Football Federation Tasmania is highly encouraged by the pronouncement from FFA regarding the potential for A-League expansion ahead of the 2019-2020 season.

The intention to expand the A-League to 12 teams now offers the very real chance for a Tasmanian side to transform the A-League into a truly national competition and FFT President Bob Gordon believes that everything is in place to make that a reality.

“We’re thrilled with FFA for putting expansion of the A-League front and centre on the agenda and with the opportunity that now provides Tasmanian Football. At a time when AFL is ignoring the State on the issue of expansion, this represents a truly golden opportunity for Football to steal a march and give Tasmania the professional sporting team it has long been crying out for.”

Gordon said he believed the consortium backing the bid led by Harry Stamoulis and Robert Belteky had Tasmania well positioned to take one of the 2 A-League licenses on offer with strong political support in place.

“There have now been highly constructive talks with both major parties and there is no doubt the political will to get this done exists.”

But Gordon added that should Tasmania be granted an A-League license, it would then present new challenges for the State to address.

“When we get an A-League side that is only going to further grow the game which would only exacerbate the already urgent need for new facilities. We have the highest participation rate of any sport in the State but right now we simply don’t have enough pitches to fit all the players on.”

Football Federation Tasmania has placed a strong emphasis on improving infrastructure following an extensive statewide audit conducted last year. Both upgrading existing infrastructure and building new facilities was found to be the biggest area that needed addressing to facilitate the growth of the game. It was identified as the key objective in the Federation’s Five Year Plan for Football in Tasmania, released last November.

“As the fastest growing sport in Australia with the highest number of participants, we need to keep up with that demand. Football has previously been overlooked for funding initiatives and as a result the quality of facilities has failed to keep up with the current demand. Many clubs do not have regular or sufficient access to grounds which is a major constraint to participation. This needs to be addressed now to ensure a sustainable growth of football in Tasmania. Concluded Gordon.