The TANFL expressed plans to hold another Winfield Statewide Cup competition in 1981 with prizemoney extended to $50,000 with a view to holding a full TFL Statewide League roster comprising six TANFL clubs and six clubs from the North and North West from the start of the 1982 season.
However, at a meeting of the three main bodies in Launceston on 21 August 1980, the NTFA and NWFU voted against the proposal believing it not to be in the best interests of football in the north of the state.
After its formation, GNFL president Brendon Lyons launched a scathing attack on TANFL president John Bennett, accusing him of hatching plans aimed at denigrating Northern football by attempting to take six clubs to the statewide competition and seeking to demote the remaining uninvited clubs to junior status.
The TANFL were highly concerned that this state of affairs was totally unsustainable and commissioned a consultant, Nick Evers, to make recommendations for the future of the sport.
In early 1986 the TANFL went into liquidation and a newly constituted Tasmanian Football League replaced it as the sport's governing body.
The strong contribution that these players may well have made to Tasmanian football was in evidence on 24 June 1990 when Tasmania defeated Victoria by 33-points at North Hobart Oval.
The TFL administration had also been lax in their financial control of the competition and by 1992 it was servicing a debt of $300,000 and growing as crowd numbers continued to plummet.
Also, in 1992 a number of clubs – North Hobart, Sandy Bay, Clarence and Burnie Hawks – were all in deep financial trouble.
With the debt level continuing to rise, the League were continuing to raise the issue of cutbacks of participating clubs and changes to a possible summer start in a bid to lift the flagging image of the TFL which was now financially crippled and struggling to find strong corporate support because the state was also in deep financial trouble.
On 31 May 1999 the Southern Cats were wound up at a meeting with Football Tasmania with debts of $100,000, leaving the competition with only seven clubs to finish out the remainder of the season.
From 2000, Football Tasmania had set up a brand new statewide competition – this one known as the SWL – which comprised six clubs, each of them based in one of the state's six cities.
With the SWL competition being wound up and closing down in December 2000, the three orphaned clubs (Clarence, Glenorchy and Hobart Demons) were finally accepted into the SFL after a protracted battle in early 2001.
The response from many clubs was initially lukewarm at best with many concerned at the lack of detail in the AFL Tasmania plan and the rushed decision-making process of the move.
Despite a membership vote narrowly ending in favour of joining, the Robins had missed the AFL Tasmania enforced deadline and were initially to be included in the 2010 TSL roster, however the remaining clubs (most notably its closest and most bitter rival Devonport) exerted considerable pressure upon the League not to alter the current makeup of teams for a period of ten years, therefore Ulverstone were excluded from joining.
SFL Premier League club Kingborough also lobbied AFL Tasmania to be included in the competition, but their case for inclusion was dismissed by the game's governing body due to their inadequate facilities and poor standard Kingston Beach Oval headquarters.
The inaugural Grand Final was held at Bellerive Oval on 19 September between old rivals Glenorchy and Clarence resulting in a thrilling six-point victory to the Roos in front of 7,534 fans.
The 2010 season started brightly with over 12,000 attending the first round of matches but soon after there was a great deal of off-field controversy with former Tasmanian Premier Paul Lennon originally accepting an unpaid role acting as a mediator between the clubs and AFL Tasmania as the relationship between the clubs and the governing body had become further strained.
The Grand Final on 18 September pitted Clarence as raging favourites over Devonport, who had a dreadful record at Bellerive Oval (1–17–1) and last won there in 1988.
Devonport, playing in its first Grand Final at state level since 1988, proved no match for a rampaging Roo outfit who eventually pulled away to a 57-point triumph and recorded its 25th consecutive win at the ground in the process.
The 2011 season began amid much hype and fanfare with the arrival of former Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs player, Jason Akermanis to Glenorchy.
Glenorchy's season went into freefall in mid-season and after two horror losses in a row, coach Byron Howard Jnr was sacked and replaced by former coach Kim Excell for the remainder of the season where they were to defeat an inconsistent North Hobart in the elimination final and bow out to Clarence in the first semi final after a heavy defeat.
Launceston, on the back of full-forward Brian Finch's 100 goals during the season were desperate to shake off the "chokers" tag and, after a fast start, were able to dispose of reigning premier Clarence by 35 points under lights at Aurora Stadium in the preliminary final.
On 24 September, the Grand Final at Launceston's Aurora Stadium pitted two clubs from the northern half of the state for the first time in the history of statewide football.