Tasmania United Fc Forum |
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| DISCUSSIONS > Launceston or Hobart? | ||
| Grubb | Date posted | Replies |
| I'm in Launceston so I'm hoping that successful bid will see us share games around the state. I appreciate that the game is bigger and the level is better in the south, but Launceston has already demonstrated an ability to host an A-League match. I'd be interested in seeing the opinions of others here. Add comments | 3rd March 2009 | 51 |
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tranmere_overseasposted at 3:35AM on 27th Nov, 2008 If its is going to truely be "Tasmania United" then some games must be played in the alternate venue (depending on where they are eventually based). This is not without its problems though, as the Tasmanian VFL team found out. Maybe the people involved in that team should be contacted to get their thoughts and opinions on dual home grounds.insbinwposted at 12:23PM on 27th Nov, 2008 in the club charter area, Community Activity part it says Facilitating a degree of rotation between venues in the north and south of the State to stage first team and youth matches; lets hope they keep to it as i have friends in launceston and it would give me a reason to vist more often for gamesAdamposted at 8:44PM on 27th Nov, 2008 I would support shared games, even though I am from Launceston. Aurora stadium does seem to be the perfect place for A-League matches but I think the odd game or two in Hobart would be great. I don't think we will have a situation where it is shared between Hobart and Launceston. You want your team to have a specific homeground so they can have that homeground advantage.geelong7posted at 6:31AM on 28th Nov, 2008 North Hobart Oval is a great place for matches to be played in hobart. Thats where the youth league team plays. They're playing the Victory this weekend at 4PM. It's nice and small/compact so your closer to the action compared to Aurora Stadium/Bellerive.ddeganposted at 1:41AM on 29th Nov, 2008 To be a serious competitor within the A-League Hobart has to be the homeground for the A-League. Every other state has their capital city as their team. Obvious exepection is NSW who have 2 teams, but one being Sydney. Saying this to increase interest in the league throughout Tasmania, maybe 2-3 games should be played up North.Foxhawkposted at 9:36PM on 18th Feb, 2009 Yes and next week we pronounce the new club name "Hobart City FC" Then when we fail to get a licence as there is not enough northern support we put the whole thing back a season or two. Meanwhile along comes the Launceston/Northern Tasmania FC consortium. And as we have two competing bids for two areas we miss out again and have to wait until the start of a B-League. Final result: Tasmania gets a team somewhere between 2018 and 2023. Much better to go for a Tasmania United FC now that plays across the state. Lets worry about regional representation later. At the end of the day getting a team in from Tasmania is far more important. If need be downt he track either the north or south of the state can go for a B-League side and Tasmania United FC can relocate to one region if it wants. stoogestposted at 3:32AM on 29th Nov, 2008 I agree ddegan. See my other post in the other forum topic for my reasons. The VFL team tried splitting their time over north/south (and even northwest I think) and failed dismally. Maybe initially they can give it a go to see if it works, but at some point I reckon they'll have to bite the bullet and just do it.mikedavies62posted at 8:47AM on 29th Nov, 2008 Went to North Hobart today to watch the Tas youth boys - awesome ! Cmon Tassie get on board this is a winnerChuqposted at 5:12AM on 30th Nov, 2008 ddegan/stoogest: Hobart by itself would not be the smallest of any existing or imminent club. Central Coast is 300k, Wellington is 300k, Townsville is about 150k but the club there is "North Queensland", to include Cairns/Mackay etc. Hobart is only 200k and even if it is possible it may be able to sustain a club, you really need the entire state behind it. The old argument that "the other clubs are based in capital cities" isn't really relevant as Tasmania is the only state where more people live outside the capital than inside it. Anyway, going by the name and the statements that the taskforce have made so far, this part of the bid is set in concrete.Chuqposted at 5:13AM on 30th Nov, 2008 Oops, the forum needs an 'edit post' function! Remove the "not" from the first line of my previous post!Rutposted at 1:07AM on 1st Dec, 2008 All games bar 2 or 3 (whilst North Hobart was converted at the end of the AFL season) need to be Hobart. The team would fail miserably if it were any other way. The over whelming majority of football players and supporters are in Hobart and like the AFL you would find Southerns would make up the majority of the crowd at York Park.Chuqposted at 2:56AM on 1st Dec, 2008 I have to say one of the few things that could derail the bid is north vs south infighting - like it or not, neither the north or south would be likely to win a bid by itself! So lets approach this from a UNITED front!Rutposted at 5:30AM on 1st Dec, 2008 60,000 in Launceston, 250,000 within 30 mins of Hobart. Umm! If this is going to be a viable long term success then it has to be in Hobart. It will be hard enough trying to encourage players to relocate to the Capital let alone to our Northern Backwater. Parochialism has nothing to do with it. This is purely an economic arguement. I don't see the Victory playing games in Ballarat, Bendigo, Wadonga or Geelong All of which have populations far in excess of Launceston and all barr Wadonga less than 2 hrs drive from MElbourne. I am sure the club will arrange a fleet of buses for our northern friends to use and for a damn sight less than the $3,000 the Launceston Footy club reckons it costs!Foxhawkposted at 9:46PM on 18th Feb, 2009 I can put it quite simply; If its all south , then I won't go. Neither will a lot other people I have discussed this with. It will be simply "Hobart City FC" under the guise of "Tasmania United". The name itself will be a joke to northern Tasmanian's who will see it as anything but Tasmania United. No doubt the North of the state will look forward to the advent of a northern B-League side in the years to come. ndireenposted at 5:41AM on 1st Dec, 2008 at least Campbelltown and Oatlands have plenty of space to build a 25000 capacity purpose built football stadium to solve this perennial problem! :)Chuqposted at 5:42AM on 1st Dec, 2008 Rut, that's some very creative accounting you have used to calculate those population figures! Mind revealing what sources you use? Apart from that, the club would be disenfranchising the north-west coast by not playing games in the north.Chuqposted at 6:12AM on 1st Dec, 2008 Ok, from the ABS: Statistical division: Greater Hobart: 207,484 Greater Launceston: 104,071 Burnie-Devonport: 80,241 Summarised at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_cities_in_Australia_by_population Which is sourced from "3218.0 Population Estimates by Statistical Local Area, 2001 to 2007 " at: http://www.abs.gov.au/AUSSTATS/abs@.nsf/DetailsPage/3218.02006-07?OpenDocumentntguyposted at 8:31AM on 1st Dec, 2008 Its attitudes like yours Rut that will derail a bid for a Tassie team. It either has to appeal to all of Tasmania or it won't be a goer. A reasonable number of games must be played in the north so that the team has a strong presence amongst the 50% of the states population that do not live in or near Hobart.Taswegianposted at 9:22PM on 1st Dec, 2008 I prefer two home grounds (not just cause I think it will get better exposure and crowds) but also on the basis of having a bit of a road trip with my family and friends. I reckon it would be great! I guess we won't know for sure which is best but I'm certain the bid team will do their homework to make sure the ground situation is set up for optimum bums on seats. I disagree though about players wanting to come to Tassie. There are enough quality fringe players in the current squads who struggle to get game time who would bust a gut to get regular playing time. They will come to Tas just to play in the top level comp and get their faces on Fox Sports! Not to mention international players who wouldn't know the difference anyway.Foxhawkposted at 10:04PM on 18th Feb, 2009 Having just returned from the UK I can say that I met quite a few people who think Tasmania is fantastic. For one - its warmer than England. Secondly it is a short hop from Melbourne. Not to mention it has ben said in the media that there is already interest from abroad. I don't think finding players will be a problem. The finance to support the club is the hurdle. Grubbposted at 4:34AM on 2nd Dec, 2008 I agree with the last poster, the players will come to get first team action and exposure to the bigger clubs. It's not like Tassie is completely off the A-League radar either. We have pre-season games here every year and any player doing his homework on expansion knows Tassie is a contender for a future expansion slot.Rutposted at 9:59AM on 2nd Dec, 2008 Chug - your 207K ignores Huonville, Bagdad, Kempton, Oatlands, Geevston, Cygnet, Moutain river, Ouse, Campania, Bushy park (all much less than 2 hrs drive from North Hobart) - as I said 250K. As I also said more than 50% of the Average 18,000 that attend AFL games at York Park travel from the South (you can check that one too just ask Scott Wade!). Hobart is the Capital, is the Largest and the most attractive for interstate players. Let Launceston have the AFL - Football needs to be in Hobart!Foxhawkposted at 10:08PM on 18th Feb, 2009 This is just parochialism. As before, forget a lot of northern memberships if you want to be greedy. You seem to want your cake and eat it too! At the end of the day if you go for all the games you will get none. Now whats it going to be. Half the games or none at all? ntguyposted at 11:30AM on 2nd Dec, 2008 So Rut, that means the other 240k live in the north and north west of the state and provide nearly half of the attendance at the AFL games at Aurora Stadium. Your figures seem like a good case for half of the games to be in Launceston.Chuqposted at 11:43AM on 2nd Dec, 2008 rut, it's not "my" 207k, it's the ABS's. If you feel they are wrong, please take it up with them, and let me know when they publish a correction.Rutposted at 1:43AM on 3rd Dec, 2008 Chug/Ntguy - the only reason why the AFL is being played in Launceston is due to the Pork Barreling of the Labour Government and nothing to do with economic realities (otherwise they wouldn't be underwriting every game). Even with their tax payer you beaut stadium the attendance record for the ground is still 4,500 less than the 1979 grandfinal at North Hobart. The reality is that for every 1 person I know that attends those games from Hobart I know of at least 3 that won't because of the travel. Why don't you fellas have a word with John McGirr and get the TU bid to do a crowd survey at the next A League preseason game as to where they have come from! PS you blokes still haven't answered the question as to why victory plays all it's games in Melbourne, or for that matter why the Glory doesn't play in Mandurah or Bunbury or even better why the Roar doen't play on the gold coast or sunshine coast.kiallrposted at 4:50AM on 3rd Dec, 2008 Rut, you are the type of person that prevents Tassie from being taken seriously. What is wrong with 50/50 split of games between the two cities? Tasmania UNITED is more than a name. Even if the rest of the set up is centralised in Hobart (training etc), it would be of enormous benefit to the club and the state if the games were shared. It would also make each Tassie game in YOUR city more of an event - rather than a game every 2 weeks, a game a month keeps it fresh for fans who don't want to travel, but would like to support the side. It just keeps popping up when Tassie tries to do ANYTHING, a group of miserable people decide they can't possibly share the joy with others, they must have it at their doorstep 100% of the time or not at all!Foxhawkposted at 10:12PM on 18th Feb, 2009 You can see the headlines for 2018 now. 'Hobart and Launceston consortiums both fail for final B-League Licence. FFA states no Tasmanian team will play nation-wide competition due to North/South infighting and greed' stoogestposted at 5:24AM on 3rd Dec, 2008 For me the argument is so much about sharing, as about winning, which will then bring the punters through the turnstiles REGARDLESS of where the team is located. Everyone wants to be a part of a winning team. It is going to be crucial for the long term success of the club to have a solid first year. This doesn't mean plenty of wins, but it does mean winning more than they lose. I don't play elite football by any means, but I do play every year and I know that one the most important things to a footballer pre-match is having a routine. This routine is a significant contributer to the 'home ground' advantage. The security that comes from knowing the ground intimately from all the training sessions that have been held there, knowing they are only 20mins drive from the ground, and knowing the wind and other weather patterns, knowing the areas on the pitch that get a bit boggy or tend to result in 'flyers' is critical in establishing and maintaining the home ground advantage. Having to drive between Hobart and Launceston (or vice versa) the day or the night before the game every couple of weeks is not going to help the mindset of the players and it will show in the performance on the pitch. Being realistic I think it is only fair that some games get played outside Hobart (perhaps one in the North West and 2-3 in Launceston), but thinking long-term, and thinking 'big', I reckon the team has to be centrally located, otherwise we'll be on the back foot right from the start. (By the way, feel free to use 'Hobart' and 'Launceston' interchangeably. I personally believe Hobart should be the base where most games are played, but basing them in Launceston and only playing a couple of games in Hobart may work just as well. The key is having a stable environment in which the footballers and the support staff do their business.)Foxhawkposted at 10:15PM on 18th Feb, 2009 It has been suggested that long term (2020+) that Burnie/Devonport take turns hosting a cup and league match each season. I could see that happening eventually. No doubt Rut would not agree. I think that his parochialism has him stuck in a Rut. ntguyposted at 7:46AM on 3rd Dec, 2008 Rut, the reason Perth doesn't play in Mandurah and Melbourne doesn't play in country cities is that those A-League teams chose to represent a city. In each case it is the capital city of the state. In the case of Tasmania, Hobart does not have the population/funding to support a team on its own so the people putting the bid together decided in their wisdom that the team should represent the whole state. This in my view was a wise move. It reflects the fact that unlike all other states in Australia where 60-75% of the population live in the capital city, in Tasmania half the population lives at the other end of the state. This being the case it is sensible to bring the game to all people in the state ie. both Hobart and Launceston. As for the argument that 3 out of four Hobartians won't come to Launceston to watch an AFL game, so what! I am sure that if TUFC is solely Hobart based the same statistic will be true of people in the north of the state. What is important is that 1 in 4 do/will go and this will be beneficial for the club, in fact I believe the proportion making the trip either way will be greater if games are played regularly in each region. It is great there was a large crowd at the 1979 grand final in Hobart. I am sure that all enjoyed the atmosphere. In 2007, however, there was only 6,124 at the southern grand final which is only 35% of the average crowd for AFL at Aurora. This shows that these days people want to see the best. So lets put an end to the parochialism and do all we can to get the best football possible in Tasmania and make the game that we love available to the people of Tasmania. On a personal note I have already voted that I will attend all games I can no matter where they are played in Tasmania. The trip from Launceston to Hobart will be be fun and I am sure the trip back will contain lots of game analysis with my son. It will certainly cost me a lot less than it does attending 3 or 4 games a year at Bluetongue Stadium as I do now.Foxhawkposted at 10:19PM on 18th Feb, 2009 Further to the above - just because Melbourne Victory, Perth Glory and Sydney FC don't play regional competition does not mean that future clubs in those regions will not. Even the FFA has come on board and encouraged such action, so it might be quite common in the future. In fact they have already mentioned Darwin as a possible team showcasing indiginous players with some home games located in Alice Springs. So the FFA certainly does not consider us a 'strange consortium' by any means. ndireenposted at 1:41PM on 3rd Dec, 2008 ntguy, u r a legend, and i honour u! -even though you must be supporting the CCM right now (why else would you go to Bluetongue stadium 4x a year?), you are evidently putting up the big ones to go and support your current team. I hope that others posting here will show such commitment to the Tassie team when we get up. And if you take your 'tackers with you to Gosford each time -double points!! well done -champion!tassiemarsposted at 3:51PM on 3rd Dec, 2008 65% of Tasmania's population lives in the North of the State, predominantly along the Bass Strait Coast. It seems some southerners would try to 'gerimander' this fact because Hobart is the largest urban centre. Let those who do not live here (in Tas) be aware that Hobart is not the magic recipe for success of a Tasmania FC. The Nth/Sth debate is very real and could quickly undermine a successful bid if ignored. There is a strong support contingent in the Nth of the State and this needs to be catered to.mlinacreposted at 3:09AM on 5th Dec, 2008 At the end of the day I am from the South and would prefer a team in Launceston than no Tasmanian team at all (naturally I would still prefer Hobart though). Without being a club for the whole state I think neither the Nth and Sth is capable of having a team by themselves. Traveling 2hrs is not really that far in either direction and that just makes it more of an event! If the club organises busses than it can make it accessible to both ends of the state. Also potentially a youth team, pre-season games, a womens team and other means that even if the main season was based in an area the other region would still get plenty from the club.galacticaposted at 11:59AM on 18th Dec, 2008 I for one believe that with around 230k metro pop greater Hobart area that with correct and creative marketing etc a team could be successful specifically from this location. However the choice has been made by the taskforce and if successful with their bid for a licence the team will represent all of Tassie. This is the best option for the forseeable future and should negate any parochialism. As I understand it the team will be registered as based in Hobart and games will be played at both ends of the state. Depending on some variabilities the percentage at either end may vary from season to season. Initially it is hoped that some matches will be played at York Park and some at Bellerive Oval. Eventually the best outcome for the side and state would be to develop North Hobart Oval into a suitable venue specific to soccer/football and rugby with supplementary incomes for the council coming from concerts etc. This is probably a planning project that the HCC may wish to involve itself with in the next 3-5years as they gauge the opportunities in the interim that may become evident upon the Tassie United taskforce bid being successful in gaining an A League licence franchise. The recent Tassie Youth side success was a great ambassadorial showcase to the rest of the country that we can be competitive. Very well done so lets build on this and GO TASSIE GO. Hugo_Bladelposted at 10:53AM on 11th Jan, 2009 the main thing is to get more people to the games isn't it? galacticaposted at 10:15AM on 16th Jan, 2009 For those who may be interested . The population of our state living outside of Hobart is 54% of which 4% are in the south so lets put an end to statistical arguments and focus on TEAM TASMANIA UNITED. We are equally united not divided. As a united front we are competitive and more so as the youth side has recently shown so I believe that together we can "shock and awe" the opposition and make their visits to our grounds something that they will always be nervous about. I am looking forward to our bid for the A League franchise being successful and more economic than an AFL setup. This is a golden opportunity for Tasmania and the chance to link our club side with Brand Tasmania and gain national exposure that will, I am confident, over a fairly short time lead to international attention in various ways and means. tazziedevilposted at 6:01AM on 22nd Jan, 2009 Stoogest and ntguy make great points. I'd like to see something of a balance between North and South, even if it doesn't end up 50/50. I think with the higher profile of football and the A-league now, we should be encouraging growth in the fan base statewide, not just being dependent onthe support that we have now. I too will be getting to as many games as I can, wherever they are, and a shuttle for fans is a good idea.kiallrposted at 2:24AM on 19th Feb, 2009 All this talk of having the team in Hobart/Launceston because such and such percentage of the population live there etc is complete rot. You know where 100% of the Tassie populaton live? Tasmania! If Tassie are to be successful they need to have a support base consisting of as many of the 480,000 or so residents of the state as possible. Splitting games works for everyone. Fans can chose to only go to 'local' games, or they can expand their support to include driving to the other venue every second home game (let's face it, it is only a couple of hours away - hardly a long trip!). If one city gets the entirety of the home fixtures, the side risks alienating half the population - the bid team knows it, the A-league knows it and anyone with half a brain knows it. Chuqposted at 3:25AM on 22nd Feb, 2009 480,000? I can't believe you missed the fanfare over the clock ticking over to 500,000 in December! Anyway, 1 in 500 matches should be on King Island. 1 in 500 on Flinders Island. 3 in 500 in Smithton. 5 in 500 on the West Coast. 7 in 500 in Strathgordon. Devonport and Burnie get 20 in 500 each. Hobart gets 200 in 500 matches but we must make sure that at least 1/4 of these are on the eastern shore, and also that Kingston gets at least 10 of them!
To be realistic - Split A-League matches between Hobart and Launceston. I'm sure that between pre-season matches, Youth League and W-League matches, games will be accessible to everyone in the state. kiallrposted at 10:34PM on 22nd Feb, 2009 500,000! Wow, I'm in QLD and we don't exactly get Tassie news up here. The population was stagnant for so long that I no longer look up the stats! :) Foxhawkposted at 10:13PM on 2nd Mar, 2009 First of all, I understand where everyone is coming from in regard to which end of the state the team is based and plays its home games. What is important though is that we don't miss out on an A-League spot due to bickering. Lets get a team in that keeps the entire state involved and later, if we wish it, we can look at other options. I personally believe expansion will go something like this; 2009 / 2010 North Queensland Fury and Gold Coast United enter the A-League. 2010 / 2011 Melbourne City and West Sydney enter the A-League. 2011 / 2012 Canberra and Wollongong enter the A-League. 2012 / 2013 Tasmania and Sydney City (The unsuccessful 2010 consortium) enter the A-League. That makes 16 sides. Foxhawkposted at 10:14PM on 2nd Mar, 2009 I am certain that Tasmania will have to wait until 2012/2013. By that time they will probably face challenges from the other consortiums that are currently present in a primordial state (Geelong, Darwin, Sunshine Coast, Ballarat). They may also face challenges from new consortiums from other population areas, maybe Perth, Adelaide, Melbourne, Brisbane. Perhaps even Toowoomba and another in New Zealand. Together The northwest-coast of Tasmania with Launceston has a population similar to Hobart, however I don’t believe that Hobart alone will make it into the A-League. I think that should we go up against a number of consortiums in 2012 / 2013 in that form then we would miss out. That would doom us to being a ‘B-League’ club should a second tier be formed. Foxhawkposted at 10:15PM on 2nd Mar, 2009 My personal opinion is that we should commence with ‘Tasmania United FC’ as a statewide concern to get as many people involved as possible. It will also help the game grow through the state. Should a consortium arise in either the north or south in ten years or so and gain successful admission to a ‘B-League’ then Tasmania United FC may possibly slowly change to a south only or north only club. In the meantime lets cover our bases by keeping everyone involved. At the end of the day people in the north get sick of the media being pro-south all the time. It’s like the north half of the state does not exist sometimes. Given this rivalry I think you may as well change this site to Hobart City FC if there will only be Hobart matches. Foxhawkposted at 10:16PM on 2nd Mar, 2009 I can tell you one think as a life-long resident of the north-west coast. Should it be Hobart City FC and should they get accepted into the A-League then there are a lot of people in the north who will enjoy watching them lose. That is the nature of north-south rivalry in Tasmania. Lets have Melbourne our rivals and go forward. Not each other and fail. Chuqposted at 1:44AM on 3rd Mar, 2009 Agreed - our decentralised and parochial population has been a problem for anything which tries to occur in this state! We MUST work around it if we are to be successful! galacticaposted at 8:44AM on 3rd Mar, 2009 Seems like most users of this site are starting to comprehend the necessity to allocate matches both north and south. I would like to remind everyone that as I understand the consortium franchise bid it is as follows; 1 the name is Tasmania United FC 2 the registered base is Hobart 3 the matches will be split between both Launceston and Hobart 4 everything else is up for assessment, examples of this being a which stadiums are used b the composition of games split between north and south c team nickname, jerseys, support groups, etc |
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Grubb
posted at 11:34PM on 26th Nov, 2008
Oops, wrong forum, should've posted this in the other section. See, it's confusing!» Reply to this comment