and poor attendances and an exodus of forty players from the club, the TFL discontinued Hobart's playing licence in 1997 to participate in the competition after that season and attempted to force the club into a three-way merger with Sandy Bay and North Hobart which ultimately failed to materialise. Hobart's final TFL match was on 23 August 1997 at North Hobart Oval when they were defeated by North Hobart by 48 points. The Tigers' participated in 1,002 TFL games (441-552-9) as well as 15 extra matches (9-5-1) involving either Tasmanian State Grand Finals, State Preliminary Finals or matches in the 1980 Winfield Statewide Cup, giving the club a total of 1,017 all-time matches at the completion of their stint as a TFL club. In 1998 Hobart were given approval to join the relatively new Southern Football League, a competition formed only two years earlier involving clubs from the defunct Tasmanian Amateur Football League (Southern Division) and the Huon Football Association. As a prerequisite of entering the competition Hobart were required to cease using their Tigers emblem and black and gold playing uniform, instead opting to wear a predominantly Old Gold strip with black numbers and simple "HFC" emblem on the chest. After an initially tough start in their first season winning only four matches, Hobart were to sign former premiership player Steven Gillbee as playing coach and with a return of many former players in 1999, this would herald a return of the club as a power. Hobart went on to record minor premierships in 1999 and 2000, winning their first, and to date, only SFL premiership in 1999 along with eight finals series appearances from 1999-2008 under Steven Gillbee, Michael McGregor, Andrew Lamprill and Todd Lewis but premiership success would continuously elude them. After a fractious decision by the club to adopt the Brisbane Lions emblem, colours and playing strip for four seasons from 2005-2008, Hobart were accepted to join the new Tasmanian State League from 2009-2013 and began playing in their traditional Tigers playing strip once again but success was to elude Hobart both on and off the field in the TSL, with continuous financial losses, lack of on-field success and an AFL Tasmania decision to force a merger between them and North Hobart as a new Hobart City club, Hobart Football Club voted to withdraw from the TSL at the end of the 2013 season, the Tigers