Soccer was first played in
Tasmania during the colonial period, but was never as popular as
cricket, and the advent of
Australian rules football in the mid-nineteenth century, soon saw that code surpass both rugby and football in popularity within the island colony. The code was generally referred to as British Association Football, to distinguish it from Rugby, and Australian rules, which soon became known locally as 'football' or 'footy'. The term
soccer originated in England, first appearing in the 1880s as a slang abbreviation of the word "association", often credited to former England captain
Charles Wreford-Brown. It is not clear when the term 'soccer' came into common use in Tasmania, but by the early twentieth century it was the more common term. The first recorded organised match in Tasmania took place between seamen from the
Royal Navy and merchant vessels, who formed a team in 1898, and challenged the soldiers from the
Tasmanian Military Forces garrison at
Anglesea Barracks. The match was played on the
Queens Domain, and sparked a renewed local interest in the sport. In 1900, Englishman Reverend Fred Taylor established a league competition between three newly formed sides. They were
Trinity, (representing the
University of Tasmania's Christ College), the
Gunners (the soldiers from Anglesea Barracks) and
Sandy Bay (army volunteers). The
involvement of the Tasmanian and later Commonwealth Military Forces in the
Second Boer War led to a suspension of football in the colony. It wasn't until 1910, when two friends JJB Honeysett and Norm Vincent, who were both keen players, decided to reintroduced competitive matches. They created the
state's first league involving teams from both north and south, and they also established a North vs South match, played annually almost continuously since that time, except for brief suspensions during the
First World War and the
Second World War. The newly formed
South Hobart Soccer Club took on
Westralia at the "Association Ground", Washington Street, South Hobart in the first match of the new league, winning 4–1. A rise in the number of migrants arriving in Tasmania following the First World War saw the popularity of the sport grow, and the
Tasmanian football championship resumed in 1919. That season saw
South Hobart Soccer Club begin a remarkable run in which they won the state championship a record five years in a row. Although four-in-a-row has since been done twice, by
Caledonians (1955–58), and
White Eagles (1988–91), South Hobart's record has never been broken. Football remained healthy in Tasmania for the next twenty years, although it continued to play second-fiddle to Australian rules football in terms of overall popularity.
South Hobart and
Sandy Bay enjoyed much success, winning seven titles each in the inter-war years. The old pre-war powerhouses
South Hobart and
Sandy Bay were pushed aside, and migrant-community based teams
Caledonians,
Olympia, and
Launceston Juventus began to dominate competitions. The older clubs struggled for success, but the 1960s saw
Olympia and
Launceston Juventus play off against each other for the
Tasmanian football championship on four occasions, Olympia getting the best of their northern opponents on three of them. The early 1970s saw the rise of
Hobart Juventus, who won four state titles between 1969 and 1973, including a staggering 13–5 aggregate score over
Riverside Olympic in the two-legged final of 1973. The 1976 State Championship play-off between
Rapid and
Launceston Juventus proved to be an all-time classic. The first leg finished 3–2 in favour of Rapid, but a 4–3 home win for Launceston Juventus saw the two-legged final finish 6–6 on aggregate, and go to penalties. The ensuing penalty shootout was an incredible 12–11 sudden death win to Rapid. This era also saw the rise of
Glenorchy Croatia, who were crowned state champions three times in the 1970s. The situation was damaging the reputation of the game across the country, and stunting both the development of the game, and the progress of the
Socceroos on the world stage.
Soccer Australia decided measures had to be taken, and outlawed ethnic affiliations for football clubs.
Olympia (
Greek) became
Hobart Olympic,
White Eagles (
Polish) became
New Town Eagles,
Hobart Juventus (
Italian) became
Hobart Zebras, Northern clubs were also affected, with
Launceston Juventus (
Italian) becoming
Launceston Zebras, and then changing again to
Launceston City FC, and
Launceston Croatia (
Croatian) becoming
Western Suburbs Knights, and then
Prospect Knights FC. The first decade of the 21st century saw football grow well in Tasmania. player numbers continued to rise, particularly in junior divisions.
Football Federation Australia'a efforts to rebrand the game, along with the
Socceroos qualifying for the
2006 FIFA World Cup helped bolster the popularity of the sport within Tasmania.
New Town Eagles had undoubtedly been the dominant club in Tasmania from the late 1980s until the start of the 21st century, racking up seven state titles between 1988 and 1998, but the new decade saw a shift in power, with
University winning a long-awaited first state title in 1999, and repeated it 2001. ==Administration==