The stadium to be built in the Hobart showground in Glenorchy (the name for the stadium was never announced) would have
been built in 1997 or 1998 if the bid for a Tasmanian AFL team in the mid to late '90s was successful. It would have been
the team's only home, and would have cost $34 million.
The plans were released on November 29, 1996 for a 30,000
all seater stadium which would also be floodlit (4 towers) and have a bigger playing surface than the MCG. It was to have
five stands, with the ones on the Eastern and Western wings being the largest and covering the whole wing, they would have
been able to seat 10,000 people each. The next largest would have been the 5,000 seater at the Northern End behind the
goals, which would have been similar in size to the Southern Stand at Bellerive. The other two were to be behind the
southern goals, with capacities of 2,000 and 3,000. A park would have surrounded the whole oval, which would have been used
as a car park.
The first AFL practice match in the state which would result in the future of an AFL team and the stadium was a rematch
of the previous season's second Preliminary Final between Essendon and Sydney on February 22, 1997. The build up to game
was huge, and reports said that given good weather, a crowd of 20,000 would give the AFL taskforce something to show to the
AFL. Terrible rain and winds came to the North Hobart Oval on that day, but still 15,632 fans turned up to the match which
Essendon won by 11 points. The huge turnout was praised by all, and the front page headline of The Mercury the following
day read "15,632 Tassie Footy Fans Tell the AFL: LET US IN". Essendon coach Kevin Sheedy said of the crowd "Considering the
rain, I think it was a pretty good crowd. Especially when you consider it was really a neutral game for the fans. You put
a Tasmanian team out there and you'll get a huge, screaming, lunatic crowd ready to rip shreds off a team coming from
another state." The appeal continued right through 1997 and in early 1998, the practice match in February between Richmond
and St Kilda was just as important as the Essendon v Sydney match a year earlier. Although the weather conditions were
slightly better than the 1997 match, the match was put on the same day as a Mercantile Mutual Cup match at Bellerive, a Sky
Race in the north and athletics at the domain. Once again, 15,000 turned up and it was said that if there was another
similar turn up to the match the following week between Carlton and North Melbourne - the opening Ansett Cup match -, with
AFL CEO Wayne Jackson in town, then there was no stopping Tasmania entering the AFL, but given that the match was televised
and it was on a Saturday, only 9,563 came to watch the Kangaroos whip the Blues by 45 points.
After that it seemed highly unlikely for the team to become, and for the stadium to the built.
The appeal for an AFL team was rejected in 1998, and the stadium given the red light.