Hobart Football Club - the lions

The Hobart Lions is a Premier League club in the AFL Southern Tasmania competition of Australian Rules football. Premiers 1999

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HISTORY

Where it all began for the Hobart District Football Club

The Hobart Football Club was formed as a district football club on the 19th December 1944 and participated as one of the founding members of the Tasmanian Football League until the formation of the Statewide League in 1986 also becoming an inaugural member of that competition.

The inaugural meeting of the Hobart Football Club was held at the Continental, Macquarie St, Hobart on Tuesday 19th December 1944. The organizing Committee for this meeting consisted of Messrs J.Miller, C.Geappen, W.Arnold, J.R.Berkery, W.E.Verrell, G.Rudolph, A.H.Chatterton, F.Rait, L.Goodey, A.E.Stanfield, C.T.Dunn, T.O.Dunn and S.Green.

The meeting was opened by the Chairman of the Organizing Committee {Mr T.O Dunn} before a crowd of approximately 60 persons. The following officers were elected to our first Committee of Management. *Patron - Dr C.N.Atkins *President - Mr J.Miller *Deputy President - Mr G.B.Cassidy *Secretary - Mr A.E.Stanfield *Assistant Secretary - Mr W.E.Verrell *Treasurer - Mr G.Hook *Committee - Messrs S.Green, G.Rudolph, B.Walker, C.Geappen, K.Mather, C.Dunn.

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The first Committee meeting was held at the Commercial Bank building on 10th January 1945, when resignations were received from Messrs G.Hook and K.Mather, and on 17th January 1945, Messrs T.O.Dunn and W.Buchanan were elected to fill the two vacancies on the Committee.

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The Club's first coach {Mr C.Geappen} was appointed on Wednesday 14th February 1945. Unfortunately, the Club could not win a match that year. The first Annual General Meeting was held at the Hobart Town Hall, Hobart, on 28th February 1946, and our bank balance showed a credit of £16/12/7.

District Football Era - 1945-1985 The Hobart Football Club was a charter member of the TANFL. It failed to win a match in its first season under Captain/Coach Cecil Geappen and won only two matches in 1946. 1947 saw the Tigers begin to emerge as a powerful force in the competion, winning 12 games and suffering a narrow defeat at the hands of North Hobart in the Grand Final. Hobart undoubtedly produced its finest era in the Club's history over the next twenty years, winning Senior Premierships in 1950, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1963 and 1966 and being Runner Up in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1955. The Tigers also won thier only State Premiership on 26th September 1959 by defeating Burnie at North Hobart Oval in front of a crowd of 13,223 people. The Club also was a perennial finallist during this era, missing the finals in 1945, 1946 and 1958. Hobart's Reserve XVIII also won thier only premiership in the Club's history in 1955. In 1955 the Hobart Football Club also set a record for Club Membership at this time, having recorded 1200 financial members that year, the Club was also the first Club to have reached 1000 members - set in 1948. Such great names in Tasmanian football as Powell, Pascoe, Payne, Stewart, Wilson, Sullivan were Hobart Legends at this time.

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After the thrilling 1-point triumph over Glenorchy in the 1966 Grand Final, the Hobart Football Club experienced the first of its many lows over the next thirty years. The Tigers finished wooden spooners in 1967,1968,1969,1970,1971 and was lying on the bottom of the table midway through 1972 when the Club made a miraculous recovery to fall 4-points short of a Grand Final. New Norfolk hung on in a thriller to deny the Tigers an almost miracle in the Preliminary Final.

In 1973, "Appleton's Army" under Coach Allan Appleton struggled into the Final Four and somehow scrambled its way to a Grand Final against the "Invincible" Rod Olsson led Sandy Bay. The Seagulls were undefeated all season and were unbackable odds with the bookies on Grand Final day. The old Tiger spirit was to come to the fore that day and Hobart produced probably the greatest miracle in modern football with a gutsy 20-point win over the crestfallen Seagulls 11-19-85 to 10-5-65 in front of 14,720 stunned fans at North Hobart Oval - This was undoubtedly Hobart Football Club's greatest ever victory.

The superb 1980 TANFL Premiership side also won the inaugural Winfield Cup Statewide Premiership that year. Coached by Paul Sproule, the Tigers led by a talented bunch of committed goers defeated Glenorchy by 35-points in the Grand Final in front of 17,111 people in what was - to this day - the largest crowd to have witnessed the Black and Gold play.

The Tigers suffered more down times during this period finishing wooden spooners in 1978, 1979, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985. One bright spark in a dark era was Club Champion Scott Wade winning the 1984 William Leitch Medal. Hobart also lost its home ground at the end of 1982, when meddling Football administrators stepped in and forcibly removed the Club from the TCA Ground and relocated the Tigers to KGV Park, Glenorchy. Hobart's final match at the TCA was against North Hobart which won 21-26-152 to Hobart 13-22-100 before 1234-people. This did untold damage to the Club as angry supporters refused to attend matches at KGV and failed to sign up as members - the Club possibly never recovered from this.

Statewide Football Era 1986-1997 Under new Coach, football legend Peter Hudson the young Hobart side became a competitive side once again making the finals in 1986 and 1987, but were eliminated during both years. Hobart's first match in Statewide Football was against East Launceston {Now South Launceston} at KGV Park. The Tigers gave away a massive lead to lose to the rookies by 4-points 19-14-128 to 18-24-132 in front of just over 700 people. The Club moved back to North Hobart Oval during this time and in 1988, Hobart signed a major coup with former South Melbourne and Sydney Swan Mark Browning signing as Senior Coach. The club was flying high midway through 1988 after handing North Hobart a 114-point thrashing in a fiery encounter, sadly that was as good as it got for Hobart who lost its next seven matches to crash out of finals contention. The Club produced a magnificent display of guts and determination in 1989 to make its first Grand Final since 1980 with a fairly average side. 16,561-people saw Hobart bound away to lead by almost 40-points midway through the second quarter only to see a rampaging North Hobart ram home 8 goals in 11-minutes to hit the lead at half time. The second half was all North as they ended Hobart's brave run by 30-points.

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1990 was the year of revenge as a star studded line-up absolutely destroyed a plucky North Launceston with a 10-6 to 1-2 blast in the final quarter to take the Cup by 58 points after scores were level at three quarter time. Tiger Full-Forward Michael Winter won the Darrel Baldock Medal for Best on Ground with 7-goals. 1991 saw a solid year for the club as they were beaten in the Elimination final in all three grades at Devonport Oval by Burnie Hawks {Seniors} New Norfolk {Reserves} and North Launceston {Colts} - this was the first time in the Club's history that all three grades had simultaneously made the finals. The Tigers made a brilliant start to 1992 but were injury riddled by late season and only the rain, snow and the mud of North Hobart Oval saved the Tigers that year. Copping a 97-point thrashing by North Hobart in the Qualifying Final, the Tigers beat Clarence the following week and beat the Robins 5-5-35 to 3-5-23 in appalling conditions in the Preliminary Final. North Hobart once again proved to be Hobart's bogey side in the Grand Final after a hard encounter, the Demons ran out winners by 28-points. The years of 1993-1997 proved to be a nightmare for the Hobart Football Club.

Speculation constantly surrounded the Club over its poor financial state, its poor on-field performance, its low membership and decreasing supporter base. All of its stars had gone, as had a succession of coaches such as Mark Browning, Wayne Petterd, Greg Lane and Gary Williamson. The Tigers were in the firing line from the TFL over its significant debt to the taxation department also. In the summer of 1996-1997 the Hobart Football Club had a mass exodus of more than 40 players from its Senior and Reserves teams in protest at the worsening situation of the Club and the Board of the Club at the time. The club was only able to field three sides - as was legally required by the Club - a few days before the start of the season, but was soundly thrashed in every game in the Seniors and Reserves by an average margin of 140-points. Hobart Football Club's final game as the Tigers in Statewide Football was on 23rd August 1997 when it lost 11-6-72 to North Hobart 18-12-120 in front of 1864-people at North Hobart Oval on what was a terribly emotional day.

The Hobart Football Club has won 9 Tasmanian Football League premierships in 1950, 1954, 1959, 1960, 1963, 1966, 1973, 1980 and 1990. The club was runner up on six occasions in 1947, 1949, 1952, 1955, 1989 and 1992. The clubs grand final appearance record stands at about 30% or about 1 in 3 over 52 years of its existence, which by any standard is a notable achievement. The club also secured the senior Southern Football League Premiership in 1999 and the Colts were premiers in 2000.

The Hobart Football Club has produced William Leitch Medallists consistently over the years with household names like Jack Sullivan, Trevor Leo, Mal Pascoe, Burnie Payne, David Sullivan and Scott Wade. The club has produced many fine players who have excelled in both the TFL and Tasmanian teams and has been the stepping stone to a VFL/AFL League career for many players including triple Brownlow Medallist Ian Stewart, Paul Sproule, Burnie Payne, Scott Wade, Paul Hudson, Mathew Armstrong, Jamie Shanahan, Alistair Lynch, Andrew Lamprill and Michael Martin.

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HOBART FOOTBALL CLUB GAMES RECORD HOLDERS

287 272 260 242 238 236 226 221 219 211 205 202 188 179 177 177 174 169 168 167 163 162 160 159 158 157 157 155 154 153 153 153 146

D.K Wilson D.M Powell P.J Ratcliffe N.H Legro B.T Payne S.Gillbee W.A Petterd L.J Commane R.R Hill E.P Reid M.Free M.A Dickson D.A Sullivan S.D Gray A.J Appleton M.L Pascoe P.H Gray S.W Gay W.E Halley P.G Bennett K.Bailey J.B Thiessen R.P Wilson J.W Howard T.R Marchant S.G Brain A.Nilsson G.K Bailey S.Willis K.J Anderson B.E Griggs G.E Rogers D.Wickham

136 128 122 121 120 118 118 118 117 117 116 114 114 114 112 112 111 110 108 108 107 107 107 103 103 103 102 102 100 100 100 100 100

D.Hall J.Harvey T.Riseley G.A Thurley G.L Cashion J.M Whittle R.P Dolliver A.P Morton W.T Williams G Nilsson J.Kenny A.J Leitch A.P Hills G.R Jackson A.Alderton W.J Appleton P.S Midson A.H Gibson T.C Walker H.Bailey R.W Miller L.Pearson B.Walsh A.J McIvor G.A Gaylor H.J Faull K.R Park S.Free B.R Payne P.Sproule C.M Fagan B.Free A.Maher

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HOBART FOOTBALL CLUB BEST AND FAIREST WINNERS 1945 - 2004

1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976

N.Atkins H.Bailey J.D Sullivan R. Verrier A.R Hughes A.R Hughes A.R Hughes P.J Williams L. Synott T.Riseley J.W Golding K.T Free T.J Leo R.R Hill D. M Powell T.J Leo D.M Powell D.M Powell B.T Payne D.A Sullivan D.M Powell D.M Powell D.M Powell N.C Mewett D.K Wilson G.P Burrill M.Bugg R.S Claridge M.R Bugg J.Emin M.P Krause R.D Wright

1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

K.J Anderson M.A Dickson W.K Cripps S.A Wade W.A Petterd C.M Fagan K.J Anderson T.R Marchant G.Thirgood S.A Wade S.A Wade C.E Hoyer C.E Hoyer M.J Browning J.K Shanahan G.K Keogh G.K Keogh P.Baldwin B.Tapp R.Veale S.Gillbee S.Gillbee M.Free J.Harvey S.Willis B.Quinn M.Graves M.Knott C.Haremza M.Harvey

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HFC History

Premierships: TFL - 1950, 1954, 1959-60, 1963, 1966, 1973, 1980, 1990 (9 total); SFL - 1999 (1 total)

Tasmanian State Premierships: 1959 (1 total)

Other premierships: TFL Statewide Cup 1980 (1 total - only time the competition was held)

William Leitch Medallists: J.D.Sullivan 1947; T.J.Leo 1957; M.Pascoe 1959; B.Payne 1955 & 1956; S.Wade 1984 (5 Medallists/6 Medals)

Most Games: 272 by Dennis Powell

Record Home Attendance: 7,704 on 1 April 1960: Clarence 15.11 (101); Hobart 13.12 (90)

Record Finals Attendance: 17,111 for 1980 grand final at North Hobart Oval: Hobart 14.9 (93); Glenorchy 7.16 (58)

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Hobart may have only spent 53 seasons in the TFL but their success in winning 9 premierships from 15 grand finals during that time represents the commendable return of a flag every 5.9 years, a record which few clubs anywhere can match. Sadly, however, by the mid to late 1990s the club was finding itself unable to cope with the increasing economic demands which life in the expanded TFL involved. At the end of the 1997 season Hobart (along with Sandy Bay and Launceston) were expelled from the competition.

Hobart's first season in the TFL in 1945 coincided with the re-organisation of the League along district lines. Hobart and Sandy Bay replaced Cananore and Lefroy and joined established clubs New Town and North Hobart in forming a four team competition which expanded to six clubs with the admission of Clarence and New Norfolk two seasons later.

Given the small number of opposition clubs it was not all that difficult to make an impact. Hobart reached the grand final for the first time in 1947, losing to North Hobart by 10 points. Two years later they were again on the wrong side of the ledger, this time against New Town, but the following year they turned the tables on the Eagles with a nerve-wracking 3 point triumph.

Hobart played off for the flag on average every other season during the 1950s, winning 3 times and losing twice. The 1959 season was particularly noteworthy in that they held TFL grand final opponents New Norfolk to the miserly total of 2.9 (21) before going on to win the state flag for the first and only time. The following season saw back to back premierships being procured for the only time in the club's history, but the state flag went north to NTFA side City-South.

Hobart's 1960 premiership victory was emulated on each of the club's next 4 grand final appearances, the last of which, in 1980, coincided with a memorable victory over Clarence in the grand final of the first ever statewide premiership, which was played as an adjunct to the TFL's, NTFA's and NWFU's regular competitions. When the TFL itself embarked on the road toward becoming a statewide competition in 1986 Hobart's involvement was taken for granted. The side reached a grand final in 1989, losing to North Hobart, but won comfortably in 1990 against North Launceston. The Tigers were still a force as late as 1992, reaching the grand final of that year only to succumb once more to Mark Yeates' all conquering Demons. Five seasons later Hobart's TFL career was all over.

For season 1998 Hobart took its place in the Southern Football League, which had been formed as recently as 1996. Because League founding members Kingston had already laid claim to the 'Tigers' emblem Hobart elected to adopt a simple 'HFC' logo; the club's traditional colours of black and gold were retained.

Success under the new guise was not long in coming: in 1999, with Dale Hall bagging 88 majors for the season to top the League list, Hobart scored a comfortable grand final victory over Brighton. Hobart won 20.9 (129) to 11.12 (78), a margin of 51 points. The Hobart candle may, of necessity, have dimmed somewhat, but it still burns.

In January 2001 the news emerged that the statewide TFL was no more. Consequently, for season 2001 Hobart was joined in the SFL by 4 former TFL opponents: New Norfolk (which joined in 2000), Clarence, Glenorchy and North Hobart. Meanwhile a composite Tasmanian team was granted probationary admission to the VFL, thereby further diminishing the profile of the Southern Football League and its member clubs. Whatever the future brings, however, Hobart's historical achievements can never be annulled as long as there are minds and hearts to acclaim them.

Written for publication by John Devaney

18/8/02

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HOBART SENDS GILLBEE OFF IN STYLE AFTER 250 GAMES



Hobart ran rampant over an ordinary Glenorchy side at the TCA Ground yesterday. In Captain/Coach Steve Gillbee's 250th and Final appearance in the Black and Gold colours the players gave "The Plover" an emotional and fitting farewell to his playing career with and emphatic 55-point win. In an engrossing and high standard opening term both sides traded goals in a shoot-out with the Storm registering the first two goals before Hobart rammed home the next three to take a 13-point lead at the 15-minute mark. Both sides went at it hammer and tongs until the siren, with Storm leading by a goal at the first break. The second term was tremendous for Hobart as they attacked the Smith Stand end and completely dominated with a slight breeze registering a 7-6 to 2-0 second term to go in at the long break leading by 30-points as the boisterous Hobart supporters lifted the home side tremendously. The third quarter saw a much tighter Storm outfit come out and put tremendous pressure on Hobart. Glenorchy registering the first two goals of the quarter but Hobart were continuing to hold all the aces and were able to kick the steadying goal just when it was needed, Shaun Sartori was in magnificent touch yet again. By late in the third term the crowd had built up dramatically and well over 1000-people had assembled for the late stages of the match. Hobart going into the final break 24-point leaders.

The final quarter was again all Hobart as the players lifted once more as Glenorchy attacked the scoreboard end goal in the opening minutes. A succession of Hobart goals sent the very large crowd into raptures as the Storm couldn't take a trick - Storm forward Matthew Honey raced into an open goal and missed from 3-metres out - much to the delight of the Hobart fans near the scoreboard. Then Steve Gillbee sharked a loose ball from a pack and dodged, weaved and snapped a magnificent goal which almost lifted the roof off the Powell Pascoe Payne Stand at the 24-minute mark. The almost English Soccer-like roar of "Ploooverrr" "Ploooverrr" "Ploooverrr" was being roared from the Main Stand after the goal for several minutes afterwards. Then the siren sounded and there was a ground invasion as a couple of hundred spectators ran out on to the ground to join the players who hoisted Gillbee high above their shoulders in front of the Powell Pascoe Payne Stand. The players and supporters then joined in the chorus of "Hobart forever boys" as many hundreds of spectators gathered outside the rooms to cheer Gillbee off for the last time. It was very heartening to see both Hobart and Glenorchy supporters and many of Gillbee's former team-mates throughout his lengthy playing career cheering Steve off the field. Hobart: 5-1-31, 12-7-79, 14-10-94, 19-15-129 Glenorchy: 6-1-37, 8-1-49, 11- 4 -70, 11- 8 - 74 Attendance: 1070 at TCA Ground

Steve Gillbee addressing the Hobart players

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