The 1885 Tasmanian Football Association Season Pictorial Record

No Intercolonial matches were played during the season due to the high cost of playing the matches incurred by the Cricket Association. The Northern City Club had its most successful season to that time and claimed the title of premier of the colony due to its record and success in its match against the Railway Club. The TFA season was reported as the finest and most successful to have been played to that time. Holebrook won the premiership and a silver cup in its match with Railway on September 19. Over 70 photographs and 200 player profiles make this the most pictorial record of the 1885 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.