making the finals. At the start of the 2006 season the Devils and the Australian Football League's North Melbourne Football Club began a partial alignment, allowing North Melbourne listed players to play for Tasmania when not selected in the seniors, and arrangement which lasted from 2006 until 2007. This was unpopular among local fans, significantly harming the popularity of the club; and the season proved to be a disappointment on-field, with the Devils finishing ninth and missing the finals. During the 2006 season, Armstrong stepped down as coach due to internal pressure from the playing group, ending his six-year term as Devils coach. North Hobart premiership coach and former Devil Brendon Bolton was made stand in coach for the remainder of the year. Tasmanian and former Sydney Swan Daryn Cresswell was named coach of the club for 2007 after a successful career as an assistant coach at Geelong and the Brisbane Lions; however, hampered in part by Cresswell's off-field issues which included a gambling addiction and eventual fraud conviction, the club finished wooden spooners both seasons he coached the team, winning only six of a total 34 games. At the end of the 2008 season, AFL Tasmania decided to withdraw the Devils from the VFL competition in favour of restarting a new Tasmanian league encompassing the entire state. In 2018, a provisional licence was granted to AFL Tasmania which may see the Devils, or a new Tasmanian-based VFL team, competing again in the VFL from as early as 2021. Attendances The Devils generated the largest crowds in the VFL; in the early stages they averaged around 4,000 per match at both North Hobart Oval in Hobart and Aurora Stadium in Launceston, but crowds fell away sharply in 2007 to approximately 1,500 at Bellerive Oval and less than 1,000 at Aurora Stadium. Sponsors Major Jumper Sponsors: Wrest Point Hotel Casino (2006–2008) Patrick (2001–2005) Apparel Sponsors: Burley-Sekem (2001–2008) Ball Sponsors: Jetstar Alignment with AFL club Following the trend of AFL clubs to align themselves with VFL clubs for match fitness of reserves players, in 2005 the Kangaroos expressed intentions to align with the Devils. A deal was struck that involved a capped number of players from the Kangaroos in both the Devils and the North Ballarat Football Club in the VFL. In September 2007 AFL Tasmania announced an end to the alignment. The club took to the field in 2008 in its