On Monday, 13 June 1960 (Queen's Birthday holiday), the

Tasmanian ) , nickname = , image_map = Tasmania in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Tasmania in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdi ...

state team hosted a Victorian state team in an

interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

match at

York Park York Park is a sports ground in the Inveresk and York Park Precinct, Launceston, Australia. Holding 19,000 people – the largest capacity stadium in Tasmania, York Park is known commercially as University of Tasmania Stadium and was formerly ...

, Launceston. The Tasmanian team won by seven points, considered one of the biggest interstate football upset victories of all time, and one of the greatest moments in the history of Tasmanian football. It was the first of only two victories by Tasmania against a Victorian Football League or Victorian state of origin team, from a total of 29 matches. A then-record Launceston crowd of 15,600 attended the game. Tasmania played the better football early, and opened a 17 point lead at quarter time. Victoria fought back gradually throughout the day, and hit the front for the first time ten minutes into the final quarter. A tight contest ensued, and the scores remained level with only two minutes remaining; but, Tasmania kicked the final goal of the game and ended by winning by seven points, 13.13 (91) d. 12.12 (84).

Teams

Tasmania

The Tasmanian team, as usual, was selected among players from the three major senior leagues. The 1960 team demonstrated the rise of the

North West Football Union The North West Football Union (NWFU) was an Australian rules football competition which ran from 1910 to 1986. In its time it was one of the three main leagues in Tasmania, with the Tasmanian Football League and Northern Tasmanian Football Asso ...

as a senior football body, as it was the first time that more union players had been selected than league or association players. Additionally, the original choice for captain of the team, the union's

Darrel Baldock Darrel John Baldock AM (29 September 1938 – 2 February 2011) was an Australian sportsman and state politician. He played Australian rules football for the St Kilda Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL), East Devonport Footba ...

, was the first player who had never previously played in the TANFL to be selected captain – although he ultimately missed the game with injury and the league's Stuart Spencer became captain.

Victoria

The Victorian team was selected from among

Victorian Football League The Victorian Football League (VFL) is an Australian rules football league in Australia serving as one of the second-tier regional semi-professional competitions which sit underneath the fully professional Australian Football League (AFL). It ...

players, and included one player of Tasmanian origin: Verdun Howell. The team was the weaker of two VFL representative teams engaged in interstate football on the day: the first choice VFL team was playing an interstate match against

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

in Melbourne on the same day, and the second choice team travelled to Launceston for the match against Tasmania.

References

{{Aussie Rules in Tasmania 1960 in Australian rules football Australian rules football games