Tasmania's A-League dreams have been dashed after the ambitious bid was not one of 10 A-League hopefuls named on Football Federation Australia's expansion shortlist.
All four NSW bids remain in the running in South-West Sydney FC, Southern Expansion, United for Macarthur and Wollongong Wolves, while Victorian hopefuls Team 11, Western Melbourne and South Melbourne also made the cut.
Canberra and Queensland hopefuls Brisbane City and Ipswich Pride round out the group named by FFA on Friday.
But the road ends here for the audacious Tasmanian bid backed by Melbourne millionaires Robert Belteky and Harry Stamoulis.
Also out of the race are Gold Coast United, Fremantle City, West Adelaide, and Belgravia Leisure.
FFA notified franchise hopefuls of its decision on Friday morning, nearly three weeks after its initial plan to make an announcement before June 11.
It leaves shortlisted teams with two months to submit their final applications before the Aug. 31 deadline, with two new A-League teams to be announced on Oct. 31.
The total number of clubs will be increased to 12 in 2019-20, as the competition gradually builds towards 14 and then 16 teams.
Despite calls to beef the league up to 14 franchises straight away, it's understood there are no plans to expand past the 12 originally planned for.
Confirmed A-League expansion shortlist:
South-West Sydney FC (NSW)
United for Macarthur (NSW)
Southern Expansion (NSW)
Team 11 (Victoria)
South Melbourne (Victoria)
Western Melbourne (Victoria)
Brisbane City (Queensland)
Ipswich Pride (Queensland)
Canberra (ACT)
Wollongong Wolves (NSW)
Bids ruled out:
Gold Coast United (Queensland)
Fremantle City (Western Australia)
West Adelaide (South Australia)
Tasmania
Belgravia Leisure (Victoria)