Why South Hobart’s Aussie Cup clash may be moved from Darcy St

South Hobart’s home Australia Cup clash may be moved from their Darcy St base branded “not up to national level” as the dogfight over the venue’s use continues.

South Hobart celebrate their Lakoseljac Cup final win over South East United, where they qualified for the Australia Cup. Picture: Simon Sturzaker Photography

South Hobart coach Max Clarke would prefer to play their Australia Cup clash at their Darcy St home despite admitting the surface, also used by dog walkers, “is just not up to national level”.

The club posted a lengthy statement on Facebook this week, outlining their desire for South Hobart Oval to cease being used as an off-lead dog exercise area long term.

Although South Hobart made it clear they support the shared use of public facilities, it feels “a better solution exists” in the belief the situation is, among other things, damaging the playing surface and thus affecting quality of games.

The runaway NPL Tasmania leaders drew a home game against South Melbourne in the first round of the knockout tournament at Wednesday night’s draw.

The venue and date for the clash is yet to be decided. Darcy St doesn’t have lights, which would rule out a midweek fixture being played there.

“Dogs walk on it constantly and if you look at the state of it, it’s just not up to national level,” Clarke said.

“The other thing is we don’t have lights so we can’t play a midweek fixture there. If we play in Tassie we’ll most likely be playing at KGV. We love playing there because it’s synthetic, but it’s not our home.

“We’re trying to make noise at the minute to see if something can happen. If anyone watches the brand of football we play, we try and play a decent brand and when you have a pitch that’s constantly bobbling, you have to change the way you play and go a bit more direct.”

New South Hobart NPL coach Max Clarke in the stands at South Hobart Oval. Picture: Linda Higginson

The club’s Facebook statement said: “We’re not asking to privatise the ground, we’re simply asking that its primary purpose as a football ground be respected and supported, especially as the only high quality rectangular pitch in the Hobart City area.”

The venue is the only major sportsground in Hobart to allow off-lead dogs, and the club urged council to “invest in more purpose-built off-lead dog areas in South Hobart and surrounding suburbs.”

South Hobart qualified for the Australia Cup by beating South East United in this month’s Lakoseljac Cup final.

Having spent time at Melbourne City and Western United academies, Clarke returned to his home club as coach this season.

“I came back to Tassie with the idea of playing a good brand of football that people want to watch,” he said.

“When you’re given the scenario you have to change that brand of football to get results, I can do that, but that’s not the desired outcome.”

That said, Clarke would still prefer to play a weekend game at Darcy St to make the environment as hostile as possible for South Melbourne.

South Hobart, Darcy St base. Picture: South Hobart FC

A perennial heavyweight, South Melbourne’s NPL Victoria campaign hasn’t gone according to plan thus far with five wins from 19 games.

“I’d like to think it will be a weekend game that can be at Darcy St, and we can pack the place out,” Clarke said.

“The quality of the pitch at Darcy St isn’t great, but if you talk about the atmosphere at the ground it’s really hard to get points and I’d imagine teams hate going there.”

The fixture also marks the return of South Hobart product and former Newcastle Jet Andy Brennan, who now plays for South Melbourne.

“There’s a push for it to be played on the weekend. Some are labelling it a headline game as we’ve been doing quite well, and South Melbourne have been struggling a little bit, so maybe there’s an opportunity for an upset,” Clarke said.

“We’re definitely not going to be favourites but if there’s any chance to win the game it’s probably now, I think we can give ourselves a chance.

“If you look at our team on paper, we’ve got the best team in the state. In pre-season we beat Green Gully 3-2 and they’re doing OK in NPL in Melbourne. We can definitely test them.”