The 1884 Tasmanian Football Association Season Pictorial Record

The second north v South match was played. It took place in Launceston. The previous NTFA did not operate in this season. City was the back to back premiership club. The Cricketers Club was recognised as the having won the TFA premiership to break the Railway Club’s three premierships in succession. The number of senior TFA clubs reduced to six from seven in 1883. New Town did not continue. After just one season Richmond and Pembroke did not continue. Two new clubs joined the senior ranks in Oatlands and Busby Park. Over 100 photographs and 300 player profiles make this the most pictorial record of the 1884 Tasmanian Football Season published to date. This publication is a part 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.