Former AFL commission chairman Mike Fitzpatrick has revealed one club had agreed to play half their season in Tasmania during his time at AFL House.
Fitzpatrick joined the commission in 2003 and was appointed chairman four years later, holding the role for a decade before being replaced by current chairman Richard Goyder.
The newly-inducted Football Hall of Fame member worked closely with AFL chief executive Gillon McLachlan on league expansion, overseeing the introductions of the Gold Coast Suns and Greater Western Sydney Giants.
Tasmania relocation had also been on the mind of the AFL's top brass, with Fitzpatrick revealing toย RSNย this week that one Melbourne club were on the verge of securing 10 matches a season on the Apple Isle.
While supporting the concept of being aย complete national competition, Fitzpatrick revealed there was pushback from the Tasmania government to increase games in the island state.
โI think everybody would like to see the completeness with a side down there," Fitzpatrick said. "Certainly, we had a go a couple of times."
โItโs going to be an expensive exercise and if the Tasmanians want it then one way or another itโs going to need to be subsidised by the state government or by other mechanisms.
โItโs a big ask for the AFL and itโs going to be a big ask for the Tasmanians. Hopefully it can get done.
โWe were very unlucky. At one stage, without mentioning the club, we had a club that was prepared to play 10 games down there and 10 in Melbourne,โ Fitzpatrick said.
โThat was a pretty good set up. Unfortunately, the Tasmanian Government then decided to stick with the old regime so it fell through.โ
The AFL are set for critical discussions in the coming months around further expansion and the concept of a 19th license being handed to Tasmania.
McLachlan has already flagged any bid for a standalone Tasmania side will likely struggle without a new stadium.
Newly-appointed Tasmanian premier Jeremy Rockliff has confirmed plans for a new $750 million venue to be built in Hobart.
