19 September between old rivals Glenorchy and Clarence resulting in a thrilling 6-point victory to the Roos in front of 7,534 fans.

The 2010 season started brightly with over 12,000 attending the first round of matches but soon after there was a great deal of off-field controversy with former Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon originally accepting an unpaid role acting as a mediator between the clubs and AFL Tasmania as the relationship between the clubs and the governing body had become further strained. However, after only two weeks of the season, three clubs (Clarence, North Launceston and North Hobart) had decided to do their own bidding and Lennon walked away from the position.

There were further controversies, namely AFL Tasmania's decision to withdraw support for the Reserve grade competition after the Burnie Dockers announced only days before the start of the season that they would not be fielding a reserve grade side. Two other clubs (Hobart and Launceston) also struggled to field a reserves team throughout the season, and as a result the competition was run by the clubs themselves for the remainder of the season. It would be axed at season's end.

A finals set-up that included an extra week was roundly criticised by football pundits across the State and it failed to garner great enthusiasm amongst the footballing public as small crowds attended, with AFL Tasmania later admitting that they would be looking at returning to the more tradition Final Five set-up in 2011.

During the 2013 season, South Launceston decided that it would not pursue a new TSL licence at the end of the season, and arranged to move into the newest Northern Tasmanian Football Association in 2014; despite this, the club went on to win the 2013 premiership, meaning that there was no defending premier in 2014. The club was replaced by the Prospect State Football Club, which competes under the formal club name of Western Storm Football Club.^[11] At the same time, the North Hobart Football Club was forced to disband as a team by AFL Tasmania in favour of the newly established Hobart City Football Club,^[12] whilst the Hobart Tigers left for the Southern Football League.^[13] These movements were forced upon the league to make space for a new AFL Tasmania backed TSL club, the Kingborough Tigers Football Club.^[14]

Prior to 2016, the Western Storm was rebranded as the Prospect Hawks; but it was unable to field a senior team in 2016, managing only to field an uncompetitive team in the reserves, before being expelled from the league at the end of the 2016 season.^[15] Prior to 2018, both north-western clubs – Burnie and Devonport – found themselves unable to viably field teams in the competition, with withdrew, reducing the size of the competition to seven teams.^[16]

On 9 October 2017 the paying members of the Hobart City Demons voted 371–118 in favour of returning the playing name of the club to the North Hobart identity for season 2018 and beyond.

Clarence	Glenorchy	Kingborough
Lauderdale	Launceston	North Hobart	North Launceston

Club	Colours	Nickname	Home ground	Former league	Est.	TFL seasons	TFL senior premierships		Current league
							Total	Final
Clarence		Kangaroos	Bellerive Oval	SDFA	1884	1947−2000	11	2010	SFL
SFL		2009−2024
Glenorchy		Magpies	KGV Oval	−	1919	1921−2000	15	2016	SFL
SFL		2009−2024
Kingborough		Tigers	Twin Ovals	SFL	1886	2014−2024	1	2023	SFL
Lauderdale		Bombers	Lauderdale Oval	SFL	1979	2009−2024	0	−	SFL
Launceston		Blues	Windsor Park	NTFL	1875	1994−2000	4	2022	NTFA
2009−2024
North Hobart		Demons	North Hobart Oval	−	1881	1881−2000	27	1992	SFL
SFL		2009−2013
−		2018−2024
North Launceston		Bombers	York Park	NTA	1881	1986−2000	8	2024	NTFA
NTFL		2009−2024

Football Club	Nickname	Colours	Season(s)	Current Status
Cananore	Canaries		1908–1941	Defunct
Lefroy	Blues		1898–1941	Defunct
Cricketers	Unknown		1879-1985	Defunct
Derwent	Unknown		1906–1907	Defunct
New Town District	Magpies		1921–1945	Active *
Railway	Unknown		1879–1996	Defunct
Kingston	Tigers		1893–1907	Active *
South Hobart	Unknown		1897-1897	Defunct
Wellington	Unknown		1898–1905	Defunct
Holebrook	Unknown		1880–1994	Defunct
Union	Unknown		1887-1887	Defunct
Summerton	Unknown		1898-1898	Defunct
City	Unknown		1879–1996	Defunct

• Kingston is now called Kingborough
• New Town District is now called Glenorchy

Football Club	Nickname	Colours	Season(s)	Current Status
Hobart FC	Tigers		1945–1997	Active
North Hobart FC	Demons		1881–2000 [note 1]	Active
Glenorchy District FC	Magpies		1945–2000 [note 2]	Active
Clarence District FC	Kangaroos		1947–2000	Active
New Norfolk District FC	Eagles		1947–1998 [note 3]	Active
Sandy Bay FC	Seagulls		1945–1997	Defunct
Southern Cats FC	Cats		1998–1999	Defunct
East Launceston FC	Fuchsias		1986-1986	Defunct
South Launceston FC	Bulldogs		1986–1997	Active
North Launceston FC	Bombers		1986–2000 [note 4]	Defunct
Launceston FC	Blues		1994–1997	Active
Burnie Hawks FC	Hawks		1987–1994	Defunct
Burnie Dockers FC	Dockers		1995–2000	Active
Devonport FC	Magpies		1987–2000 [note 5]	Active

Football Club	Nickname	Colours	Season(s)	Current Status
Hobart FC	Tigers		2009–2013	Active
South Launceston FC	Bulldogs		2009–2013	Active
Prospect Hawks FC	Hawks		2014–2016 [note 6]	Active
Devonport FC	Magpies		2009–2017	Active
Burnie Dockers FC	Dockers		2009–2017	Active

Notes

Football Club	Colours	Nickname	Flag Years
Clarence		Kangaroos	1947, 1970, 1979, 1981, 1984, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2009, 2010
Glenorchy		Magpies	1935, 1948, 1949, 1951, 1953, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1965, 1975, 1983, 1985, 1986, 1999, 2016
Kingborough		Tigers	2023
Lauderdale		Bombers	2009
Launceston		Blues	2011, 2020, 2021, 2022
North Hobart		Demons	1881, 1902, 1905, 1908, 1914, 1920, 1923, 1928, 1929, 1932, 1934, 1936, 1938, 1939, 1940, 1941, 1945, 1947, 1957, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992
North Launceston		Bombers	1995, 1998, 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019

President	Period
Mr W.L Giblin	1879–86
Sir L.Dobson	1887–93
Sir E.Braddon	1894–96
Mr H.Dobson MHA	1897
Mr A.I Clark	1898–99
Mr C.J.Eady	1900–08
Mr A.Hearne	1909–16
Mr W.B Propsting	1917–24
Mr C.J Eady MLC	1925–41
Mr W.Arnold	1942–49
Mr M.A.S McNeair OBE	1950–74
Mr R.T Butler	1975–77
Mr D.A Burton	1977–79
Mr D.Fenton	1979–80
Mr J.Bennett	1981–85
Mr D.Smith	1986–91
Mr J.Wilkinson QC	1991
Mr B.Breen	1992–95
Mr R.Hampson	1996–98
Mr B.Greenhill	1999–2000
Mr S.Wade	2000, 2009–11
Mr S.Young	2012–14
C.Saunder	2016-

Notes

Since the first championship held in 1879, North Hobart has won the most premiers with 27 titles. The first champion ever was City FC, a club now defunct.

Formerly known as the Tassie Medal, presented to the Best and Fairest player in the Tasmanian State League from 2009.^[17]

Year	Player	Club(s)
2009	Kurt Heazlewood	(Devonport)
2010	Brett Geappen	(Clarence)
2011	Tim Bristow	(Launceston)
2012	Jaye Bowden	(Glenorchy)
2013	Mitch Thorp	(South Launceston)
2014	Daniel Roozendaal	(North Launceston)
2015	Jaye Bowden	(Glenorchy)
2016	Jaye Bowden	(Glenorchy)
2017	Bradley Cox-Goodyer	(North Launceston)
2018	Josh Ponting	(North Launceston)
2019	Josh Ponting	(North Launceston)
2020	Sam Siggins	(Lauderdale)
2021	Bradley Cox-Goodyer	(North Launceston)
2022	Sam Siggins	(Lauderdale)
2023	Sam Siggins	(Lauderdale)
2024	Bradley Cox-Goodyer	(North Launceston)

Presented to the Leading Goalkicker in the Tasmanian State League from 2009.^[18]

Year	Player	Club(s)
2009	Brad Dutton	(Clarence)
2010	Brian Finch	(Launceston)
2011	Brian Finch	(Launceston)
2012	Mitch Williamson	(Clarence)
2013	Sonny Whiting	(Launceston)
2014	Aaron Cornelius	(Glenorchy)
2015	Jaye Bowden	(Glenorchy)
2016	Jaye Bowden	(Glenorchy)
2017	Jaye Bowden	(Glenorchy)
2018	Mitch Thorp	(Launceston)
2019	Aiden Grace	(Glenorchy)
2020	Dylan Riley	(Launceston)
2021	Dylan Riley	(Launceston)
2022	Colin Garland	(Clarence)
2023	Brad Cox-Goodyer	(North Launceston)
2024	Harvey Griffiths	(North Launceston)

It was presented to the best and fairest player in the TFL/TANFL from 1927 until 1929. It was replaced by the William Leitch Medal in 1930.

Year	Player	Club(s)
1927	K.Roberts	(New Town)
1928	G.Cole	(New Town)
1929	A.Leitch	(New Town)

It was presented to the best and fairest player in the TANFL from 1935 until 1939. It replaced the William Leitch Medal although it ended up being replaced by it in 1940

Year	Player	Club(s)
1935	L.Powell	(North Hobart)
1936	E.Zschech	(Lefroy)
1937	L.Pye & E.Zschech	(North Hobart), (Lefroy)
1938	L.Pye	(North Hobart)
1939	E.Zschech	(Lefroy)

The William Leitch medal was presented to the best & fairest player in the TANFL/TFL Statewide League from 1930 to 1934 and 1940–2000.
As of 2009 when the Tasmanian State League was revived, AFL Tasmania decided to award the Tassie Medal to the best and fairest player in the revamped competition as it was seen (particularly in the North) that the William Leitch medal was too Hobart-centric. The medal continues to be presented to the best and fairest player in the Southern Football League since 2004.

Currently there is no official magazine for games during the 2014 season. A new provider and TSL Record is currently being re-designed for the 2015 season and beyond through Tall Zebra Media.

Currently Southern Cross Seven shows one game a week on Saturday afternoons. Previously ABC and WIN broadcast the league.

All Tasmanian based stations have news and results shown regularly in their news broadcasts. Southern Cross report full-time scores from the TFL as well as other leagues around the state during the half time break of their Saturday night AFL broadcast.

League matches were formerly broadcast on radio from 1931 to 2000, however there are currently no radio broadcasts of TFL football with the exception of the Grand Final and the occasional roster game on ABC Local Radio which is also streamed online.

The Hobart Mercury in the South, The Examiner in Launceston and the North as well as The Advocate on the North West Coast all provide extensive coverage of TSL football in their publications.

The Tasmanian Football league crowds compete heavily with AFL matches on television. Crowds at the beginning of the season are usually quite high and are up with the mainland state football competitions. Attendances usually slide considerably until it will increase during the finals. Night games, especially ones that do not clash with AFL matches are well attended.

Patrons at TFL games pay at the gates or hold club season passes.

• Australian rules football in Tasmania
• Northern Tasmanian Football League
• Southern Football League (Tasmania)

• Official website
• AFL Tasmania
• Southern Football League Website
• Northern Tasmanian Football League
• 2008 Tasmanian Football Hall of Fame Inductions