TASMANIAN UNITED IN A-LEAGUE BID
Taskforce Releases Logos in bid for Community Support
By Julius Ross
Tasmania’s bid for an A-League side gathered further momentum when its taskforce released four logo concepts for the proposed team last week.
The State’s key campaigners for an A-League side have already registered the name Tasmanian United FC as a part of the bid.
Consisting of a selection of businessmen, strategic planners, political figures and a former English league footballer, the Tasmanian Football Taskforce formed in March this year in an attempt to obtain an A-League licence for the Island State.
The Taskforce must prove to Football Federation Australia that Tasmania can tick the boxes of three required criteria; finance, venue and support, if it is to have a side up and running by the 2011 season.
Designed in Europe and the US, the four logo concepts are part of a branding exercise, which the Taskforce hopes will demonstrate the community support the Tasmanian bid can gather.
The Tasmanian public are required to provide their input in the A-League proposal, with a website set up where viewers can choose to vote for their favourite logo design and provide feedback on the proposals.
The Taskforce’s chairman, John McGirr, also emphasised that if the logos illustrated significant support at this early stage of the proposal, it would confirm the serious nature of the Tasmanian bid to the FFA.
Tasmania’s proposal was kicked-started by the announcement by FFA boss Ben Buckley early this year, which proposed an expansion of the A-League from eight to 14 teams over the next five years, effectively providing an opportunity for a side from the South.
In May, Buckley, incidentally a Tasmanian, announced that a strong Tasmanian bid for an A-League side would be considered if it meets the specific criteria.
However, Tasmanian faces stiff competition from four other regions identified and targeted by FFA for immediate expansion of the league.
Western Sydney, Melbourne, Townsville and Gold Coast are the proposed areas for expansion from eight to 10 teams within the next two years, to 12 teams in around three years time, with the FFA looking towards an eventually expansion to 14 teams.
With so much competition for an ever-expanding A-League, no matter which state in Australia receives the next spot in the League, the expansion can only be good for the game.
While the success of the logo concepts will be revealed over the coming months, the Taskforce believe that they have a suitable venue and financial viability for a successful bid, therefore ticking two of the three required criteria boxes.
The Taskforce are confident that the projected annual running costs of $6 million and a salary cap of $2 million would be achievable by the season 2011-12.
Aurora Stadium (York Park) in Launceston is currently the preferred venue for the proposed side, with the stadium already meeting venue requirements and having staged A-League pre-season matches on numerous occasions.
The venue attracted an 8,000 strong crowd for this year’s Pre-Season Cup match between Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United and Football Federation Tasmania’s CEO Martin Shaw believes that a Tasmanian A-League side could easily achieve a 10,000 average support base per game.
But with Hobart the State’s capital, the Taskforce has vowed to overcome Tasmanian’s North-South divide (hence, also the name Tasmania ‘United’) by providing a venue in both halves of the Island.
This has been the only area of issue in the bid, with the South’s premier venue, Bellerive Oval – which is home to international cricket events – not having ‘drop-in pitch’ technology, which renders it unsuitable.
Shaw believes that the Tasmanian government should get behind the bid and provide financial support to redevelop another Southern venue at North Hobart Oval.
Tasmania has 14,000 registered players and an increasing number of youth development programs including Tasmanian Institute of Sport teams, and the only thing lacking is high-profile football being played in Tasmanian on a regular basis.
The current A-League bid is not the first time that the State has tried to enter a national soccer competition.
In February 2004, Tasmania launched a proposal for inclusion in the National Soccer League but the application was halted when the league became defunct.
A Tasmanian youth team will be involved in friendly matches against A-League National Youth League sides from Sydney FC, Melbourne Victory and Adelaide United in November this year.
The friendlies will gauge where Tasmania’s youth development is at and whether they are at a standard to participate at a national level.
A decision about Tasmania United’s bid will be made around May or June 2009.
To view or vote for the Tasmanian United Logo, visit; www.focussedstrategy.com/ALeague/
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