The sports stadium with the largest capacity in Tasmania (21,000), The University of Tasmania Stadium, formerly Aurora Stadium, has been the home away from home for the Hawthorn Hawks since the 2001 season. Despite not attracting the same number of patrons as a match at the G, the Hawks consistently play well in Launceston, and will take 4 home matches to Australia’s smallest state in 2018.
Opened in 1921, the ground was named York Park after the Duke of York (former name of King George V), who visited Tasmania in 1901. The original home of the Launceston Football Club in the Tasmanian league, The University of Tasmania stadium began hosting AFL games in 2001 after significant financial input. While both Hawthorn and St Kilda took games to Launceston, it is the Hawks who have continued using the venue as their second base.
The ground is most infamously remembered for ‘Sirengate’, a major controversy that took place in a St Kilda home game in 2006. With Fremantle leading the Saints by 1 point in the dying moments, the final siren went. However, with the thunderous crowd, the siren was not loud enough to be heard, and ten seconds later, the Saints kicked a behind to tie the scores, with the game ending in a draw. However, a few days later the game was taken to the AFL commission, who decided to award Fremantle the victory. The weak siren was subsequently replaced.
A record crowd of 20,971 attended a rivalry game between Hawthorn and Richmond in 2006. However, crowd numbers at York Park have been waning in the past decade, despite the massive on-field success of the Hawks. Nevertheless, the University of Tasmania Stadium remains crucial to the game of Australian Football in a state that doesn’t have a team of its own.
