Association Football in Tasmania
| Soccer in Tasmania | |
|---|---|
| Governing body | Football Federation Tasmania |
| Representative team | Tasmania |
| First played | 1879, Hobart |
| Registered players | 13,000 (total) ? (adult) |
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Club competitions
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Audience records
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| Single match | 8,061 (2007). Melbourne Victory vs Adelaide United (York Park, Launceston) |
Soccer in Tasmania describes the sport of soccer being played and watched by people in the state of Tasmania in Australia.
The governing body for the sport is Football Federation Tasmania is a member of the Football Federation Australia (FFA) which controls the sport at a national level. Soccer is growing in popularity in terms of participation (particularly among youth). According to the Australian Bureau of Statistic, soccer is the highest participation sport amongst Tasmanian children aged 5–14 years (17.5%), attracting 23.7% males and 10.9% females. The sport in Tasmania receives a large amount of federal government funding. Soccer is also growing as a spectator sport. However Australian rules football is the dominant code of football in the state in terms of both media coverage and attendance.
The first recorded game took place in Hobart on 10 May 1879 when the Cricketers Football Club played a scratch match. The first recorded inter-club match took place a month later when the Cricketers took on New Town FC on 7 June (Hobart Mercury), described as English Association Rules. The first recorded reference to British Football (as it was known at the time of its introduction) being played in Tasmania was in 1898 when a team of merchant and navy seamen played an army team on the Domain in Hobart. The first recorded competition was established in 1900 when an organised league was set up comprising three teams - Trinity, Gunners and Sandy Bay. Due to the Boer War organised British Football did not last long but in 1910 it returned and not long after North vs South matches were started.
In 1923 Southern China, a team from Hong Kong, visited Tasmania becoming the first international side to tour Tasmania. The Tasmania state team beat Southern China 2-1.
A number of matches against international visiting teams have been hosted in Tasmania. In 1951 a touring English Football Association team defeated Tasmania 11-0 at North Hobart Oval. Three days later at York Park, Launceston, the FA team won 17-0, Jimmy Hagan scoring eight goals. A club friendly at North Hobart Oval in 1957 is another example of a match featuring an overseas team. Although the match was an Australia XI team vs Hungarian club Ferencvárosi TC, some sources incorrectly list it as a full international (Australia v Hungary).
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