SINCE 1989
DOSA Club History
A group of friends from Dominic College had been playing in the 7-a-side Sunday churches soccer league and in 1989 applied to enter the “Soccer Tasmania” Division 4 league. With only one club objecting, we were in!
Joe O’Hea was the clubs inaugural coach. The clubs first game was against a Metro side that consisted of a large number of former Richmond SC players [as that team had been evicted from the league in 1989] which proved to be a baptism of fire, but victorious at the end of the day. Bowden St, Glenorchy was the clubs home ground. That first DOSA team went on to win the 1990 div 4 league, gaining promotion in its first season.
In 1991 the club fielded two teams, winning both division 3 & 4 leagues. Joe O’Hea continued as the clubs coach, with both teams promoted up league for the following season.
In 1992 the club again fielded two mens teams with Div 2 winning the league, thus being promoted to Div 1 for the following season.
Former Metro stalwart Chris Dand was appointed coach of the mens Div 1 team in 1993 and brought with him several ex-Metro players. This saw a healthy rivalry between the two clubs. DOSA finished the season second last, thus avoiding relegation after it’s first year in the top level competition in southern Tasmania.
For 1994 ex-Metro coach & player Steve Pitchford was appointed coach and again the side avoided relegation. The club grew to 3 mens teams, fielding an additional Div 4 ‘social’ team.
In 1995 ex Metro coach Ian Campbell was appointed and the club made the summer cup semi finals for the first time in its history, going down to Kingborough United 3-1. The team finished 6th [out of 10].
1996 and 1997 were similar seasons with a 5th and 6th placed league finishes respectively, summer cup and KO cup finals appearances. 1996 also saw the club grow to 4 teams with the introduction of it’s first womens team and move to Queens Walk for home games
In 1999 the womens team won the Div 1 league. This was the clubs first Div 1 trophy. The title was sealed in dramatic fashion on the last game of the season with a 1-0 win over second placed [and reigning champions] Nelson. Winning womens team coach, ??, then stepped up to become club president for the next season.
In 2000 ex-Metro player Danny Prestige was appointed senior mens coach. This was arguably the clubs most competitive season at this level, sitting on top of the ladder most of the season before falling away late in the season.
In 2001 the club gained a 5th team, introducing an U23 side. The club was also promoted to the “Premier League competition” . Ex-Metro player Mark Phillips was appointed senior coach. After 3 seasons in this league, the club became unable to field a junior side, which was a requirement of admission to that league. Therefore, stepped back down to Div 1 for 2004.
At the start of the season the club looked unlikely to field any teams at all, but due to frenetic effort by several people, notably President Tony Ygosse, the club ended up fielding Div 1 seniors, reserves in the mens league and a Div 2 womens team. The 2004 season proved surprisingly successful with the mean finishing off the season with an exciting 2-1 win over Hobart United in the KO cup final. Womens team captain Rebecca Hartnett won the leading goalscorer for the league and Cassi Eastley was selected in the state womens team.
The club continued with 3 teams from 2005 through to 2010. In 2011 Saleh Bin Talib was appointment mens senior coach, but resigned midway through the season, transferring to Metro & taking several players with him. This saw the team have to withdraw from the league. The resultant fines and loss of player registration saw the club in debt to a level it could not service. The AGM held in October 2011 saw the committee faced with the grim reality of having to wind up the club. Fortunately, at the last minute club stalwarts Jim Orpe and Adriano Colanzi stepped in and agreed to pay the clubs debts with their own money if the club made a commitment to continue on and attempt to repay the money over time. Thus from 2012 season through to 2016 the club fielded one mens team only and adhered vehemently to the “no pay no play rule”. Being so small limited fundraising abilities, so it was purely through registration fees and financial prudence that the club was able to repay it’s loans.
In 2017 the club moved home grounds to Seymour St, Brighton and started a second mens team. Both teams finished mid table in Division 4 and increased numbers saw the clubs financial situation begin to strengthen.
In 2019 the club changed home grounds again, moving to Weily Park. The structure of the two mens teams was altered. Instead of both competing in Div 4, one team was moved to Div 3. The current uniform of Maroon/Gold stripes, black socks and shorts was also settled upon as the kit for ALL DOSA teams from this point in time onwards, rather than different kits for different teams as had been the practice.
In 2021 the club increased to three teams with the introduction of an U18 boys team. Mens teams continued in divisions 4 and 6. The Weily Park club rooms were refurbished and the clubs financial position became solid.
In 2022 the club increased its number of teams once again, re-introducing a womens team, in addition the three mens teams competing in Divisions 3,4 & 5.