1879 Tasmanian Football Association Pictorial Record

The formation of the Tasmanian Football Association (TFA) in 1879 proved to be an enormous success and gave great impetus to the development of the game of football in Hobart and Tasmania. The status and quality of the football significantly improved, under the auspices of a governing body. The TFA confirmed the consistency and adherence to a set of rules for the game. The fact that there was an independent adjudicator to club disputes proved an enormous advantage in developing the decorum of the game. Over 40 photographs and 100 player profiles make this the most pictorial record of the 1879 Tasmanian Football Season published to date. This publication is the first of a series that provides details of the season of the Tasmanian Football Association from its inception in 1879 through the colonial seasons. The early years of Association football in Tasmania have been little published. They should be recognised as the foundation years of football in Tasmania. This series of publications is the result of research to collect and collate the details of the seasons in the first years of organised football competition in Tasmania. These important seasons established Australian Rules football as an integral part of the sporting landscape of Tasmania. It has become very evident that the passion and fervour experienced now as players and followers of the game, was familiar to those connected with the game in this foundation era. The features of the game, attendances and interest in the game, made football a very significant feature of the sporting communities of Tasmania at the time. It is hoped that these publications make an addition to the documentation of these pioneering early years of football in Tasmania.