Hobart F.C at the cross roads

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ok. we've all had our belly full of plum pudding and so now its time to re focus.

i spoke to two ex Hobart fc board members at K&D today, both of whom are respectable individuals and in the know of what is going on with the push for the club to play games out of the new Kingborough oval.

Both are worried that playing away from the TCA was flirting with danger. I suggested the club had always punched above its weight and that the time had come to consider a shift back a cog and re-enter the SFL.

Both agreed and one even said the Old Scholars may be an option.

Kingpin over to you.
 

Kingpin

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Had an interesting chat in the street with an ex-player yesterday whose father was a premiership player and stalwart with the club (who now refuses to attend Hobart games), and he made mention of the fact that Hobart was in considerable trouble.
I've been completely flat-chat of late so haven't been hearing a lot about what's going on up there since the AGM debacle, but it didn't sound good what I was told.

Fact of the matter is, the knives have been out for this football club since 1971 and we've been able to, somehow, ride though all these crises through passion.
Hobart has been largely very poor on-field since 1967 with the exception of a great period under Hudson and Browning from 1986-1992, the lack of real success over such a long period at the top level has been costly as has our being bullied by League administration over the years by shunting the club here, there and everywhere, contrary to what is genuinely best for our club.
Also, our own, at times shambolic administration has been a huge problem.

There have been a LOT of very passionate people involved with the club over many decades that have refused to let the club go under, but unfortunately over the past 15 years (the past 10 especially) the club has systematically alienated each and every single one of them.
In the past ten years there seems to have been this systematic approach to try and kill the passion in the club, and a systematic approach to try and remove anybody from the club who rails against that.
You simply cannot operate a sporting club that way, people will not cop this sort of thing these days and will refuse to get involved again.
Having spoken to a lot of people around the club, the general consensus of opinion is that it isn't the supporters club anymore.
You make a suggestion to a board member and you are either spoken to rudely or ignored for the rest of the season - there's a feeling that supporters have lost control of the club and that some board members (not all) seem to think that it's their own personal club to do what they like with.
This is exactly why people don't get involved anymore. Epic fail :thumbsdown:

SFL
Given that Glenorchy only just got let into the SFL with a slender margin in voting, the Magpies had an ace up their sleeve called KGV to call upon.
What have we got?
Secondly, rumour has it that AFL Tasmania threatened to pull funding to the NTFL if they threw cash-strapped Devonport a lifeline and let the decamp the TSL and rejoin the NTFL.
AFL Tasmania has a clear objective about getting Hobart to play games at Kingborough Oval and an eventual amalgamation of Kingborough and Hobart to be known as the Southern Tigers, who's to say they won't pull the same stunt with the SFL if we take that same approach?

Kingborough
Playing games at Kingborough is quite rightly seen to be fraught with danger, there are still an awful lot of people involved with Hobart that have absolutely no time for them at all after their constant efforts at knifing us through our entire stint in the SFL.
They were also partly the reason why the club went to the Lions for four years and just about destroyed us in the process.
As one player said recently, "I played for this club against those arseholes for years and now they want us to play with them? No way!".
Longtime stalwart and former player said, "I live in Kingston and I can tell you right now, I wouldn't go across the road to watch those pricks play, if Hobart gets involved with them then that's it for me after nearly fifty years, I'm finished with the club."
The hatred is very real and the club will no doubt cease to exist if an amalgamation attempt is made because just about all the remaining supporters will turn their back on the club if it happens.

Old Scholars
No. Not only that but we wouldn't get in anyhow. Channel had enough trouble getting in.
 

Ozguy

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SFL

Secondly, rumour has it that AFL Tasmania threatened to pull funding to the NTFL if they threw cash-strapped Devonport a lifeline and let the decamp the TSL and rejoin the NTFL.
AFL Tasmania has a clear objective about getting Hobart to play games at Kingborough Oval and an eventual amalgamation of Kingborough and Hobart to be known as the Southern Tigers, who's to say they won't pull the same stunt with the SFL if we take that same approach?

Funding? SFL gets nothing from AFL Tas. The NTFL must be kissing arse just a bit better.
 

Kingpin

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Funding? SFL gets nothing from AFL Tas. The NTFL must be kissing arse just a bit better.
So still no funding then? :(
Might be the case of providing umpires then. IIRC didn't Scott Wade threaten to ban the old TFLUA from officiating in any SFL matches if they didn't let Clarence, Glenorchy and North Hobart into the SFL in 2001?
I seem to remember something about that.

Just seems from what we've heard that Wade and the Hobart president have been very much in cohorts about trying to amalgamate Hobart and Kingborough ASAP, and having seen how that little prick likes to get his way all the time it wouldn't surprise anyone to see him trying sneaky little things like that to get it through. :thumbsdown:
 

kenton

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scott wade has stuffed football in tas the day he finishes , alf tas will be better off.football in tas has gone down hill in the last 10 to 15 years since he has been with afl tas teams folding and the devils gone:thumbsdown:
 

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Oh!! Is It That time of the year again, Not much news around so let's stick the boots into the old tigers on the hill again.
PS. The crossroads are a bit further up the road.
 

Kingpin

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Oh!! Is It That time of the year again, Not much news around so let's stick the boots into the old tigers on the hill again.
PS. The crossroads are a bit further up the road.
No, there's a lot of serious questions that do have to be asked about the club and its future.
It is not good and it's not about 'sticking the boots in' or ignoring the problem and trotting out the usual "Poor 'ol 'Obart" line that's been trotted out for the past 4 decades.
That's half the reason why we're in the mess we've been in for years.
There are problems, and the fact that it's people even closer to the club than either you or I that are saying that rings alarm bells for me.
Unless of course, one is quite chuffed at the prospect of being forced to amalgamate with Kingborough, because that is excatly what will happen, and that is exactly what Phillip Baker and Scott Wade were hellbent on doing to Hobart - with or without a mandate from the membership to do so.
They won't be the "Old Tigers on the Hill" anymore if things keep going as is, more like "former Tigers on the Hill 20-clicks down the highway full of Kingston people".

The whole thing makes me fucking livid!
 

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More good news? Hutchies web site is closing down because the club says its not professional enough !!:eek:
 

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More good news? Hutchies web site is closing down because the club says its not professional enough !!:eek:


Weird decision. Always thought that Hobarts was the best website of all the clubs. Always updated and had a lot of info.
 

Norchy_pies4life

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Untitledhob.png
 

Cure

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I heard that the reason that the website is down at the moment is because the club have asked whether they can co-admin the site so that they can add info immediately onto the page when required rather than going through the current admin via email etc which can take time.

Don’t think there is any issue with lack of professionalism at all.
 

Duff TV

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setting the record straight

I just need to get the record straight.

It seems I have caused a bit of confusion on just who were the two ex Hobart FC board members I spoke to at K&D in December which led to me creating this thread.

There are incorrect rumours flying around that these people were on the board in 2010. This is untrue. The two people I spoke to, to my knowledge were on the board years ago and like myself are concerned with where its all headed for the Hobart FC.

My intentions of being part of the Big Footy Forum is to express my views, create healthy debate and to promote what I do for my business.

I certainly would never intend to cause unwaranted trouble directed at individuals who do so much good for their club, usually unpaid.
 

Kingpin

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More good news? Hutchies web site is closing down because the club says its not professional enough !!:eek:

Nah, I doubt that's the case to be honest.
Firstly, the website doesn't belong to the football club and they've got no say on what goes on with that.
It's the property of "Hutch" and he pays for the website and does all the maintenance to it.
Secondly, the club has generally always been highly supportive of Paul's site and has made mention of that in publications in the past as has the Old Players & Officials Association which has utilised the site in recent years.

Basically, it's not an official club website it is a fansite and like any website, it is only as useful as the information fed into it, if the club felt that it lacked things such as club contact details, email addresses etc then all it had to do was to make a request to the owner and I'm very sure he would've made all that available.
More than likely that the increasing costs of maintaining the site (his hobby) was starting to burn an even more considerable hole in his pocket and he also may not have had the time to maintain the site as much he did in previous years.

These things happen, maybe the club will help contribute some funds to keep it running if they can have access as well. I don't know :)

PS: Duff - I always took it that you were meaning board members from our days in the TFL, because I know they certainly aren't at all impressed with the direction Baker has taken the club during his lamentable tenure as president (since 2003 it's gone very, very Southbound - how ironic!).
I was chatting to another vocal, longtime Tiger supporter last night when I was walking through Moonah, tried to get him to come back to the Tigers - he also said he's finished with them and won't ever come back. Hates them. :(
 

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Nah, I doubt that's the case to be honest.
Firstly, the website doesn't belong to the football club and they've got no say on what goes on with that.
It's the property of "Hutch" and he pays for the website and does all the maintenance to it.
Secondly, the club has generally always been highly supportive of Paul's site and has made mention of that in publications in the past as has the Old Players & Officials Association which has utilised the site in recent years.

Basically, it's not an official club website it is a fansite and like any website, it is only as useful as the information fed into it, if the club felt that it lacked things such as club contact details, email addresses etc then all it had to do was to make a request to the owner and I'm very sure he would've made all that available.
More than likely that the increasing costs of maintaining the site (his hobby) was starting to burn an even more considerable hole in his pocket and he also may not have had the time to maintain the site as much he did in previous years.

These things happen, maybe the club will help contribute some funds to keep it running if they can have access as well. I don't know :)

PS: Duff - I always took it that you were meaning board members from our days in the TFL, because I know they certainly aren't at all impressed with the direction Baker has taken the club during his lamentable tenure as president (since 2003 it's gone very, very Southbound - how ironic!).
I was chatting to another vocal, longtime Tiger supporter last night when I was walking through Moonah, tried to get him to come back to the Tigers - he also said he's finished with them and won't ever come back. Hates them. :(

I have always wondered whether the long time supporters that hate the club really have the clubs best interests at heart? Their gripe usually is with something that happened or someone from days gone by, usually neither now relevant!

I witnessed at least 35 maybe 40 players on the track on Monday night and the training session was fantastic. The group looks fit and the ball stayed off the deck all night, Daniel Willing and Michael (no I'm not going to Glenorchy) Cassidy taking the session and there were at least 3/4 board members present from what I could see, a couple of trainers, massage people etc. The club really just suffers from bad publicity but they are not on their knees quite yet. If they were bad surely young Charlesworth wouldn't be training with them whilst back in Tassie, he'd be at Clarence or Nth Hobart. Briggs is back and this bloke looks the real deal, as fit as any player in TSL footy, very strong looking and his skills were superb, he hit Cassidy in front of his eyes every kick over 40m in a full field drill and his running was explosive, the rest of the group lifted to these guys level. I saw a couple of new recruits looking trim and working hard, Todd Willing looks to have dropped around 10kgs and was moving well and very vocal and Lemm is up and about.

Maybe some of these old club stalwarts who hate the club should come and watch these young blokes train and see their passion, dont punish the current playing group and coaches for the clubs past errors. They have had largely the same coaching staff now for 3 years, same fitness coach, same trainers and everyone looks very happy indeed, Brer Fox is the reason for a lot of this, he is up front, honest and passionate from what I have been told by players and is approachable. The people that bag the club, the players that bag the club, they seem to be in the minority:confused:maybe it is them who is the problem not the club itself. How about some of you people get off your arses and come to Ogilvie on Mondays or Thursdays or to the TCA on Wed's mornings at 6am and watch these boys train, get to know them, even volunteer to help in some way. Don't worry about Kingston or story's of financial hardship, help move the club forward not hold them back!
 

Kingpin

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I have always wondered whether the long time supporters that hate the club really have the clubs best interests at heart? Their gripe usually is with something that happened or someone from days gone by, usually neither now relevant!
I think you will find that the current president of the club is 95% responsible for much of that.
They don't all hate the club mind you, but there are many that do, all the same.
When you actually know some of the s**t that he's been up to then you would perhaps understand their reasoning a little better...
People up there used to say "get the colours 'n' jumper back and the people'll come back", but I always had the feeling there was a lot more to it than that, we had a great atmosphere up there in 1999/2000, it fell away very, very quickly.
It is sad, and I've been trying quite a bit to get people I've known to come back to the club but, you can't change people's thoughts unfortunately.


DOSACHOKER said:
I witnessed at least 35 maybe 40 players on the track on Monday night and the training session was fantastic. The group looks fit and the ball stayed off the deck all night, Daniel Willing and Michael (no I'm not going to Glenorchy) Cassidy taking the session and there were at least 3/4 board members present from what I could see, a couple of trainers, massage people etc. The club really just suffers from bad publicity but they are not on their knees quite yet. If they were bad surely young Charlesworth wouldn't be training with them whilst back in Tassie, he'd be at Clarence or Nth Hobart. Briggs is back and this bloke looks the real deal, as fit as any player in TSL footy, very strong looking and his skills were superb, he hit Cassidy in front of his eyes every kick over 40m in a full field drill and his running was explosive, the rest of the group lifted to these guys level. I saw a couple of new recruits looking trim and working hard, Todd Willing looks to have dropped around 10kgs and was moving well and very vocal and Lemm is up and about.
Cool. Glad to see Briggs back in the team, he had a bit of go in him that guy. Cassa will do well this year if they can get his kicking sorted.
Trent Harvey's in better shape now than what he was prior to the injury.
Todd Willing will be much better for the full pre-season too.
PS: Was talking to Dale Hall the other day, Aaron Hall's training at Port Melbourne under Gary Ayres, he's living with his bro in Melbs.


DOSACHOKER said:
Maybe some of these old club stalwarts who hate the club should come and watch these young blokes train and see their passion, dont punish the current playing group and coaches for the clubs past errors. They have had largely the same coaching staff now for 3 years, same fitness coach, same trainers and everyone looks very happy indeed, Brer Fox is the reason for a lot of this, he is up front, honest and passionate from what I have been told by players and is approachable.
No good of telling me, I've been saying to pop along and catch a match for ages now but they won't.
Brer's a very honest bloke and I like him and yes very approachable, same as when he used to play up there, remember him from then do ya?
Have you noticed that the president doesn't speak to Brer either DOSACHOKER? :confused:
I'm looking forward to the season starting up, I'll be still volunteering as usual.. As long as the Tigers are still up in town then I'm happy :)
PS: Do the players dropped from the Senior side know exactly where they're playing yet? Brighton? New Norfolk? Kingborough?
The first two have been approaching some of our players.


DOSACHOKER said:
The people that bag the club, the players that bag the club, they seem to be in the minority:confused:maybe it is them who is the problem not the club itself.
I take it that you haven't really taken an in-depth look at things then?
PS: How can a senior board member of a football club not even be a financial member?
Club needs a good clean up.


DOSACHOKER said:
How about some of you people get off your arses and come to Ogilvie on Mondays or Thursdays or to the TCA on Wed's mornings at 6am and watch these boys train, get to know them, even volunteer to help in some way.
What are you telling them on here for? They're not gonna read it here (at least I don't think so anyway).
You'll be seeing me this season as usual, come and have a Jimmy with me. We'll talk some more.


DOSACHOKER said:
Don't worry about Kingston or story's of financial hardship, help move the club forward not hold them back!
A noted change in tune from your post in December...
Getting rid of the president *might* end this Kingston rubbish and removing his nasty personality from the club would be like a breath of fresh air around the joint IMO, but we've seen this before back in 2003/04.
I reckon the place needs to go back to being a fun place to hang out once again.

By the way, when's this meeting to tell people who have stumped up their hard-earned to buy a membership the proper finances of the club?
Still waiting.. No good of doing the old "Don't you worry about that" Sir Joh Bjelke-Pietersen type thing when we haven't been told what exactly is going on yet.
The club won't go under in any case because the HFC Sports Club is financially very strong and it is they who underpin the club, but the club does needs to stand on its own two feet a bit more.

A good clean up would do wonders for the place - now THAT is moving forward.
See you in Round 1 :thumbsu:
 

DOSACHOKER

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sorry Kingpin, none of my post was actually targetted at you personally but more the points you brought up about others and what they say. I notice board members at training but they stand back and watch, never see them lend a hand. I usually watch from a distance, walking the dog past and am mates with a couple of current players (my informants who will remain nameless) and go up and watch where I can travel permitting. I agree about the president and a couple of board members and have heard that no financials have been presented at past 2 AGM's (???) surely this is enough to spill a board or dislodge a president? Maybe the members should request a meeting with the board and ask some questions??
 

Kingpin

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sorry Kingpin, none of my post was actually targetted at you personally but more the points you brought up about others and what they say. I notice board members at training but they stand back and watch, never see them lend a hand. I usually watch from a distance, walking the dog past and am mates with a couple of current players (my informants who will remain nameless) and go up and watch where I can travel permitting. I agree about the president and a couple of board members and have heard that no financials have been presented at past 2 AGM's (???) surely this is enough to spill a board or dislodge a president? Maybe the members should request a meeting with the board and ask some questions??

She's all good mate, no offence taken :thumbsu:
I actually agree with a fair bit of what you say too, just that I think they've really burnt a fair few too many bridges with a lotta people up there and that's where the problem lays a lot.
In all fairness, it goes back a bit further than the current president and a couple of other individuals but it's a real shame because I could see that club really going places if things were different, I just get the feeling that the damage has already been done and is irreversible. I hope I'm wrong.
I'd really love to see everyone back on the same page again getting behind the Tigers up here in the City.
Just on your last point there, I think it's more than two AGM's and that's just the tip of the iceberg.
The club's members questioned the financial position of the club when it was found that the figures were dubious at the recent AGM and they promptly shouted down and somewhat tried to belittle members for daring to question, then shut down the meeting ASAP and no meeting has taken place since for members to ask questions and be presented with correct figures.
Given the utter shonkiness of the whole club in the past seven or eight years it can be argued that even then, it is doubtful that any such presented figure could be deemed trustworthy to be taken at face value.
Personally, I'm just looking forward to the season starting and to see how the Tigers go again :thumbsu:
 

Duff TV

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I don't think anyone is being critical of the players or the current coaching staff.

My gripe is where the club will be in only a few years.

Playing games out of Kingborough will be the finish of the club.

Playing games from Nth Hobart Oval would have kept the club stable, attracted the VFL quality type players to the playing group the club needs and guess what success.

Have a chat to any ex Devil and they all say they have been approached but declined to go to Hobart largely because of the TCA playing surface.

It's not rocket science.
 

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Have a chat to any ex Devil and they all say they have been approached but declined to go to Hobart largely because of the TCA playing surface.

It's not rocket science.

That is interesting Duff because the playing surface at the TCA is fantastic, just ask the current playing group. The only issue is the centre square which is obviously a cricket pitch so if there is a lot of rain it gets claggy on top but I believe the problem is when it hardens it is like concrete and the council dont break it up pre game which is a mistake I would imagine.

I believe players don't go there because they see the club as unprofessional, a losing club with a poor culture toward training and being serious about footy, I don't really believe the ground has anything to do with it? If a player was offered $10k to play at Hobart and was getting $5k at Nth Hobart for example (purely hypathetical) I would imagine they would jump at it but they would go there wondering whether they would play finals???

Hobart suffer to a degree success wise because other clubs pay large sums of money to the better players and they have a winning history. If AFL Tas was fair dinkum about the TSL it would look more closely into clubs player payments and it would have forced Devils players when the team folded to be spread evenly across the teams. Neither of these things happened meaning smaller clubs like Hobart, Lauderdale, South Launny and to a lesser degree Nth Launny all struggle somewhat. Lauderdale will always struggle to win a premiership because they are really in a Clarence zone, Sorell geoographically would have been a better choice and possibly South Launny did not need to be invited into the league, then Launny would have 2 city clubs, Hobart 2, NW coast 2 and then Sorell or an Ulverstone and Glenorchy.

I cannot see any geographical sense in Kingston having a team, obviously others will disagree however they are whilst growing still a small community who do not have any relationship with the huon or Channel (both have greater relationship with Hobart/Nth Hobart) Glenorchy obviously has a massive base to choose and also New Norfolk and Brighton.

I believe that AFL Tas needs to support the foundation clubs for at least 10 years, get the competition in good order, have the talent spread evenly, not to who has the largest amount of $$ (or who spends the largest$) then look at introducing new teams if there are still issue with the old teams, maybe a relegation system?

Hobart have $$ but know too well that spending $$ on transient footballers who have no passion for the club is fraught with danger and not sustainable. A good example for Hobart is Heath Neville, good quality player who's body has never really been healthy. The club appear to be persevering with him in the background however are not throwing buckets of money at him either. That way he feels appreciated and wanted by the club but at the same time they are not losing $$ needlessly. He is only young, not yet finished Uni so getting him healthy now means he may still be a 10 yr player for Hobart:thumbsu:

These are the reasons I see Hobart struggling and maybe why the old timers or former supporters should either move on or bite the bullet and come back and support Brer, you are not supporting Phil Baker and he wont be around much longer, everyone knows that and definately become a member and say no to games at Kingston!
 

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I have been told there is a section of the HFC committee that is keen to build new club rooms up at the TCA.
I for one would be sad to see them go from the TCA. The surface of the ground was in good nick before the AC/DC concert way back in 2002?? I think the stage etc damaged a lot of the drainage etc. which has never been replaced.

Unfortunately all this current Hobart City Council is only good at is running a food taste fair and a mickey mouse tennis comp mean while Football intrastucture is in serious need at all HCC grounds.
I was told how much sand they have to spread on NH oval each year and was gob smacked
 
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I have been told there is a section of the HFC committee that is keen to build new club rooms up at the TCA.
I for one would be sad to see them go from the TCA. The surface of the ground was in good nick before the AC/DC concert way back in 2002?? I think the stage etc damaged a lot of the drainage etc. which has never been replaced.

Unfortunately all this current Hobart City Council is only good at is running a food taste fair and a mickey mouse tennis comp mean while Football intrastucture is in serious need at all HCC grounds.
I was told how much sand they have to spread on NH oval each year and was gob smacked

They do also use sand on the TCA ground surface, i know for a fact they aerated the ground after the footy season and then covered it with sand, however i'm not sure how often they manage to do this during the season.
 

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They do also use sand on the TCA ground surface, i know for a fact they aerated the ground after the footy season and then covered it with sand, however i'm not sure how often they manage to do this during the season.

once in last 4 years to the best of my knowledge from a cricket club contact, do have drainage issues post ACDC which HCC never fixed, well technically the damage was caused becauae the HCC laid the drainage incorrectly in the first place, typical:cool:
 

Kingpin

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I have been told there is a section of the HFC committee that is keen to build new club rooms up at the TCA.
I for one would be sad to see them go from the TCA. The surface of the ground was in good nick before the AC/DC concert way back in 2002?? I think the stage etc damaged a lot of the drainage etc. which has never been replaced.

Prior to sometime during 1999 the club itself used to conduct its own repairs to the playing surface to keep it in line on a lot of occasions, there was a volunteer by the name of Col Sullivan who used to go around the ground and water it, put those metal prods in the ground to air it out every couple of days and carry out other such repairs on a voluntary basis, I know I helped paint stands one year and other volunteers erected the old scoreboard beside the Ladies Stand.

The underground pipes were all pulled out by the Council after Hobart's last training session before the 1999 SFL Grand Final.
I know when we won the premiership, several of us were smashed off our tits and running around the ground in the dark that night with beer in the Cup and kept falling into all the holes that'd been dug.
The playing surface was in good condition - albeit a little hard in the centre - for all matches we played there during seasons 1994, 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000.

After the AC/DC concert was staged there on 27 January 2001 where an 86-tonne stage was erected in the forward-line at the cottage end, the underground pipes were severely damaged by that stage being placed there, not to mention some of the picket fences were kicked in by concert-goers and others parts were never properly reinstalled when they were removed to bring in equipment for the event.
During that SFL season the weather had been very inclement quite a number of times (North Hobart Oval required a helicopter to be brought in to dry the terrace wing for a VFL match at that time) and water and other matter was observed seeping through the surface in the forward line at that same end (just inside the semi-circle in line with the point-post on the city side) - in fact I helped another guy scoop some of it away with a shovel during a few matches - the stench was disgraceful.
It was during a Hobart v Glenorchy match there in the latter part of the season where constant overnight and morning showers led to the ground being completely submerged on the wing over by the indoor cricket nets with the rest of the ground being left in a quagmire condition from end to end, water was again seen seeping up through the ground at the cottage end.
The playing surface has generally suffered from quagmire conditions each Winter since, dependent on rainfall or lack of.
The Council did scoop an enormous amount of topsoil away from the centre wicket area some years ago, but the ground hasn't been able to cope with the rain as well since the concert, but I couldn't tell you if they've replaced underground pipes during the 2000's or not.
Most of the grounds around here are clay-based which are a real bastard when it's wet too.
 
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