Tassie jewel: Newcastle Jets' Andy Brennan is one of the isolated state's three A-League exports. Credit:Jonathan Carroll

Tasmania may have a long football history (there's still a fevered debate whether a game played in Hobart in 1879 was in fact the first football match played in Australia), but it's largely been an unremarkable one. Just 10 Socceroos have come from the Apple Isle, the national team has never played there, and Tasmania has never had a team at national league level. Backwater? Let's just say it's always been a long way from the centre, in every sense. But suddenly things are on the move. In a big way.

Sometime in the next week, the Tasmanian bid will be presented formally to the FFA. Not to join at some indeterminate point in the future, but now. All the ducks are in a row. There's no feasibility study required (done five years ago), no letters of support needed from key levels of government (done), no due diligence required (the major investors have already been involved in the A-League), no need to find a home ground (North Hobart Oval), no searching for a training centre (arranged). If this bid came from, say, southern Sydney, the FFA would be biting their arm off.

The cornerstone, of course, is that two wealthy former Melbourne Victory shareholders, Harry Stamoulis and Robert Belteky, will put up most of the money. Just as important is the fact that David Clarkson, one of the few Tasmanians to forge a long career in the NSL, is a key organiser. There's skin in this one. Stamoulis and Belteky see the value in having a team in Tasmania even though they're Victorians. Why? Because they're both passionate about the game. Passionate in the way that counts. Rival bids would kill for investors of this stature.

So the finance is there, and much more. Hobart City Council has provided tangible support by offering North Hobart Oval at a generous rent, South Hobart FC have offered their facilities at Darcy Street and Wellesley Oval as a training base, while Federal MP Andrew Wilkie is believed to be so enthusiastic that he'll find the $12 million needed to install temporary seating, improve floodlighting and upgrade broadcast and corporate facilities to bring North Hobart up to the required standards. With its location, its vista and its history, North Hobart Oval would easily become the most atmospheric ground in the A-League.