Hobart Football Club

Hobart
Hobart
Names
Full name	Hobart Football Club
Nickname(s)	Tigers
Club song	"Hobart Forever Boys"
2024 (SFL) season
After finals	8th
Home-and-away season	8th
Leading goalkicker	Ethan Monks (6)
Club details
Founded	19 December 1944; 80 years ago
Colours
Competition	Southern Football League
President	Josh Munting
Coach	Allen Christensen
Premierships	SFL (1) 1999; TFL (9) 1950; 1954; 1959; 1960; 1963; 1966; 1973; 1980; 1990; Tasmanian State Premiership (1) 1959;
Ground(s)	TCA Ground (capacity: 6,500)
Uniforms
Home	Away
Other information
Official website	hobartfc.com.au

Hobart Football Club (nicknamed The Tigers) is an Australian rules football club based in Hobart, Tasmania.
The club play their home fixtures at the TCA Ground on the Queens Domain, in Hobart and is a member of the Southern Football League.

History

The Hobart Football Club was formed at a meeting at The Continental Ballroom in Hobart on 19 December 1944 and became a playing member of the Tasmanian Football League (TFL) in 1945 as a direct continuation of the former Cananore Football Club which participated in the TFL from 1908 to 1941.^[1]

The club was a playing member of the TFL from 1945 to 1997 when it had its license cancelled by the TFL due its perilous financial position and ongoing poor onfield performances.

Hobart's finest era was from 1947 to 1966 when they made the finals in all bar three years, earned five minor premierships and took out six TFL premiership titles in 1950, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1966 and the 1959 State Premiership from ten grand final appearances during that era.

From 1967 to 1985 Hobart would find success rare, taking out an incredible win in the 1973 decider against the previously unbeaten Sandy Bay and the 1980 Winfield Statewide Cup and TFL premiership in the same season, between 1967 and 1985 the club finished last on eleven occasions, second last on two other occasions.

In 1986 the TFL switched to a new Statewide format and this seemed to reinvigorate the club with strong recruiting and good junior players coming through the system, the Tigers were to enter another strong period in their history under high-profile coaches Peter Hudson (1986-1987) and Mark Browning (1988-1992), the Tigers participated in six finals series in seven years and participated in three grand finals and earned its last major premiership title in 1990 over North Launceston.

After losing the 1992 TFL Grand Final to North Hobart, Hobart would never again be a dominant force in Tasmanian football, the resignation of coach Mark Browning after the season ended saw the club have four senior coaches in twelve months and eventually Hobart were to announce in 1994 that they were servicing debts of $450,000 as the Tigers very future looked to be spiralling out of control.

After five consecutive poor seasons and with continuous financial losses and poor attendances and an exodus of forty players from the club, the TFL discontinued Hobart's playing licence in 1997 to participate in the competition after that season and attempted to force the club into a three-way merger with Sandy Bay and North Hobart which ultimately failed to materialise.

Hobart's final TFL match was on 23 August 1997 at North Hobart Oval when they were defeated by North Hobart by 48 points. The Tigers' participated in 1,002 TFL games (441-552-9) as well as 15 extra matches (9-5-1) involving either Tasmanian State Grand Finals, State Preliminary Finals or matches in the 1980 Winfield Statewide Cup, giving the club a total of 1,017 all-time matches at the completion of their stint as a TFL club.

In 1998 Hobart were given approval to join the relatively new Southern Football League, a competition formed only two years earlier involving clubs from the defunct Tasmanian Amateur Football League (Southern Division) and the Huon Football Association.

As a prerequisite of entering the competition Hobart were required to cease using their Tigers emblem and black and gold playing uniform, instead opting to wear a predominantly Old Gold strip with black numbers and simple "HFC" emblem on the chest.

After an initially tough start in their first season winning only four matches, Hobart were to sign former premiership player Steven Gillbee as playing coach and with a return of many former players in 1999, this would herald a return of the club as a power.

Hobart went on to record minor premierships in 1999 and 2000, winning their first, and to date, only SFL premiership in 1999 along with eight finals series appearances from 1999 to 2008 under Steven Gillbee, Michael McGregor, Andrew Lamprill and Todd Lewis but premiership success would continuously elude them.

After a fractious decision by the club to adopt the Brisbane Lions emblem, colours and playing strip for four seasons from 2005 to 2008, Hobart were accepted to join the new Tasmanian State League from 2009 to 2013 and began playing in their traditional Tigers playing strip once again but success was to elude Hobart both on and off the field in the TSL, with continuous financial losses, lack of on-field success and an AFL Tasmania decision to force a merger between them and North Hobart as a new Hobart City club, Hobart Football Club voted to withdraw from the TSL at the end of the 2013 season, the Tigers final match in the top tier of Tasmanian football saw them suffer a 35-point loss to Glenorchy on 24 August 2013 at the TCA Ground.

As a result of the Tigers resignation from the TSL and return to the SFL the club lost almost its entire playing list to other TSL clubs. With the SFL also banning the club from recruiting other players from within the SFL during their first season it resulted in a player shortage which almost sent them into extinction.

After two difficult seasons returning to SFL level Hobart were able to rebound in 2016 and make their first finals appearance since 2008, attempting to win their first finals match since 26 August 2006, but were defeated by New Norfolk by 38 points in the Elimination Final at Boyer Oval, however that finals appearance proved to be a false dawn as the Tigers once again sank to the lower reaches of the SFL standings and suffered a winless 2019 season.

After signing former Richmond-draftee Alex Gilmour as coach at the start of 2020, the club made the finals for only the second time in twelve years in a COVID-19 Pandemic interrupted season but bowed out to Lindisfarne in the Eliminational Final, despite a promising start to 2021, the injury-plagued Tigers fell away as the season progressed and finished in sixth position.

The club has had somewhat of a nomadic existence throughout its long history having played on three home grounds at various stages. Hobart began playing at the North Hobart Oval from 1945, moving to the TCA Ground part way through the 1946 season until it moved back to North Hobart in 1955 owing to a major disagreement with the Hobart Greyhound Racing Club (the TCA Ground's more financial and dominant shareholder) over exorbitant rent costs and did not return until 1961.

From 1961 to 1982 Hobart played the vast majority of its home matches back at the TCA Ground until the TFL's ground rationalisation plans of the early 1980s saw the club forced to relocate from a by-then sub-standard facility to Glenorchy's KGV Football Park for the start of the 1983 season and they would stay there until late in the 1986 season when the club made moves to resume playing matches at North Hobart in an effort to improve flagging attendance figures (Hobart's 1985 home attendances at KGV were the club's lowest since 1945).

From the latter part of 1986 until the Tigers' final match in TFL football in 1997, the club resumed playing its home matches at North Hobart again, with the exception of four specially staged home matches back at the TCA Ground in 1995 and 1996 against North Hobart, Sandy Bay, Launceston and finally South Launceston in order to raise urgent funds for the then cash-strapped club.

When Hobart were accepted into the SFL in 1998, the club resumed playing matches at the TCA Ground on a full-time basis and remains so to present.

Information

Affiliations

TANFL (1945–1985)
TFL Statewide League (1986–1997)
SFL/SFL Premier League (1998–2008)
TSL (2009–2013)
SFL/SFL Premier League (2014–present)

Honours

Joined STFL/Premier League/SFL

1998 (rejoined 2014 after five seasons in TSL)

SFL Premierships

1999

SFL Runner Up

2003

TFL Premierships

1950, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1973, 1980, 1990

TFL Runner Up

1947, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1989, 1992

Tasmanian State Premierships

1959

Winfield Statewide Cup Champions

1980

Attendance records

Record Home Attendance – TANFL

8,760 v New Town on 14 June 1949 at North Hobart Oval
5,675 v North Hobart on 5 July 1947 at TCA Ground

Record Home Attendance – TFL Statewide League

3,344 v Clarence on 5 May 1990 at North Hobart Oval

Record Finals Attendance – TANFL

17,111 v Glenorchy on 22 September 1980 (1980 TANFL Grand Final) at North Hobart Oval

Record Finals Attendance – TFL Statewide League

16,528 v North Hobart on 16 September 1989 (1989 TFL Statewide League Grand Final) at North Hobart Oval

Record Finals Attendance – Southern Football League

4,289 v North Hobart on 20 September 2003 (2003 SFL Grand Final) at North Hobart Oval

Club Record Scores

TFL 31.17 (203) v Sth Launceston 15.21 (111) on 25 August 1990 at York Park

SFL 36.14 (230) v Channel 10.6 (66) on 22 April 2000 at TCA Ground
TSL 25.13 (163) v Devonport 11.5 (71) on 7 May 2011 at TCA Ground

Club Record Quarter

TFL 13.3 (81) v North Launceston (4th Quarter) on 19 July 1986 at York Park
SFL 14.3 (87) v Channel (4th Quarter) on 22 April 2000 at TCA Ground
TSL 10.1 (61) v Devonport (4th Quarter) on 7 May 2011 at TCA Ground

Most Goals in a Match (individual)

15.3 – Bernie Waldron – Hobart v Clarence on 30 August 1952 at TCA Ground

Club Record Games Holder

370* – Justin Harvey (1995–2011 & 2018–2023)
287 – D. K. "Kerry" Wilson (1961–1975)

Individual

Medal Winners

William Leitch Medal winners (Awarded to the Best & Fairest Player in TFL Seniors)

1947 – Jack Sullivan
1957 – Trevor Leo
1959 – Mal Pascoe
1964 – David Sullivan
1965 – Burnie Payne
1966 – Burnie Payne
1984 – Scott Wade

Darrel Baldock Medal winners (Awarded to the best player in the TFL Statewide Grand Final)

1990 – Michael Winter

George Watt Medal winners (Awarded to the Best & Fairest Player in TFL Reserves)

1952 – Joe Whittle
1972 – Garry Rogers
1982 – Steven Strong

Major V. A. Geard Medal winners (Awarded to the Best Fairest Player in TFL Thirds)

1944 – Don Foster (Macalburn)
1945 – Max Walker (Macalburn)
1946 – Alan Hughes (Macalburn)
1947 – Alan Hughes (Macalburn)
1953 – A. Unsworth (Macalburn)
1961 – Ian Stewart (Macalburn)
1972 – Garry Whittle
1978 – Jamie McIntyre
1984 – Craig Randall
1989 – Damian Goss
1991 – Justin Goc
1992 – Alan Bond
1996 – Brent Dickson

D. R. Plaister Medal winners (Awarded to the Best & Fairest Player in TFL Fourths)

1986 – Simon Sproule

Weller Arnold Medal Winner (Awarded to the best player in TFL Intrastate matches)

1953 – John Golding
1959 – Mal Pascoe
1962 – Dennis Powell
1969 – Burnie Payne
1975 – Malcolm Bugg
1979 – Murray Dickson & Scott Brain (Tie)

Lipscombe Medal Winners (Awarded to the best player in SFL Colts)

2017 – Lachlan Plummer
2019 – Brock Daniels

Competition Leading Goalkickers

TFL Leading Goalkickers

1953 – Bernie Waldron (47)
1959 – Mal Pascoe (75)
1960 – Mal Pascoe (57)
1977 – Col Smith (49)
1980 – Paul Courto (86)
1986 – Wayne Fox (105)
1987 – Wayne Fox (80) (three-way tie)
1993 – Keith Robinson (76)

SFL Leading Goalkickers

1999 – Dale Hall (98)

Senior Coaches

The Hobart Football Club has had thirty-six senior coaches in its eighty year history. The longest serving coach is Mal Pascoe, who coached the club for a period of nine seasons from 1959 to 1965 and again from 1978 to 1979. Pascoe is also the leading premiership coach with Hobart, having coached the club to three flags in 1959, 1960 and 1963.

Jack Sullivan 1947, 1949 and 1950 along with Mal Pascoe 1959, 1960 and 1963 and Mark Browning 1989, 1990 and 1992 have all coached Hobart in three Grand Finals – the most by any Hobart senior coach.

Hobart Football Club: Senior Coaches

1945 – Cecil Geappen
1946 – Ron Savage (Resigned)
1946 – Noel Gray Snr.
1947 – Jack Sullivan
1948 – Jack Sullivan
1949 – Jack Sullivan
1950 – Jack Sullivan
1951 – Bill Tonks
1952 – Bill Tonks
1953 – Bill Tonks
1954 – Bill Williams
1955 – Bill Williams
1956 – Bill Williams
1957 – Bill Williams
1958 – Bill Williams
1959 – Mal Pascoe
1960 – Mal Pascoe
1961 – Mal Pascoe
1962 – Mal Pascoe
1963 – Mal Pascoe
1964 – Mal Pascoe
1965 – Mal Pascoe
1966 – John Watts
1967 – John Watts
1968 – John Watts
1969 – Burnie Payne
1970 – Burnie Payne
1971 – Dennis Munari
1972 – Dennis Munari (Dismissed)
1972 – Alan Appleton
1973 – Alan Appleton
1974 – Trevor Leo
1975 – David Harris
1976 – David Harris
1977 – Barry Grinter
1978 – Mal Pascoe
1979 – Mal Pascoe
1980 – Paul Sproule
1981 – Paul Sproule
1982 – Bruce Greenhill
1983 – Bruce Greenhill
1984 – Scott Wade
1985 – Scott Wade
1986 – Peter Hudson
1987 – Peter Hudson
1988 – Mark Browning
1989 – Mark Browning
1990 – Mark Browning
1991 – Mark Browning
1992 – Mark Browning
1993 – Greg Lane (Resigned)
1993 – Wayne Petterd
1994 – Wayne Petterd
1995 – Wayne Petterd
1996 – Wayne Petterd (Resigned)
1996 – Gary Williamson
1997 – Gary Williamson
1998 – Ray O'Rourke
1999 – Steve Gillbee
2000 – Steve Gillbee
2001 – Steve Gillbee
2002 – Steve Gillbee
2003 – Michael McGregor
2004 – Michael McGregor
2005 – Ian Wilson
2006 – Ian Wilson (Dismissed)
2006 – Andrew Lamprill
2007 – Andrew Lamprill
2008 – Todd Lewis
2009 – Todd Lewis (Dismissed)
2009 – Graham Fox
2010 – Graham Fox
2011 – Graham Fox (Resigned)
2012 – Anthony McConnon
2013 – Anthony McConnon
2014 – Steven Woods
2015 – Steven Woods
2016 – Steven Woods
2017 – Mark Beck
2018 – Mark Beck
2019 – Mark Beck (Resigned)
2019 – Nathan Hartnett
2020 – Alex Gilmour
2021 – Alex Gilmour
2022 – Alex Gilmour
2024 – Daniel Gray
2025 – Allen Christensen

Senior Best and Fairest Winners

1945 – Noel Atkins
1946 – Harold Bailey
1947 – Jack Sullivan
1948 – Bob Verrier
1949 – Alan Hughes
1950 – Alan Hughes
1951 – Alan Hughes
1952 – Paddy Williams
1953 – Leon Synott
1954 – Terry Risely
1955 – John Golding
1956 – Kevin Free
1957 – Trevor Leo
1958 – Ray Hill
1959 – Dennis Powell
1960 – Trevor Leo
1961 – Dennis Powell
1962 – Dennis Powell
1963 – Burnie Payne
1964 – David Sullivan
1965 – Dennis Powell
1966 – Dennis Powell
1967 – Dennis Powell
1968 – Noel Mewett
1969 – D.K "Kerry" Wilson
1970 – Glenn Burrill
1971 – Malcolm Bugg
1972 – Robbie Claridge
1973 – Malcolm Bugg
1974 – John Emin
1975 – Michael Krause
1976 – Ross Wright
1977 – Kelvin Anderson
1978 – Murray Dickson
1979 – Warren Cripps
1980 – Scott Wade
1981 – Wayne Petterd, Chris Fagan & Kelvin Anderson
1982 – Tony Marchant
1983 – Greg Thirgood
1984 – Scott Wade
1985 – Scott Wade
1986 – Craig Hoyer
1987 – Craig Hoyer
1988 – Mark Browning
1989 – Jamie Shanahan
1990 – Geoff Keogh
1991 – Geoff Keogh
1992 – Peter Baldwin
1993 – Brenton Tapp
1994 – Rob Veale
1995 – Steven Gillbee
1996 – Steven Gillbee
1997 – Martin Free
1998 – Justin Harvey
1999 – Stephen Willis
2000 – Brent Quinn & Michael Graves
2001 – Mark Knott
2002 – Craig Haremza
2003 – Matthew Harvey
2004 – Shawn Sartori
2005 – Jamie Di Ienno
2006 – Scott Dickson
2007 – Michael Cassidy
2008 – Trent Harvey
2009 – Blair Kean
2010 – Andrew Lemm
2011 – Todd Willing
2012 – Tarquin Netherway
2013 – Jamie Di Ienno
2014 – Tim Dennis
2015 – Luke Sullivan
2016 – Tim Langdale
2017 – Luke Sullivan
2018 – Jayden Charlton
2019 – Gerard Lynd
2020 – Luke Adams & Jack Adams
2021 – Brock Daniels
2022 – Brock Daniels
2023 – (Not Awarded)
2024 – Justin Harvey

Hobart Football Club Past Presidents

1945 – J.E Miller
1946 – J.E Miller
1947 – W.E McIndoe
1948 – W.E McIndoe
1949 – W.E McIndoe
1950 – W.E McIndoe
1951 – W.E McIndoe
1952 – C.N Allen
1953 – C.N Allen
1954 – C.N Allen
1955 – R.A Whitney
1956 – R.A Whitney
1957 – C.N Allen
1958 – C.N Allen
1959 – C.N Allen
1960 – Dr Nigel Abbott
1961 – E.K Daley
1962 – E.K Daley
1963 – Ron Pitt
1964 – Ron Pitt
1965 – Ron Pitt
1966 – Ron Pitt
1967 – Ron Pitt
1968 – Ron Pitt
1969 – Ron Pitt
1970 – Ron Pitt
1971 – Ron Pitt
1972 – Ron Pitt
1973 – Ron Pitt
1974 – Ron Pitt
1975 – Ron Pitt
1976 – Lionel Bould
1977 – Lionel Bould
1978 – Michael Wade
1979 – Michael Wade
1980 – Michael Wade
1981 – Michael Wade
1982 – Joe Whittle
1983 – Max Verrier
1984 – Graeme Peck
1985 – Graeme Peck
1986 – Graeme Peck
1987 – Graeme Peck
1988 – Geoff George
1989 – Geoff George
1990 – Geoff George
1991 – Russell Young
1992 – Russell Young
1993 – Russell Young
1994 – Russell Young & Greg Lane
1995 – Greg Lane
1996 – John Thurley
1997 – Noel Gray Jr
1998 – Noel Gray Jr & John Blake
1999 – John Blake
2000 – John Blake
2001 – John Blake
2002 – John Blake
2003 – Philip Baker
2004 – Philip Baker
2005 – Philip Baker
2006 – Philip Baker
2007 – Philip Baker
2008 – Philip Baker
2009 – Philip Baker
2010 – Philip Baker
2011 – Philip Baker
2012 – Sean Sullivan
2013 – Sean Sullivan
2014 – Russell Young
2015 – Russell Young
2016 – Russell Young
2017 – Russell Young
2018 – Russell Young
2019 – Callum Upchurch
2020 – Callum Upchurch
2021 – Josh Munting
2022 – Josh Munting
2023 – Josh Munting
2024 – Josh Munting
2025 – Josh Munting

References

^ "Four districts clubs now formed". The Mercury. 20 December 1944. Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via trove.org.

External links

[1] "Four districts clubs now formed". The Mercury. 20 December 1944. Retrieved 1 September 2020 – via trove.org.

[1]