The South Launceston Football Club is an

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 ...

club currently competing in the Northern Tasmanian Football Association. They were formed through a merger between City-South and East Launceston in 1986, clubs in the former Northern Tasmanian Football Association (which is not related to the current NTFA). South Launceston was in the TFL Statewide League from 1986 to 1997, then the

Northern Tasmanian Football League The North West Football League is an Australian rules football competition in North West Tasmania. The league was previously known as the "Northern Tasmanian Football League" from its inception in 1987 until the end of the 2014 season. History ...

until 2008, then in the

Tasmanian Football League The Tasmanian State League (TSL), colloquially known as the "Tasmanian Football League (TFL)" (formerly known as the "Tasmanian Australian National Football League (TANFL)" and several other short-term names) is the highest ranked Australian ru ...

until 2013. The club is nicknamed ''The Bulldogs'', a name which was adopted upon the merger. City-South were the Redlegs and East Launceston had been known as the Demons. For their club colours they took City-South's red and white as well as the blue from East Launceston's guernsey to give them their current royal blue, red and white club colours.

Club history

The Statewide League Era

South Launceston's first taste of statewide football could be described as a failure. In 12 seasons in the Statewide Competition the Bulldog's never contested the finals with a highest finish of 6th in 1992. During these 12 years South Launceston managed to collect 3 wooden spoons, this feat has only been matched by New Norfolk who have spent a longer period in the statewide league.

Northern Tasmanian Football League

In 1998 South Launceston pre-empted the collapse of the statewide league in 2000 when they decided to join the NTFL. This move greeted them with success with them winning the 1998 and 1999 NTFL Premierships. South Launceston remained competitive while they were in this competition.

Tasmanian State League

In 2008 the South Launceston Football Club accepted an invitation to leave the

(NTFL) and join the new

in 2009. After three seasons of very poor on-field performance, which included two wooden spoons and a win–loss record of 8–46 across the three years, the club appointed

Mitch Thorp Mitchell Thorp (born 25 December 1988), better known as Mitch Thorp, is an Australian rules football player who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Thorp was a key position player, and was taken by ...

as playing coach for 2012. Under Thorp, the club rose to the minor premiership in 2013, with a record of 17–3, and went on to defeat

Burnie Burnie is a port city on the north-west coast of Tasmania, Australia. When founded in 1827, it was named Emu Bay, being renamed after William Burnie, a director of the Van Diemen's Land Company, in the early 1840s. , Burnie had an urban popu ...

in the Grand Final to win its first statewide premiership. However, while its premiership season was ongoing, on 3 July 2013, a meeting of club members determined in a split vote to not pursue a further license in the Tasmanian State League beyond the season. The club rejected an opportunity to have a joint venture with the Prospect Senior Football Club for a 10-year license in the TSL. The Prospect Senior Football Club and the Prospect Junior Football Club subsequently took up a 100% share of the TSL license and formed the Prospect State Football Club t/a Western Storm.

Northern Tasmanian Football Association

In late 2013 the South Launceston Football Club was successful in being accepted into the Northern Tasmanian Football Association (NTFA) and will play the first division against pre-merger rivals

Longford Longford () is the county town of County Longford in Ireland. It has a population of 10,008 according to the 2016 census. It is the biggest town in the county and about one third of the county's population lives there. Longford lies at the meet ...

and Scottsdale as well as previously amateur and country teams that make up the competition. The South Launceston team that first contested the NTFA in 2014 was successful in winning the senior premiership with a victory over Deloraine in the Grand Final.

Honours

History of Chairperson

* 2020–Present: Wayne Mitchell. * 2019: John Hosken. * 2016–2019: Felicity Viney, Legal Officer o
Northern Prosecution Services
* Unknown - 2016: Rod Patterson, Owner o
Autobarn

Club

(1): 2013 *

Tasmanian State Premiership The Tasmanian State Premiership was an Australian rules football tournament which was contested at the conclusion of the season, initially between the reigning Tasmanian Football League (TFL/TANFL) and Northern Tasmanian Football Association (18 ...

s (7): 1928, 1930, 1932, 1954, 1960, 1966, 1972 * Northern Tasmanian Football Association (28): 1886, 1887, 1890, 1891, 1895, 1902, 1903, 1907, 1908,1910, 1914, 1921, 1922, 1928, 1930, 1932, 1939, 1941, 1952, 1953, 1954,1956, 1959, 1960, 1962, 1966, 1972, 1974

Individual

Tasman Shields Trophy winners *Harry Wade 1925 *

Laurie Nash Laurence John Nash (2 May 1910 – 24 July 1986) was a Test cricketer and Australian rules footballer. An inductee into the Australian Football Hall of Fame, Nash was a member of South Melbourne's 1933 premiership team, captained South Melbo ...

1931, 1932 *Jock Connell 1934, 1939 * Ted Pickett 1935 * Max Pontifex 1938 *Harry Styles 1948 *Laurie Moir 1952 Hec Smith Memorial Medalists *Stuart Palmer 1971 * Derek Peardon 1973 *Rod Thomas 1983 All Australians * Geoff Long – 1956 NTFA Leading Goalkickers *R.Ellis (10)- 1886 *J.Riva (6) – 1887 *C.Allison (6) – 1890 *A.Norman (12) – 1894 *A.Norman (8) – 1895 *F.Angus (16) – 1896 *A.Norman (10) – 1902 *L.Firth (12) – 1904 *Scott (12) & Waller (12) – 1906 *L.Firth (12) – 1907 *Ward (13) – 1908 *Bob Nash jnr (71) – 1932 *J.Martin (78) – 1946 *Murray Bramich (61) – 1959 *Stan Morcom (97) – 1960 *Graeme Wilkinson (54) – 1968 *Craig McIntyre (74) – 1985

East Launceston

NTFA Premierships (1) * 1967 Tasman Shields Trophy winners *Eddie Thomas 1961 *Darrell Pitcher 1962 Hec Smith Memorial Medalists *Peter Webb 1967 *

John Burns John Elliot Burns (20 October 1858 – 24 January 1943) was an English trade unionist and politician, particularly associated with London politics and Battersea. He was a socialist and then a Liberal Member of Parliament and Minister. He was ...

1969 *

Paul Reinmuth Paul Anthony Reinmuth (27 March 1954 – 6 December 2018) was an Australian rules footballer who played for Hawthorn Hawthorn or Hawthorns may refer to: Plants * '' Crataegus'' (hawthorn), a large genus of shrubs and trees in the family R ...

1981 NTFA Leading Goalkickers *Roy Ringrose (50) – 1957 *Roy Ringrose (55) – 1958 *Paul Wharton (59) – 1980

South Launceston

Northern Tasmanian Football League Premierships (2) *1998, 1999 Darrel Baldock Medalists *Scott Harris – 2000 *Matthew Westfield – 2006 Tasmanian State League Premierships (1) *2013 Tassie Medalists *Mitch Thorp - 2013 Northern Tasmanian Football Association Premierships (2) *2014, 2015

Records

Highest score - Regional Football *City/City-South – 38.15 (243) vs East Launceston in 1974 *Cornwall/East Launceston 22.14 (146) vs City-South in 1958 *South Launceston – 34.19 (223) vs Penguin in 1998 Highest score - State Football *South Launceston – 29.16 (190) vs Devonport in 2013 Most games *City/City-South – 224 by Geoff Long *Cornwall/East Launceston – 206 by David Thomson *South Launceston – 199 by Nathan Richardson

Team of the Century

An official 'Team of the Century' for City-South was announced in 2002, which took into account the period from 1886 until 1986, when they merged with East Launceston

References

External links

Official website
(Archive)
Official FacebookOfficial website
{{TFL clubs Australian rules football clubs in Tasmania Australian rules football clubs established in 1886 1886 establishments in Australia Sport in Launceston, Tasmania Tasmanian Football League clubs North West Football League clubs