A fast-approaching Women's World Cup, the Premier's support and a new group of backers has Football Tasmania believing an A-League team is just around the corner.
The state's push for more involvement in domestic and international football has been rapidly gathering steam in the past 12 months, with Launceston's UTAS Stadium securing two 2021 A-League fixtures and fighting to become a host city for the 2023 Women's World Cup.
Tasmania fell at the first hurdle when bidding to secure an A-League licence in 2018, but FT president Bob Gordon believes things will be different when the next round of expansion comes.
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Gordon said infrastructure could hold the key to exactly how soon the state can find its way into the nation's top-flight competition.
"I think we've got all the stars aligned at the moment which is great," he said.
"It's realistic, it's achievable - we were originally hoping that it might be in time for 2023 to correspond with the Women's World Cup coming to Tasmania, but it'll probably be more driven by how long it takes to get planning and development approvals and construction done.
"I think it's going to be pretty tight to meet that timeline, but we are working on some options where that could be done.
"Last time there were some barriers about new entrants - there was an incentive in the broadcast deal to have teams from Melbourne and Sydney as the next two entrants.
"I think there's a lot more flexibility about new entrants [now] than there would have been three or four years ago."
Tasmania's previous bid was spearheaded by ex-Melbourne Victory board members Robert Belteky and Harry Stamoulis, but it appears new backers have since taken up the cause.
Gordon was coy about revealing exactly who is behind the latest bid, but was happy to give some hints.
"There's a group of football fanatics who are well-connected and financially well-backed who are backing the bid and they're the ones that will be doing the detailed feasibility study, although obviously we'll be assisting them and it was great that the Premier committed to supporting an A-League team," Gordon said.
"It's up for them to announce who the backers are - it is a different group from last time, although it does have some common elements in it, but it's really matter for them to announce it - it's their commercial property."
The Tasmania JackJumpers will join the NBL next season, while aspirations to field a standalone AFL side remain unfulfilled.
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Hamish Geale
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
Hamish Geale is a senior reporter at The Examiner. Got good news? Email: hgeale@examiner.com.au
