So not only do we have Hawthorn and North Melbourne playing matches in Tassie - the latter due to a fair bit of effort from Hobart City Council Alderman Marti Zucco - but it seems now he is trying to get Melbourne Storm to play in Hobart.

This seems strange to me - an NRL team, instead of an A-League team, for a few reasons - first, Tasmania is certainly not known as a rugby league stronghold - it would be the #3 or #4 football code in Tassie.  Second, because Marti Zucco is Italian - and although generalisations about a person due to their heritage are not always correct, he is very proud of his roots.


Dear Mr Zucco,

I'm writing to you since you have been in the media recently, due to your actions in trying to attract national club sporting events to the state - not only the AFL games at Bellerive Oval, but also about the announcement last week of a possible NRL pre-season game at North Hobart Oval.

As you may know there has been an A-League pre-season match (featuring Melbourne Victory) each July for the past five years at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, generally drawing 5000-8000 spectators.

It would be fantastic to see a similar event in Hobart.  For the coming A-League season (October 2011-March 2012), Football Federation Australia has marked five matches to be played at a "regional venue - TBC".  I've contacted both Cricket Tasmania and Launceston City Council about the possibility of hosting one of these but have not received a response.  Going by the enthusiasm you have shown in drawing AFL and NRL matches to Hobart, I hope you would have a similar interest in negotiating an A-League match.

It would be great to get to the stage where there are regular matches in Tasmania by Melbourne Storm, Melbourne Victory, Melbourne Heart or even the Melbourne Rebels super rugby team. Such events could hopefully be the precursor to the development or upgrade of a rectangular stadium - such as North Hobart Oval - in the state.

For reference the available match dates are:

• Wed 7 Dec 2011 - Sydney FC v Perth Glory
• Sun 11 Dec 2011 - Gold Coast United v Sydney FC
• Wed 14 Dec 2011 - Wellington Phoenix v Brisbane Roar
• Wed 18 Jan 2012 - Melbourne Heart v Central Coast Mariners
• Wed 25 Jan 2012 - Adelaide United v Newcastle Jets

Full fixture list: http://www.a-league.com.au/site/_content/document/00002236-source.pdf

CC:
Cricket Tasmania (events@crickettas.com.au)
Aurora Stadium (aurorastadium@launceston.tas.gov.au)
Football Federation Australia (feedback@footballaustralia.com.au)
John Boulous, (CEO Football Federation Tasmania) (CEO@footballfedtas.com.au)
Michelle O'Byrne (Minister for Sport) (michelle.obyrne@parliament.tas.gov.au)
Mark Shelton (Shadow Minister for Sport & Rec) (mark.shelton@parliament.tas.gov.au)

a)      Supporters travelling from the north to the south for matches (or vice versa - the percentage of people who suggested that they would attend a match at the other end of the state hovered around the 8-10% mark).

b)      Supporters attending more than one game

c)       Supporters from rural areas in the north-east, midlands, west coast, east coast, or Huon area

d)      Interstate supporters travelling to Tasmania

Of course as usual, the naysayers are up and about, as I have mentioned in a previous blog post.  One comment on Walter Pless' blog suggested that Tasmania's experience in the NBL and VFL are relevant to the potential for a Tassie A-League team.  He failed to mention our cricket team (which, although crowds are generally low, are comparable with domestic cricket crowds nationwide) and of course the large crowds which attend AFL and A-League matches at York Park.  If we can attract over 6000 people to a practice match between two non-Tasmanian teams in the middle of winter, how many would our own team attract?

If you want to know the answers to that question, TUFC has released a full breakdown of the statistics in a followup post on their site.

• Southern Cross news story - 3 Feb 2010
• ABC News - "Tas A-League pitch gains ground" - 3 Feb 2010
• The Mercury - "Support for soccer bid" - 4 Feb 2010

It's time for my first post on another one of our blogs main topics - balls, specifically of the foot variety!

Yesterday, Tassie A-League bid taskforce Tasmania United FC made a press release announcing the next stage of their bid process - a public sentiment survey.

And of course, the same thing happened that happens everytime.. the naysayers come out of the woodwork.

One anonymous poster on Walter Pless' site posted "We have at least two chances of getting an A league side here in Tasmania. Buckleys and none."  I would like to think that Buckley - FFA CEO Ben Buckley that is - who grew up in Tasmania, would like to see a team here! 

This is on a site specifically about Tasmanian football - you would expect them to be the most supportive.

"Zero chance of an A league team here. All clubs struggling. No money in the game. That is reality.", the anonymous poster continued.

I continued with some actual facts:

* Yes some clubs are struggling. Importantly, some are not. Financially, Melb and Central Coast are in the black. Crowd wise, some are down, but Adelaide, Perth, Sydney and Wellington are up.

* The feasibility study includes financial info and a preliminary public interest survey.  It also states that TUFC will be able to break even with crowds as low as 8000 due to the favourable stadium arrangements in place.

* FFA is about to sign a new deal with Fox Sports for $60m/year (current deal is $17m/year).

* Buckley, Frank Lowy and Archie Fraser have all recently stated Canberra and Tasmania are their intentions for future expansion.

I don't understand the mentality of not supporting a team playing your preferred sport, in your own state.  Do people think they are going to get punished for supporting an unsuccessful bid? The general public don't need to worry about the funding or sponsors or business cases or anything like that - if the bid doesn't have them, they won't be accepted. The only question most of us have to answer is "If we get a team, will you support them?" You would expect Tasmanians, being a parochial bunch, to do so!

I think many Tasmanians have a built-in inferiority complex - they have been told that they are not good enough by mainlanders for so long that they start to believe it.

Support makes a huge amount of difference.  Look at Gold Coast United.  Ignoring the crowds they had everything that makes a hugely successful club.  Jason Culina, a World Cup Socceroo playing in Europe, returning in play in Australia in the prime of his career.  A strong squad including leading goalscorer Shane Smeltz.  Clive Palmer, Queenslands richest man, as their owner.  Good results, consistently in the top 3 of the league all season.  Robina Stadium, a 27,000 capacity stadium completed in 2005, to play in.  The only major sport on the Gold Coast over summer (not even cricket to contend with).  But their crowds are terrible, smaller than clubs based in less populated areas such as Central Coast and Townsville. 

They have not promoted themselves or connected with the community, and as a result they have the smallest crowds of any club, and that alone has caused all sorts of problems, on and off the field.

Hopefully as club based in a smaller population area, this will be one of the things that Tasmania United FC will do well.  Time will tell!