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Football (soccer) in Tasmania

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Football (soccer) in Tasmania is organised by Football Federation Tasmania. Football Federation Tasmania is a member of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) which controls the sport at a national level in Australia. While football is very popular in terms of participation (particularly youth participation), it is not as large as Australian rules football in terms of either spectator attendances or financial support.

1 National competition
- 1.1 Tasmanian teams
- 1.2 Visiting teams
2 Local leagues and clubs
- 2.1 League system
- 2.2 Cup competitions
3 Significant trophies
4 List of clubs
5 References
6 External links

Whilst there is no club which represents Tasmania in the national A-League (nor was there ever a Tasmanian team in the now defunct National Soccer League), Tasmania has often been cited (along with Canberra, Geelong, Wollongong and North Queensland) as future expansion propositions^[1] ^[2]. Football Federation Tasmania sends male and female youth teams to national talent carnivals held annually.

A National Soccer League game was held in Launceston, Tasmania in 2002 between Perth Glory and Melbourne Knights at Aurora Stadium. The match was a 1-1 draw and attracted a crowd of 5324 fans ^[3].

An A-League pre-season cup game was played in Launceston between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United on 16 July 2006 at the same venue ^[4] with Adelaide getting a 1-0 win, watched by a crowd of 6,834. A 2007 repeat of the Melbourne Vicotry, Adelaide United pre-season cup fixture saw 8,061 at Aurora Stadium^[5]. The result in 2007 was a 1-1 draw between the teams.

The numerous local clubs which play in local competitions are all amateur, with most clubs having multiple teams in male, female and junior competitions.

There has been no statewide league run in Tasmania since 1999 (The State league began in 1978 and ran until 1981, before recommencing in 1988 and running until 1999). Tasmania has separate senior male leagues in both the north and south of the state, each of which comprises a number of graded divisions. A play off between the Northern and Southern Premier League winner determines the Tasmanian champions. This has been the way the State Champions have been determined every year since 1910, with the exception of the State League years, when the winner of that competition was automatically crowned as champions. Women's and junior competitions are also run at both ends of the state by Football Federation Tasmania.

In October 2006, it was reported that FFT has plans for a new statewide league competition. It is expected the league will have no more than six teams, and will be run during summer. ^[6]

There are male and female statewide knock-out cups (similar to the FA Cup) run annually with clubs from Northern and Southern Leagues. The male knockoutcup is named the Milan Lakoseljac cup. The competition is as the name would suggest being a one legged (home or away) knock out cup (no group rounds). The competition consists of qualification rounds involving the weaker teams (from the lower divisions) who then are joined in the main rounds by the higher ranked teams.

In the South pre-season cups are also run along graded lines (similar to the divisions of the regular season) known as the Summer Cup. This is a less prestigious title and is used mainly for preparation for the regular season. Similar cups are run in the North and North West known as the Steve Hudson Cup and North West Summer Cup respectively however the Steve Hudson Cup is organised by the Launceston Soccer Club as a private venture . It has never been organised by Football Federation Tasmania. ( See furthernotes under Steve Hudson Cup.)

The Main cup competitions for the Youth and Junior age groups arre the Festival Cup held at Wentworth Park, Howrah and the Launceston Tournament (formally known as the Mano Cup) held at Churchill Park Launceston.

Year	Statewide Cup Winner	State Champion	Northern Premier League Champion	Southern Premier League Champion	Southern Division 1 Champion	Southern U/19 Champion
2007	Launceston City	Hobart Zebras	Somerset	Hobart Zebras	BeachSide	Clarence United
2006	University	Somerset^[7]	Somerset	Glenorchy Knights	Taroona	Hobart Zebras
2005	Glenorchy Knights	Glenorchy Knights	Launceston City	Glenorchy Knights	Hobart United	Glenorchy Knights
2004	Launceston City	Devonport	Devonport	Hobart Zebras	Christian United	University
2003	Hobart Zebras	Devonport	Devonport	University	South Hobart (reserves)	University
2002	Devonport	South Hobart	Devonport	South Hobart	Kingborough Lions (reserves)
2001	Hobart Zebras	University	Launceston City	University	Christian United
2000	Glenorchy Knights		Launceston City	Glenorchy Knights	New Town Eagles (reserves)