2019 NPL Tasmania fixture list released today

Photo:  FFT CEO Matt Bulkeley at North Hobart today [PlessPix]

 

The 2019 NPL Tasmania roster was officially released today by Football Federation Tasmania CEO Matt Bulkeley at a media conference held at the North Hobart Oval.

“We have more football than ever before next season and we’re really excited about that,” Bulkeley said.

“We’re delighted to be expanding the competition to nine teams and we welcome back Glenorchy Knights, a club with a rich football history, as well as Riverside Olympic, who are being promoted to the NPL Tasmania competition for the very first time.

“One of our aims has been to maximise the amount of football being played, which we believe will be invaluable for players, coaches, match officials and, indeed, our spectators.

“We believe that spreading the matches over the course of a week and also over a weekend will allow greater opportunity for people to access our matches both in person and via live streaming.

“On that note, in 2018 we had a 270% increase in our Facebook live viewership and we’re confident we can build on that in 2019.”

Photo:  Matt Bulkeley at today's media conference at North Hobart Oval [PlessPix]

Bulkeley said there would be two big days of football at North Hobart Oval in 2019.

Hobart Zebras would play Olympia Warriors in March and there would be a double-header on Anzac Day featuring Hobart Zebras versus South Hobart and Glenorchy Knights up against Olympia Warriors.

“We’re also working on some initiatives around that will build the crowds and we’re confident we can do that,” Bulkeley said.

“We’ll be announcing those [initiatives] in the new year.

“It’s shaping up to be a great season.”

Bulkeley said that after winning the double last season, there was no doubt that Devonport Strikers will be the team that everyone wants to beat.

Tasmania would again have entrants in the FFA Cup and the NPL finals series and Bulkeley said he was confident that the design of the 2019 fixture list would ensure that Tasmania’s entrants in these competitions would be competitive in these interstate contests.

Bulkeley said football had its own intrinsic worth and he was not contemplating adding the razzmatazz of, for example, Big Bash Cricket.

“I like to think that, in our game, what happens on the field is the most important thing,” Bulkeley said.

This season will see some games played on Friday nights, Tuesday nights, Thursday nights and on weekends.

Two mid-week rounds are scheduled for March.

“By spreading the games across the week, and across the weekend as well, it will give people the opportunity to see more games,” he said.

“It will also give people who play on Saturdays the opportunity to watch other games.”

The season will be played across 27 rounds, running from 1 March to 7 September.

Each team will play 24 games, 12 each home and away, with three byes.

The opening game is on a Friday night, when Olympia Warriors will host South Hobart at Warrior Park.

The following day, there will be a triple-header at KGV Park featuring Clarence United versus Riverside Olympia at noon, Hobart Zebras against Devonport City at 2.15pm, and Kingborough Lions United versus Launceston City at 4.30pm.

Glenorchy Knights will be the first team to have a bye.

Vale Michael Furjanic (1 November 1936 - 29 November 2018)

 Photo:  Michael (Michael The Tailor) Furjanic [PlessPix]

Michael Furjanic, a former president of Glenorchy Knights, formerly known as Croatia-Glenorchy, has passed away in Hobart aged 82.

Furjanic, who was a founding member of Croatia-Glenorchy after arriving in Tasmania from Europe in the late 1950s, also played for the club in the late 1950s and 1960s.

He was also a patron of the club and a life member.

Photo:  Michael Furjanic (extreme left of back row) in a Croatia-Glenorchy reserve side at South Hobart in 1966 [PlessPix]

Furjanic was known nationally and internationally because of his involvement with the annual Croatian Soccer Tournament held in Australia for the past 44 years.

This year’s tournament was held on the Gold Coast, but Hobart hosted the series in the early 1980s.

In conjunction with this annual football tournament, he also inaugurated a Miss Croatia Australia pageant.

He was a founder of the Croatian Soccer Association of Australia (CSAA) in 1974 and was president of the organisation for 15 consecutive years.

Furjanic was a mover and shaker in Tasmanian football and, a tailor by trade, he sponsored the Michael The Tailor Cup, a pre-season tournament for 12 years.

Photo:  Michael Furjanic hands the Michael The Tailor Cup to Hobart City's Luigi Sorghi at South Hobart [PlessPix]

He was made President for Life of CSAA in 1989 and was inducted into the CSAA Hall of Fame in 2015.

He was awarded an OAM in 2001 for his contribution to the Croatian community in Tasmania.

Furjanic was instrumental in bringing leading North American side Toronto Metros Croatia to Tasmania in 1976.

They played a Southern Tasmanian representative side, coached by Denis Ford, at Grove Road.  Current Hobart Zebras coach, David Smith, made his representative debut in this game and played as a central defender due to Dudley Hall being injured.

Furjanic had organised tours of Canada and the USA by Australian Croatian teams and the contacts he had made led to the Tasmanian visit by Toronto Metros Croatia.

 Photo:  Michael Furjanic (right) welcomes Croatia-Glenorchy's new coach from New South Wales, Harry Noon, in the 1980s [PlessPix]

His sons Paul and Robert both played for Croatia-Glenorchy.

He is survived by his wife, Suellen, sons Paul and Robert and daughter Anita.

Photo:  Michael Furjanic with daughter Anita and grandson in a Glenorchy Knights junior team strip [PlessPix]

Photo:  Michael Furjanic (rear) with a Glenorchy Knights junior side and coaches Matthew Rhodes (left) and Alex Woodham [PlessPix]

Photo:  Michael Furjanic (left) with Glenorchy Knights stalwart and fellow Life Member Ivan Stefanovic [PlessPix]

Photo:  Michael Furjanic (centre) presents the Michael The Tailor Cup to Hobart Juventus skipper Robbie Kent (left) as Soccer Tasmania chairman David Wallace hols the winners' medals [PlessPix]

Vale Harald Siegfried Roland Lietz (3 April 1929 - 25 November 2018)

Photo:  Harald Lietz was a pioneer of primary school football in Tasmania

One of the pioneers of primary school football in the 1960s and 1970s, Harald Siegfrioed Roland Lietz, has passed away in Hobart aged 89.

Lietz coached Springfield Gardens Primary School to a State title in the days when primary school football was a thriving sport.

Born in Potsdam in Germany, Lietz survived heavy Allied bombing in World War II as a youngster.

His father was a prisoner of war in England and his mother died when he was just 10.

Lietz managed to escape East Germany after the war and lived in West Germany for a while before accepting a job in Australia and coming to Tasmania in 1952 aged 23.

He was an electrician by trade and worked in the Hydro villages in Tasmania, where he met his future wife, Marie.

Lietz was passionate about football and spent a couple of decades coaching youngsters.

He was also involved with Metro, for whom his sons played at senior level.

Lietz is survived by his wife, Marie, and by sons Roland, Derek and Brendan.

2018 Coaches' Conference and refereeing assessors' course

 Photo:  Tim Buszard presents his keynote address [PlessPix]

About 40 Tasmanian coaches from the south of the State attended the first day of the 2018 State Coaching Conference held at the Glenorchy District Football Club Function Centre yesterday.

Coaches from the north of the State will attend today’s [Sunday] session to be held at the Riverside Olympic FC clubrooms in Launceston.

This year’s Conference will include a review of the trends and technical observations from this year’s FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The  keynote speaker is Tim Buszard from Victoria University who’s topic will be skill acquisition.

There will also be practical and theory sessions presented by an FFA coach dealing with coaching methodology.

 Photo:  Tony Peart does a presentation at the referee assessors' course [PlessPix]

At the same time as yesterday’s coaching conference activities, a refereeing assessors’ course was being conducted at KGV Park by FFT’s referee manager, Tony Peart.

Eight referees attended that course.