Clarence vs Devonport Bellerive Oval Clarence vs Devonport
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our great game | Tasmanian State Football Premierships<br />
Tasmanian football clubs have competed for a<br />
‘State Premiership’ on and off for around 100<br />
years. The governing leagues of Tasmanian<br />
football inaugurated an official State<br />
Premiership in 1909 when the Premier from<br />
the southern based TFL, namely Cananore (of<br />
Hobart), played against the northern based<br />
NTFA premiership team, Launceston.<br />
The State Premiership series became hugely<br />
popular from 1928 up until a dispute between<br />
the TFL and NTFA halted the series in 1951.<br />
The year 1928 was significant because the City<br />
Club (of Launceston) had recruited the high<br />
profile Victorian Roy Cazaly to coach and he<br />
duly delivered the first state title for a Northern<br />
Tasmanian club in his first season.<br />
The State Premiership series resumed in 1954<br />
after the North-West Football Union (NWFU)<br />
successfully gained equal status with the NTFA<br />
and TFL. Subsequently, the State Premiership<br />
became a contest between the Premiership<br />
team from the 3 major Tasmanian regions. The<br />
period 1954 to 1973 became the second golden<br />
era of Tasmanian state football such was the<br />
interest and success of the series of games that<br />
was conducted to culminate each season and<br />
determine the best team in Tasmania.<br />
However, new cracks began to appear in 1974,<br />
1977 and 1979 when the three leagues could<br />
not agree on the timing of the finals series or<br />
their commitment to the concept. Ultimately, the<br />
prolonged decline of the series in the early 1980s<br />
became a major catalyst for the formation of a<br />
Statewide League in 1986-87.<br />
The subsequent Tasmanian State League that<br />
was conducted up until the end of 2000 was<br />
very successful in attracting high quality players<br />
and coaches to Tasmania. The State League<br />
was very popular until a number of Clubs began<br />
to fail financially and were unable to continue in<br />
the competition.<br />
Regional football resumed in 2001 across<br />
Tasmania, but there was an inability to progress<br />
a State Premiership series for 8 long years<br />
despite constant speculation and a failed<br />
attempt in 2008.<br />
The State Premiership series has been disrupted<br />
on numerous occasions due to world wars, the<br />
influenza pandemic of 1919 and internecine<br />
disputes in the early 1950s, on and off in the<br />
1970s and 1980s and again in the last decade.<br />
Historically there is a correlation between the<br />
relative strength and interest in a Tasmanian<br />
State Finals series or league and the strength<br />
of Tasmanian football at representative level. In<br />
this regard we can expect if the new Wrest Point<br />
Tasmanian State League is able to gain traction<br />
amongst football players, corporate and media<br />
supporters and fans, that a new fourth era of<br />
Tasmanian State football will dawn and this will<br />
strengthen Tasmanian football.<br />
This series of articles will provide a summary of all<br />
Tasmanian State Premiership games and a table<br />
of premiers and runners-up. As well, there is a<br />
feature on the greatest State Premiership games<br />
from the 4 major eras starting with the 1920s<br />
and 1930s. A special ‘Fantasy Final’ series will<br />
also been provided to fill in some gaps in the<br />
history of Tasmanian State Football Premierships.<br />
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