Tasmania Football Club

Successful bid and founding

Australian rules football has been played in Tasmania since the 1860s and has long been the state's most popular spectator sport. A 2018 study of Internet traffic showed 79% of Tasmanians (424,459) were interested in it, the highest rate in the country,^[10] which was, according to Roy Morgan, a figure higher than the number of supporters of around half of existing AFL clubs.^[11]

The notion of a Tasmanian team in the VFL/AFL competition had long been suggested, with multiple formal propositions and bids since the 1980s.^[12] Successive bids during expansion periods for the competition, in the 1990s and late 2000s, were spurned in favour of Fremantle, Port Adelaide, Gold Coast and Greater Western Sydney.

In 2019, a government-appointed taskforce chaired by Brett Godfrey, with backing from the Tasmanian Government and at the advice of the AFL,^[13] was set up to commission a business case for a team to be assessed by the league.

By 2021 the state's premier, Peter Gutwein, refused to re-negotiate deals to extend Tasmanian-based AFL premiership matches for Victorian clubs Hawthorn and North Melbourne, without the AFL committing to a timetable for the introduction of a Tasmanian team.^[14][15] An independent review was subsequently overseen by former AFL Commissioner and Geelong Football Club president Colin Carter, and this was publicly released in mid-2021, which concluded a standalone Tasmanian team could be financially viable with the ongoing assistance of government and league funding.^[16][17]

In November 2022, amidst ongoing momentum and public interest throughout the year, an in-principle agreement was reached between the AFL and Tasmanian Government, under Premier Jeremy Rockliff, on the commercial terms for Tasmania's bid for a 19th licence, which would be awarded to a government-established entity known as the Tasmanian AFL Licence Taskforce.^[18] The AFL and club presidents met on 2 May 2023, and provided unanimous support to award the 19th licence to Tasmania. The following day, AFL Chief Executive Officer Gillon McLachlan formally announced the team's admission to the competition at North Hobart Oval, confirming the men's team will join the Australian Football League from the 2028 season.^[19][20]

Following the Tasmanian Parliament's approval of the Macquarie Point Stadium in December 2025, it was confirmed that the club's senior women's team would also compete in the AFL Women's competition from 2028.^[8]

Competitive debut and list concessions

On 5 September 2025, Tasmania was granted a licence to compete in the Victorian Football League (VFL) and VFL Women's (VFLW), starting in 2026.^[21] Home games will be played in Hobart and Launceston, with the possibility of also playing games in Penguin.^[22] Jeromey Webberley was appointed as the club's inaugural VFL coach, while former Essendon player Jye Menzie became the club's first player when he was signed on 30 September 2025.^[23][24]

To build its inaugural playing list, the Devils will receive picks 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 and 13, and the first selection of each subsequent round in the 2027 national draft; among those, picks 5, 7, 11 and 13 must be traded with other clubs. In their second and third drafts, the Devils will receive fixed picks 5 (to be traded), 9 and the first selection in each round from the second round onwards, in addition to their natural draft hand. The club will have a $5 million sign-on bonus to sit outside the salary cap for the first two years in the competition, priority access to Tasmanian academy players and an increased list size of up to 48 players for the first three AFL seasons, gradually reducing to regular list size by the sixth season.^[25] Similar concessions were granted to the women's team.^[26]

Tasmania made their competitive debut in the VFL on 21 March 2026, in a match against Coburg. Playing before a capacity crowd of 10,634 spectators at North Hobart Oval, the Devils won 14.12 (96) to 11.13 (79).^[27]

Club Song

Tasmania's club song is sung to the tune of Along the Road to Gundagai

Nickname and colours

On 18 March 2024, the Tasmania Football Club's branding, colours and foundation guernsey were officially launched at several historical football-related sites across the state.^[28] The team's name was announced as the Tasmania Devils, with the nickname acknowledging the carnivorous marsupial extinct on the mainland and found only in Tasmania.^[29]

The 'devils' nickname has previously been used by the state's Victorian Football League (VFL) and Talent League sides and was confirmed only after negotiations with Warner Bros., whose Tasmanian Devil cartoon character held a trademark on the name.^[30] The colours of myrtle green, rose red and primrose yellow were adopted and are based on the colours of the historical Tasmanian interstate representative teams.^[31] A foundation guernsey, green with a centrally located red "T" on a yellow map of Tasmania, was unveiled.^[32] The guernsey received some criticism for being underwhelming, though Tasmanian broadcaster David Lithgow later confirmed the guernsey was considered a "foundation jumper" by the club to be used sparingly in the AFL.^[33]

Mascot

In March 2025, the club unveiled the team's mascot, Rum'un, a Tasmanian Devil made of materials sourced from recycled school uniforms throughout Tasmania. The name is Tasmanian slang for "an odd or eccentric person; a scallywag, or someone cheeky".^[34]

Training base

The club will be based at the Kingston Twin Ovals complex, located in the town of Kingston, twelve kilometres south of the Hobart City Centre.^[35] The facility has been the long-term home ground of the Kingborough Football Club. $60 million was initially allocated to upgrading the facility for the Devils,^[36] however by May 2025 this had blown out to $105 million.^[37]

In addition to the two existing football ovals at the site, two more ovals, a gym, aquatic centre, recovery areas, indoor training and administrative facilities will be built, providing a permanent home for the club's teams. The Kingston announcement came after several months of geotechnical investigations at the government's original site, within or adjacent to the Rosny Parklands on Hobart's eastern shore, revealed extensive works would need to be completed to allow the construction of the facility.^[35]

Sponsorship

Tasmania's inaugural sponsorship arrangement, announced in February 2026, was made with Hobart-based footwear brand Blundstone Footwear (stylised as simply "Blundstone"). The brand features on the front chest and bottom of the back of the guernsey and is in effect until 2032.^[46]

Football department

In May 2025, the club made its first key appointments of its inaugural football department, being Derek Hine as Head of Recruiting and Todd Patterson as Head of List Management and Strategy.^[48] Subsequently, the club appointed Scott Clayton as a Future Talent Consultant and the club's first employee, Lizzie Dingeldei, as National Football Recruiting Assistant.^[49][50]

VFL team

After Jye Menzie became the first player signed to the VFL team in September 2025, the club built up the team-at-large over the next few months. The foundation VFL squad was confirmed on 18 December 2025 with Robbie Fox named as the inaugral VFL captain.^[51][52][53]

VFLW team

The inaugural VFLW squad was confirmed in February 2026.^[57]