First reported organised game in Hobart

The first newspaper report on an organised game played was when the Mercury gave a short account of a game played between New Town and the Hobart Town Football Club, on Saturday, 26th May 1866 at the Battery Ground in Hobart. The game was conducted over two Saturday’s with the match finishing in a tie, one goal apiece, and a Mr. G. Wright was New Town’s goal scorer. It was a rudimentary affair with each team providing voluntary people to act as umpires and there were no boundary umpires, so when the ball went ‘out-of-bounds’ the closest player to the ball would be deemed the person to throw the ball back into play. Sometimes it would be kicked into play.