Hawthorn Football Club

Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed The Hawks, are an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League (AFL) founded in 1902. They play in brown and gold vertically striped guernseys. The team's motto is 'spectemur agendo' loosely translated as 'let us be judged by our acts'.

The Hawks' origins are in the inner eastern Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn and, also, at Glenferrie Oval which is the club's former administrative and training base and social club. Matches have not been played there since 1973. Home matches were moved to Princes Park until 1991, then to Waverley Park and currently the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). In 2006 they moved their training and administration from Glenferrie to Waverley Park - in the midst of the club's major supporter base in Melbourne's outer-eastern region. Since 2007 they have played four games a year at their second ground of Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmania with the remaining seven home games being played at the MCG, where the club is a long-standing tenant. In 2008, the club drew an average of 59,458 people across 13 games staged at the MCG. Hawthorn has been the most successful club over the past five decades having won premiership/s in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s (10 in total). They are currently the Premiers, in the midst of yet another successful era.

Club history

Early years

The origins of the Hawthorn Football club are obscure and subject to much debate. Very few records were kept and the early history is subject to interpretation and embellishment.

The official club history books and many supporters strongly believe that the club's origins date back to its founding in 1873 at a meeting at the Hawthorne Hotel. Although a Hawthorn Football Club did indeed form at this time and the region has since continuously been represented by a football team, it is unclear if it is related to the Hawthorn which competes at AFL level today. It is more likely that today's club is actually the third club to carry the name "Hawthorn Football Club". The Daily Telegraph Saturday May 12 1883:- "The Hawthorn Club having disbanded, all engagements for the ensuing season have been cancelled." In 1889 the Riversdale Football Club (formed in 1880) is reported to have changed its name to the Hawthorn Football Club ^[1]. This club also ceased in 1890. No Hawthorn club existed in 1890 - 92.

A new representative club, called the "Hawthorn Football Club", was formed in 1893. It competed in the Victorian Junior Football Association until 1898. Without a ground to play on, however, the club was disbanded in 1899.

In April 1902, Alf Kosky formed a club from the various district club under the banner of Hawthorn Football Club to compete in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association. The club merged with Boroondara in 1905, and in 1912, Hawthorn merged with successful junior club the Hawthorn Rovers to form the Hawthorn City Football Club to become part of a successful council push to have a club in the prestigious VFA.

VFA years 1914-1924

The first task for the club was to decide on club colours, their jumper of Blue and Gold was taken by Williamstown so a change was required. At a Special General Meeting held in 17th February 1914 Mr J. Brain proposed Brown and Gold and the motion was carried. The Mayblooms won 3 games and a draw in their first season in the VFA. The effect of World War Iwith players enlisting caused the club to finish last in 1915. The VFA then when into recess for the duration of the war. When the competition resumed in 1919 the club was more competitive winning eight games and finishing sixth out of ten clubs. Hawthorn dropped to eighth in 1920 and from then on won more games than they lost. 1921 they won 9 games and finished sixth. In 1922 The club missed the finals by percentage and Hawthorn set a new record score in the VFA scoring 30.31.211 to Prahran 6.9.45. 1923 and the club made the finals finishing in fourth place and then losing to Port Melbourne in the First Semi Final. 1924 the club finished fifth , missing the finals by four points.

Entry to the VFL

Since 1919 the VFL had nine clubs which caused one team to be idle every Saturday, the VFL was keen to do away with a bye each week. In 1924 a Group calling itself the Hawthorn Citizens' League Campaign Committee began gathering support for the football club admittance to the VFL. Other representations came from Brighton, Brunswick, Footscray, Hawthorn , North Melbourne, Prahran, Camberwell and Caulfield. On the night of January 9, 1925 a committee meeting of the VFL decided to expand the competition from nine clubs to twelve, the meeting chaired by Reg Hunt of Carlton, the meeting decide to admit the "Hawthorn Football Club", with Footscray and North Melbourne, all three coming from the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Hunt originally recommended Footscray , Hawthorn and Prahran but eventually North Melbourne was substituted for Prahran because of ground control matters.

The Mayblooms, as they were known then became the perennial whipping boys of the competition. They had an almost casual attitude towards playing football and were not able to even pay their players the match payment then allowed by the Coulter Law. Despite the presence of a number of truly classy players such as Bert Hyde, Bert Mills, Stan Spinks, Alec Albiston and Col Austen, Hawthorn in the first seventeen years never won more than seven games in season.

1940s

Roy Cazaly was non-playing coach of Hawthorn in 1942, he was reported to have given the club its nickname the "Hawks". The club's nickname changed from the Mayblooms to Hawks in 1943, Cazaly thought that it as tougher than their original nickname the "Mayblooms" . 1943 was the clubs best season since joining the VFL in which the club missed the finals only by percentage. However, Hawthorn immediately returned to the bottom of the ladder, consistently competing with St. Kilda for the wooden spoon. Between 1944 and 1953 the club finished last or second last in every year but one,

1950s

1950 started with the club in turmoil, The club appointed Bob McCaskill as coach and he wanted ruckman Kevin Curran to be captain. Outgoing Captain Coach Alec Albiston was angry as he was told by a member the board that he would stay as captain. Brownlow Medallist Col Austen sided with Albiston and split occurred. The board sided with the coach and being ruthless gave Albiston and Austen open clearances. In 1950 they did not win a match. On the positive side the arrival of Roy Simmonds and John Kennedy . Over the next ten years, John Kennedy played 169 games for Hawthorn, serving as Captain from 1955 until his retirement, and winning the club's Best and Fairest award four times (in 1950, 51, 52 and 54). Simmonds would play 192 games and win the club's Best and Fairest award in 1955.

Failing health to Bob McCaskill meant that his assistant, Jack Hale took over as coach, it was the decisive step in the movement of Hawthorn away from the bottom of the ladder. He eliminated the casual attitude that prevailed at the club during its first thirty years in the VFL and made the club greatly less accepting of defeat than before. Although Hawthorn finished last in 1953, from the following year improvement was steady. 1954 Hawthorn had their first recruitment coup by signing Clayton "Candles" Thompson from South Australia. Thompson was the glamour player from the 1952 National Football Championships, kicking ten goals against Western Australia. Fresh from school, teenagers John Peck , Alan Woodley, Noel Voigt and Brain Kann started at Hawthorn and the club won eight games. Gifted schoolboy from Sandhurst Graham Arthur arrived in 1955 and became the second player to win the club best and fairest in his first year, the other being John Kennedy . Brendan Edwards followed Arthur to Hawthorn in 1956 and although the seniors showed a slight decline to seven wins and a draw, the reserve grade side gave them their first finals appearance in any grade. The following year the senior team broke through to their first finals appearance, defeating Carlton in the 1st Semi Final long remembered for the freak hailstorm after half time. They were outclassed by Melbourne in the Preliminary final in which year Cyril Collard became the first indigenous Australian to play for Hawthorn.

1960s

After three seasons in mid-table Hawthorn appointed John Kennedy as coach in 1960, Kennedy and 1960 Club Champion Brendan Edwards believed that footballers were not fit enough so a training regime was implemented. John Winneke, Phil Hay, Malcolm Hill, Morton Browne, Ian Mort and Ian Law made their debuts in 1960. Kennedy took the hawks further than ever before in 1961, winning their first premiership by defeating Footscray. Brendan Edwards acknowledged as the star of this win.

However, Hawthorn fell right back in 1962 winning only five games and finishing in ninth position on the ladder, 1963 and the club finished on top of the ladder only to lose the Grand final to Geelong by 49 points. Kennedy accepted a position as Principal of Stawell High School so Graham Arthur became Captain-Coach in 1964. The Hawks lost the last game of the season and dropped to fifth, had they had won they would have finished on top of the ladder. They fell to be last in 1965 with only four wins. They rebuilt the team for the rest of the 1960s with Peter Hudson joining them in 1967 and immediately became the competition's best full-forward. In 1968 he kicked 125 goals the first centurian since John Coleman, and again in 1969 with 120 goals. Despite this, Hawthorn still failed to make the finals, but the acquisition of the powerful Mornington Peninsula recruiting zone gave the club a huge boost in its quest for success and permitted the club a much more powerful list then ever before. 1969 saw the recruitment of two teenagers Peter Knights and Leigh Matthews

1970s

Statue of former Hawthorn player, Leigh Matthews at the Melbourne Cricket Ground

Hawthorn started the 1970s missing the finals even though Peter Hudson kicked a home-and-away record of 146 goals in 1970. The team's spine was strenghten with the arrival of Full Back Kelvin Moore and Centre Half Forward Alan Martello. 1971 and the Hawks finished on top of the ladder, the first time since 1963, Peter Hudson equalled Bob Pratts record of 150 goals in a season and Leigh Matthews gain notoriety by shirtfronting Barry Cable in a Interstate Game in Perth. The 1971 Grand Final was between Hawthorn (coached by Hawthorn legend John Kennedy) and St Kilda coached by Allan Jeans who would later move to Hawthorn and enjoy success as the Hawks coach in the 1980s. The match was played before 118,192 people at the MCG on a fine and sunny Melbourne day. Hawthorn went into the match without inspirational centre half back Peter Knights who had suffered a severe knee injury two weeks earlier. A hard tough game, the Saints led the Hawks by 20 points going into the last quarter. Hawks 5.7.37 to the Saints 8.9.57. For the Saints however, as coach Allan Jeans was to comment, "The season was just 25 minutes too long". "Kennedy's Commando's" (the term given to the team after the coach's tough physical training program and loudly proclaimed in the huge banners that swept around the MCG (now sadly replaced by advertising signs)) came into force. The Hawks moved Peter Hudson out to centre half forward and Bob Keddie into the goal square. The Hawks slammed on seven goals to three in that final quarter, with Keddie kicking four, to run out winners 12.10.82 to the Saints 11.9.75. The final term saw ten goals being scored. A Skinny lad from Berwick made his debut in 1972, Michael Tuck played the first of a record 426 games after Hawthorn lost champion Full Forward Peter Hudson to a knee injury in the first game of the year, he had kicked 8 goals before being injured before half time, . John Hendrie who's grandfather played in Hawthorn's the first VFL game played the first of 197 games for the club.

During the 1970s a strong rivalry grew with North Melbourne and they met in three grand finals with the Hawks prevailing twice. The 1976 Grand Final was inspired by the illness of former Captain Peter Crimmins who died 3 days after the victory from cancer, and by the humiliating defeat of the 1975 Grand Final loss to the North Melbourne Kangaroos. The Hawks greats such as the prolific goal-kicker Michael Moncrieff, rover Leigh Matthews, ruck rover Michael Tuck, ruckman Don Scott, full back Kelvin Moore and centre half-back Peter Knights played through this era. The Hawthorn North Melbourne clash was a close encounter, but injuries to champions such as Keith Greig and Brent Crosswell made North's chances of winning difficult. However, when Hawthorn looked threatened, they replied quickly and kept their lead intact. The forward line won the day and as a result it was not surprising that John Hendrie was voted best on ground by radio and newspapers of the day.

After the disappointment of losing to North Melbourne in the 1977 Preliminary Final, the Hawks were back to play in the 1978 Grand Final, again against North Melbourne. It was the third time in four seasons that these two sides were to meet in a Grand Final. North Melbourne were competing in their fifth successive Grand Final and were the reigning premiers. At half time North Melbourne led by four points but Hawthorn finished victors by three goals thanks largely to a strong third quarter which saw them kick 7.6. The turning point occurred where two North players spoiled each other in the goalsquare at the 6-minute mark, when a mark and a goal could have put them 17 points up. The Hawks went on to dominate play after this incident and never looked back. The finals scores were Hawthorn 18.13(121) defeated North Melbourne 15.13(103).

1980s

Their greatest era was undoubtedly the 1980s, where the team won four premierships and played in the Grand Final seven years in succession, including three in a row against arch enemy Essendon. The decade started poorly, with Hawthorn falling to eighth and seen by most critics as a spent force. However, the power of their recruiting zones made sure this was not to be.1982 would mark Hawthorn being in the finals for 13 years in a row. Hawthorn returned to finals football in 1982, Finishing second after the Home and Away season, Hawthorn fans saw Subiaco champion Gary Buckenara for thr first time and also a cameo appearance of Gary Ablett in a Hawthorn jumper and Dermot Brereton who was a skinny kid from Frankston made his debut in the semi final against North Melbourne and kicked five goals. Hawthorn lost the Preliminary Final to Carlton by 31 points. The first of four Grand Final wins for the decade was in 1983, with Hawthorn (20.20) defeating Essendon (8.9) This was at the time a record margin in a Grand Final; signifying the juggernaut that Hawthorn was to become during the 1980s. Hawthorn competed in the next two Grand Finals against rival Essendon, losing in 1984 due to Essendon's famous final quarter charge, and losing again in 1985 by a far greater margin; souring the final game of club legend Leigh Matthews. Playing along side was young Jason Dunstall, he came from Coorparoo, Queensland, he was recruited after winning the QAFL goalkicking in 1984.

The 1985 Grand Final marked the end of Essendon's success during the 1980s, but did not for Hawthorn, with their second premiership coming the year after in the 1986 Grand Final, with Hawthorn (16.14) defeating Carlton (9.14) convincingly, with Gary Ayres winning his first of two Norm Smith Medals. 1987 saw Hawthorn finish second to a superior Carlton team. The fact that Hawthorn even made it to the Grand Final is still the centre of some controversy; with Garry Buckenara's after the siren kick in the 87' preliminary final breaking the hearts of tens of thousands of Melbourne supporters. The unprecedented success carried on for the Hawks, who would win the 1988 premiership (22.20) against Melbourne (6.20); eclipsing their own record margin in a Grand Final by 13 points over the hapless demons; adding insult to injury after the previous year's preliminary final.

The 1989 Grand Final is today viewed as one of the most spectacular AFL/VFL seasons to date; with the emergence of Geelong Great Gary Ablett Snr, the resurgence of Geelong and the greatest Grand Final of the modern era occurring in this year. The Hawks (21.18) defeated Geelong (21.12) in the 89' Grand Final. The match is now legendary for its amazing toughness, physicality, skill, massive scoring and tension. The Hawks jumped out to an enormous lead as Geelong attempted to unsettle the Hawks through physicality. However the physical toll on the Hawks began to show as the match wore on; with John Platten being Concussed, Robert DiPierdomenico puncturing his lung, Dermott Brereton breaking his ribs and Michael Tuck splitting the webbing on his hand. By midway through the final quarter the Cats were charging; Hawthorn desperately trying to hold off the Cat's avalanche of goals while containing the brilliance of Ablett who ended the match with a record 9 goals. Hawthorn's experience and determination allowed them to hold off Geelong for just long enough, scraping through to victory by one goal. The 1989 VFL Grand Final victory over Geelong is widely regarded as one of the greatest and toughest Grand Finals in the history of the competition^[2].

The fast-paced style of Hawthorn's play was copied by the West Coast Eagles who became the powerful club of the early 1990s. Other clubs have had success since but none have matched the dominance of the Hawks in this period; who ended the 1980s having played in a record 7 Grand finals in a row. Leading players of the 1980s included Dermott Brereton, Gary Ayres, Michael Tuck, Jason Dunstall, Gary Buckenara, John Platten and Chris Langford.

1990s

The Hawks ended their era of dominance which included eight grand final appearances in nine seasons (1983-1991).Injuries to key personnel hampered Hawthorns 1990 campaign. Jason Dunstall and Dermott Brereton both missed many games others like Robert DiPierdomenico carried injuries into the finals. The Hawks bowed out in the Elimination Final to Melbourne. Alan Joyce replaced Allan Jeans as coach and the Hawks won the pre-season cup. The club recruited skillful South Australian Darren Jarman and with improvement from young players Paul Hudson , Ben Allan and Stephen Lawrence the team made the 1991 Grand Final. Grand Final day 1991 was an historic occasion. It was the only Grand Final played at Waverley Park and featured the first ever appearance by a non-Victorian team on the big day. West Coast had dominated the home and away season but Hawthorn, written off by many early in the season, had slowly gathered momentum and had stunned the Eagles by winning the first ever Final played outside Victoria. West Coast began the re-match kicking with the aid of a strong wind blowing down to the main scoreboard end and kicked the opening four goals. However, from that point the Hawks began to gain the ascendancy and, apart from inaccuracy in the second term, would have had a significant half time lead. Having maintained the half-time margin, against the wind, in the third term, the Hawks slammed on 8.4 to 1.3 to win a fifth Flag in nine seasons. Michael Tuck, Chris Mew, Gary Ayres and Dermott Brereton had played in all five. A feature of the Hawks’ performance was that its two best players – Paul Dear and Stephen Lawrence - were from the team’s younger brigade. It was to prove to be Michael Tuck’s last game and he bowed out with the League record for games (426), finals (39), Grand Finals (11) and Premierships (7).

In 1992 they moved their home games to Waverley Park in Mulgrave in Melbourne's south-east after previously sharing Princes Park with Carlton. To further strengthen their links with the area a second social club was established nearby at the Waverley Gardens shopping centre. The club, which operates as a gaming venue, has also been a lucrative source of revenue for the club.

The end of the 1993 season saw the first cracks in the Family Club facade , coach Alan Joyce was replaced and club legends Gary Ayres and Dermott Brereton departed. Chris Mew had injured his Achilles tendon and retired. Lost of key players continued, Ben Allan was offered the Captaincy of the new Fremantle Dockers and left at the end of 1994, as did Andrew Gowers , he went to Brisbane.

1995 after a promising start the Hawks lost their last seven games to finish 15th and miss the finals for the first time since 1981. Darren Jarman told the club he wanted to return to Adelaide.

Proposed Merger

Main article: Melbourne Hawks

Falling on-field and off-field fortune saw the club almost merge with Melbourne in 1996. The resulting club was to be known as the "Melbourne Hawks" - a fusion with the Melbourne nickname of "Demons". A groundswell of support led by former champion Don Scott scuttled the proposal however with Hawthorn members voting strongly against it. Melbourne members supported the merger by a small margin. The failure of the merger led to the resignation of the board and its replacement by a team led by businessman Ian Dicker.

After fighting off the merger the new board launched "Proud, Passinate and Paid Up" campaign in a bid to get more members , 27450 memberships were bought by supporters, more than double the previous year. Even the successful days of the 1980s the club struggled to get 10000 members. The club was well placed after fourteen rounds but then lost the last eight games to finish only above its jilted merger partner Melbourne.

2000s

Peter Schwab was made coach of the Hawks for the 2000 season, the team played a more attacking style than the "accountable Football" discipline of Ken Judge. The Hawks reached the semi-final before losing to the reigning premiers the North Melbourne Kangaroos. Made steady progress all over the field. Daniel Chick and Nick Holland were the joint winners of the Best and Fairest. Chance Bateman became the second indigenous Australian to play for Hawthorn.

In 2001 the Hawks again enjoyed a successful year, but it was to be their last for several seasons. The Hawks won 8 games straight at the start of the season and, despite faltering in the middle part of the year, had a heart stopping win in Semi Final against Port Adelaide and made it to the Preliminary Final, which they narrowly lost to Essendon. In the off-season, Hawthorn traded Trent Croad and Luke McPharlin for the no.1 Draft Pick Luke Hodge, no.20 John Elstone and no.36 Sam Mitchell. In retrospect, the Hawks are seen to have won this trade. Trent Croad would, ironically, return to Hawthorn two years later via a trade of pick 10 Ryley Dunn, citing home sickness as a reason for his departure.

The Hawks missed the finals altogether in 2002. The Hawks finished 10th, which was considered to be a very disappointing result for the club. Shane Crawford won the Best and Fairest after another stellar season. Players that debut that year Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Campbell Brown, Robert Campbell and Mark L. Williams would all play in the 2008 premiership side. In the off-season, the Hawks again proved to be big players, and snared the services of St Kilda ruckman Peter Everitt.

After a poor start to the 2003 season, the Hawks went on to finish the second half of the year strongly and finished in 9th place, narrowly missing the finals. Sam Mitchell shone for the Hawks and won the Rising Star Award. This form had punters excited and the team were early favourites for a top 4 finish the next year. Shane Crawford once again won the Best and Fairest, with 'Crawf' also coming second in the Brownlow medal, by a single vote.

During the 2004 pre season Hawthorn coach Peter Schwab declared that the Hawks would be aiming to win the premiership although this statement would be followed by a horrific season for Hawthorn as the Hawks managed just 4 wins and 18 losses. The club imploded, and by mid-season coach Peter Schwab was sacked, and Captain Shane Crawford broke his arm, and eventually relinquished the captaincy. Following the collapse of the club on the field, many players either left or were sacked from the club. Nathan Thompson left the club citing a fresh start following his admission that he suffered from depression. Rayden Tallis, Mark Graham, Kris Barlow and Lance Picioane were also released from the club. More than 700 games of experience left the club following the season.

Hawks players run through the banner in the Semi Final against the Kangaroos, led by captain Richard Vandenberg in his final game.

Alastair Clarkson was appointed coach before the conclusion of the 2004 season and promptly delisted many players who were either underperforming or not fitting in with his youth policy which he embarked on to rebuild the club. The Hawks took Jarryd Roughead, Lance Franklin, Jordan Lewis at picks 2, 5 and 7 respectively in the AFL Draft. In the pre-season AFL Draft, former Hawk Trent Croad who had played for the Fremantle Dockers for 2 years returned to his original side.

With Clarkson at the helm, the Hawks made solid progress, and instituted a culture of discipline at the club. The Hawks won only 6 games and played a widely criticised high-possession gameplan and finished in 14th position. Hawks fans still deemed it to be a somewhat successful season. Lance Franklin, Jarryd Roughead and Jordan Lewis all won Rising Star Nominations. Shane Crawford also had a return to form after a terrible 2004 when he broke his arm, and finished 3rd in the Peter Crimmins Medal.

The success story of the year was former No.1 Draft Pick Luke Hodge, who became a super-star off half back, winning the Peter Crimmins Medal, All-Australian jumper and coming equal 4th in the Brownlow Medal, collecting 15 votes. Peter Everitt and Trent Croad were also named in the All-Australian team.

The Hawks were again busy in the off-season, trading players for draft picks. The Hawks ended Trade Week with 5 top 20 draft picks, further reinforcing their youth-policy.

In 2006, after a flyer start, being 4-1 Win/Loss ratio after the first 5 rounds, the Hawks faltered and fell to a 6 game losing streak before breaking the drought against Richmond in round 12, when Lance Franklin booted 6 goals. A further 6 game losing streak ensued, before another 6 goal burst from "Buddy" in round 19 against Carlton was the spark to a final 4 game winning streak, which helped the Hawks leap frog Port Adelaide, the Kangaroos, and Brisbane to finish the year in 11th place.

Despite finishing the 2006 season in 11th place, the Hawks have supporters excited and have a lot of talent to work with in the years to come. Their run-with-the-ball game style has been praised, and as a result Coach Alastair Clarkson was rewarded with a new 2 year contract after the mid-season break.

The Hawks also relocated their administrative headquarters from Glenferrie Oval, and moved to Waverley Park in the early stages of 2006. Glenferrie Oval still remains the spiritual home of the football club.

At the end of the 2006 season, the Hawks increased their commitment to Tasmanian market - where they have developed a large support base - with 4 games to be played at Aurora Stadium in Launceston, involving the Tasmanian government becoming an official sponsor of the club, in one of the biggest sponsorship deals in Australian sporting history^[3] worth $15-20 million dollars.

The remaining 7 home games and several away games will be played at the MCG, giving the club a significant number of home and away games at the ground.

In 2007 the club spent most of the time in the top three during the home and away, but late season loses to Port Adelaide and Sydney saw the Hawks finish in 5th position. A come from behind win against Adelaide in the Elimination Final in which Lance Franklin kicked his seventh goal seconds from the final siren overshadowed a disappointing loss the following week against the Kangaroos, . Hawthorn was the only team the premier team Geelong didn't beat during the year.

The club recorded its 11th consecutive year-end profit at the close of the 2007 season, a record $3.6m dollars.

2008

Main article: Hawthorn Football Club season 2008

Hawthorn won their first premiership since 1991, defeating Geelong 18.7-115 to 11.23-89 in the AFL Grand Final. This took place on Saturday the 27th of September, 2008 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). Luke Hodge won the Norm Smith Medal, overcoming a serious rib injury inflicted upon him against the Saints in the Preliminary Final. Mark Williams was the top goalkicker on the day with 3 goals. ^[4]

Club Symbols

Logo and crest

The Hawthorn FC has had four VFL/AFL endorsed logos in its entirety. The first (1977), a flying Hawk, was an adaptation of a pre-existing unofficial logo that appeared on the club's official documentation throughout the 1960s and 1970s.

Club Jumper

The Hawthorn colours are gold and brown vertical stripes. Since 1950, Hawthorn has worn a brown and gold striped uniform. The current major sponsors of the team are Events Tasmania, HSBC, MBF and Puma.

Club Song

We're a happy team at Hawthorn.
We're the mighty fighting hawks.
We love our club and we play to win.
Riding the bumps with a grin at Hawthorn.
Come what may you'll find us striving.
Team work is the thing that talks.
One for all and all for one.
Is the way we play at Hawthorn.
We are the mighty fighting hawks.

It is sung to the tune of The Yankee Doodle Boy. VFL teams the Northern Bullants, the Sandringham Zebras and the Box Hill Hawks and the Central District (Centrals) and West Adelaide (Westies) from the SANFL & The Heathmont Jets (VIC EFL) have similar club songs, with the same tune and several familiar lyrics. Previously the club used a song titled "We all come from Hawthorn Way" to the tune of the folk song "Camptown Ladies".

Club mascot

The Hawks's Mascot Manor representative and club mascot is Hawka, a caricature of a hawk dressed the same way as the Hawthorn players.

Support

Hawthorn boasts large widespread support throughout Australia, particularly in Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and South East Queensland. Most of this widespread support can be accredited to the club's success in the 1970s and 1980s as the club successfully nurtured talent in its home ‘zones’ – primarily in the South and East of Victoria, as well as recruiting interstate talent from all over Australia. As a result the club has a very widespread membership with 4,000 Tasmanian members, 2,000 WA members and 1,000 QLD members complementing the clubs 35,000 Victorian members, only Carlton has more 'interstate' based members.

As of June 2008, the Hawthorn Football Club boasts the 5th largest membership in the AFL, behind only Adelaide, West Coast, Fremantle and Collingwood, with the Hawks breaking the 40,000 member barrier for the first time in the club's 83 year history and only the third ever amongst the Victorian based clubs.

According to club research, the club has around 400,000 supporters across Australia. Notable supporters include club president Jeff Kennett, cricketers Ian Healy, Mark Taylor, Terry Alderman, Damien Fleming, Wimbledon champion Pat Cash, Australian Olympic Rower James Tomkins and media personality Stephen Quartermain

In accordance with a recent survey appearing in the 9/7/2008 addition of the Herald Sun, 11% of Victorians 'barrack' for Hawthorn, behind only Collingwood (14%), Essendon(12%) and Carlton(12%)

In 2008 the Hawthorn Football Club drew 1,164,396 to all 25 completed games, a club record and 7th largest aggregate attendance for any club, of all time.

Membership base and home crowds

Below is a table containing club membership numbers from 1996.

¹ as at 12 July 2008
² following finals matches

Club honour board

Premierships

• Hawthorn has won the 3rd most trophies of any club in VFL/AFL competition
• Hawthorn is the most successful VFL/AFL club post World War II
• Hawthorn is the only club in the VFL/AFL to have won Senior Premierships in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s and 2000s
• Hawthorn has won the most Night/Pre-Season Premierships

Finishing positions (1925-2008)

Seasonwise Listing

Includes the Peter Crimmins Medal, the award given to the player(s) deemed best and fairest for the season. Peter Crimmins was a rover for Hawthorn, playing 1966-1975. He died of cancer just days after the club's 1976 premiership win.

(*) Competition Leading Goal-Kicker.

Team of the Century

Corporate

Current issues

The closure of Waverley Park in 1999 was a setback as Hawthorn could no longer play home games in the south-east region where they have developed a large support base. Home games were moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Their relationship with the south-east was rekindled in 2006, when the Hawks returned to Waverley as a training and administration centre. The oval and a section of the Sir Kenneth Luke stand have been retained by developer Mirvac as part of their redevelopment of the Waverley site as a housing estate, largely as a result of a Victorian government commitment to keep football there. Mirvac leases the facility to Hawthorn for a peppercorn rent, until the club takes ownership of the facility within the next 20 years. Hawthorn will maintain their association with Glenferrie, by housing several coteries and conducting social activities at the clubs spiritual home.

On September 30, 2008, the Hawthorn Football Club relationship with Glenferrie Oval was rekindled when the club hosted a Supporters Day at the clubs spiritual home celebrating the clubs 10th premiership, attended by an estimated 20,000 fans.

In August 2005, former Victorian State Premier Jeff Kennett, a long time Hawthorn supporter and former number one membership ticket holder, was appointed to the board of the club with the intention of standing for president at the next coming Annual General Meeting. His rise to presidency was confirmed when on December 14 2005, he was ushered in as president of the Hawthorn Football Club unopposed to the audience of a packed Hawthorn Town Hall.

At their 2007 Annual General Meeting, Hawthorn embarked on a five year business plan titled "five2fifty", the core idea being that in next five years the club will win 2 premierships and have fifty thousand members. As part of the plan, the football club wants to be seen as the most professional club in the AFL, and places great emphasis on the welfare of the people associated with the club.^[7]

Current squad

As of 11th November, 2008:

Captains

The following table lists the captains of the Hawthorn Football club senior team in reverse chronological order.

Presidents

The following table lists the presidents of the club.

Records and Achievements

Australian Football Hall of Fame players

• Leigh Matthews
• Peter Hudson
• Jason Dunstall
• Michael Tuck
• Robert Dipierdomenico
• Darren Jarman

Best and Fairest winners

See Peter Crimmins Medal

Brownlow Medal winners

• Col Austen (1949 - tied with Ron Clegg, South Melbourne)
• Robert DiPierdomenico (1986 - tied with Greg Williams, Sydney Swans)
• John Platten (1987 - tied with Tony Lockett, St. Kilda)
• Shane Crawford (1999)

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

• Leigh Matthews (1982)
• Russell Greene (1984)
• Jason Dunstall (1992)
• Shane Crawford (1999)

Note: Before 2002, this was the VFL/AFL Players Association Most Valuable Player award. In 2005, all winners of this honour prior to 2002 were retrospectively awarded the Leigh Matthews Trophy.

Coleman Medal winners

• John Peck (1963, 1964, 1965)
• Peter Hudson (1968, 1970, 1971, 1977)
• Leigh Matthews (1975)
• Jason Dunstall (1988, 1989, 1992)
• Lance Franklin (2008)

Norm Smith Medal winners

• Colin Robertson (1983)
• Gary Ayres (1986, 1988)
• Paul Dear (1991)
• Luke Hodge (2008)

Michael Tuck Medal winners

• Paul Hudson (1992)
• Paul Salmon (1999)

Alex Jesaulenko Medalist

• Shane Crawford (1998)

All Australian representatives (AFL only)

• Campbell Brown (2007)
• Luke Hodge (2005, 2008)
• Trent Croad (2005)
• Peter Everitt (2005)
• Joel Smith (2001, 2003)
• Shane Crawford (1996, 1998, 1999, 2002)
• Jonathan Hay (2001)
• Paul Salmon (1997)
• Darren Jarman (1992, 1995)
• Chris Langford (1994)
• Jason Dunstall(1992, 1994)
• Ben Allan (1993, 1994)
• John Platten (1992)
• Lance Franklin (2008)

National team representatives (since 2005)

• Luke Hodge (2005, 2008)
• Trent Croad (2005)
• Chance Bateman (2006)
• Campbell Brown(2007)
• Lance Franklin (2008)

Records set by players

• Most matches: Michael Tuck - 426 (AFL Record)
• Most consecutive matches:Andrew Collins - 189
• Most goals kicked in a match:Jason Dunstall - 17 goals 5 behinds (R7, 1992, P)
• Most goals in a season: Peter Hudson - 150 (1971)

Notable Club records

• Least Behinds/Best Accuracy 0, R12, 1949 (GO) - Hawthorn 7.0 (42) v Essendon 16.16 (112)
• Most Scoring Shots 66 Shots, R6, 1977 (OO) - Hawthorn 25.41 (191) v St Kilda 16.7 (103)

Stadiums

Across the history of the Hawthorn Football Club, the club has had 4 mainstay home grounds (Glenferrie Oval, Princes Park, Waverley Park and the Melbourne Cricket Ground) Prior to adopting Glenferrie Oval as the clubs traditional home, the Hawthorn club had a nomatic history playing home games at the Richmond Cricket Ground (Punt Road) and then the East Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Glenferrie Oval (1906-1973)

Between 1906 and 1973, home games were played at the clubs traditional home, Glenferrie Oval, in the heart of the affluent suburb. The state of Glenferrie Oval and its location, located off the Hawthorn train station on the Melbourne East route, was a central reason why the VFL accepted Hawthorn into the VFL in 1925. Known universally for its famous art-deco Grandstand, built in 1937 and later named the Michael Tuck stand after the club great, Glenferrie Oval was regarded as one of the better and picturesque suburban grounds, loved by opposition fans and Hawthorn fans alike. Whilst the ground was relatively small by VFL standards, the intimate nature of the ground (with the grandstands and train line surrounding the ground) made for a terridic atmosphere with the constant 'buzz' engulfing the Hawthorn suburb as the club rose from celler dwellers to league power during the franatic 1960s and 1970s, coinciding with the 1961 and 1971 pennants.

Whilst the club was forced to leave the ground in 1973 to cater for the clubs growing crowds and demands of VFL football, Glenferrie Oval still holds a special place in the hearts of all Hawthorn supporters. From 1974-2006 the club used the ground as a home and administration base, conducting training sessions and running a social club, across on Linda Crecent before the club made the move to Waverley Park to service the clubs growing supporter base in Melbourne's outer Eastern suburbs.

In the aftermath of Hawthorn's 2008 Premiership, Hawthorn took the premiership to Glenferrie Oval to celebrate with their adoring fans on the Sunday. The event was attended by an estimated 20,000+ supporters, packing the rust bucket venue and stretching across the road to Linda Crescent and along the Linda Cresent street, such was the turnout, the club had to close the gates to the ground hours before the team arrived at the ground. The massive turnout justified the longheld view that although the club has moved on from the halycon days at Glenferrie, the ground and suburb is still the club's spiritual home, after 35 years playing games away from the suburb of Hawthorn, the Hawthorn Football Club and suburb of Hawthorn share a unique bond.

Princes Park (1974-1991)

The decision to move away from Glenferrie Oval and subsequent move to Princes Park was a difficult transition, alientating many supporters. Prior to moving to Princes Park, the club pushed to build a stadium in Box Hill and mooted a move to the MCG (1964) both were rejected. The move to Princes Park - the traditional home of the Carlton Football Club, coincided with the clubs golden era, hoisting the '76, '78, '83, '86, '88, '89 and '91 premiership flags at the ground. Combined with Carlton's '79, '81, '82 and '87 flags, Princes Park became a hub of success throughout the 1970s and 1980s.

Whilst the club had immense success at the ground, the ground wasn't a favourite with the majority of the Hawthorn membership. Located in Melbourne's Northern suburbs, the traditional home of the Carlton Football Club - one of the traditional powerhouses of the VFL, the move away from the clubs heartland caused many Hawks supporters to turn their back on the club.

Recognising this, as early as the mid 1980s the Hawthorn administration pushed to relocate from Princes Park to Waverley Park, however due to the nature of long term terms of tenancy at Princes Park and ruthlessness of the Carlton Football Club for Hawthorn to abide by this contract, a move away from Princes Park before the end of the long term agreement would result in financial ruin for the club.

Waverley Park (1992-1999)

In 1990, with the backing of the AFL, Hawthorn set the wheels in motion for a move to VFL Park, playing a series of home games at Waverley Park - located 20km East of the Melbourne CBD and location of Hawthorn's 1991 Premiership success. Whilst the move to Waverley was meet with a drop in on field success, symbolising the birth of the barren period for the club on the field leading up until 2008, the club successfully harboured large increases in attendances and membership at the ground.

As a result of the AFL closing the venue and subsequently selling the property to Mirvac to finance the Docklands stadia, the club had the opportunity to move home games to either the lavish new Docklands precent (alongside Essendon, St Kilda, W Bulldogs and North) or join traditional tenants Melbourne and Richmond as well as Collingwood at the MCG. Highlighting the potential to push attendances and membership beyond 50,000 the club decided to push for a relocation to the MCG in line with the 'Family Club' mantra.

In January 2006, in the clubs centenary year at Glenferrie Oval, the clubs administration, museum and player base relocated to Waverley Park.

Melbourne Cricket Ground (2000 - )

On the 13th of March 2000, Hawthorn played its first home game, as an MCG tenant, against Collingwood at the MCG, becoming one of four tenants to play at the ground. Up until 2008, the shift from to the MCG has been met with a barren period on the field for the Hawks, having played in 5/9 losing seasons at the ground. Unquestionably the lowest point as a tenant at the ground occurred in round 16 2004, where anchored to the bottom of the ladder Hawthorn drew just 11,682 to a game against Port Adelaide, drawing widespread ridicule.

Since 2000, Hawthorn has played between 7-9 home games at the MCG, with secondary home games being played at Docklands and York Park, in Tasmania. In 2008, Hawthorn played 7 home games at the MCG, drawing 369,614 (52,802) to 7 games, and a total of 773,089 (59,468) to 13 games at the venue for the year.^[8] In 2009 Hawthorn is scheduled to play its 1st home game for the year (rd 1), in a Grand Final reply, against Geelong, making it the 4th ground Hawthorn has hoisted a flag.

Aurora Stadium (2001-2011*)

Since 2001, Hawthorn's has played 'secondary' home games at Aurora Stadium in Tasmania. Since 2006, Hawthorn has an agreement with the Tourism component of the Tasmania Government, whereby they are contracted to play 4 games in the State. Since 2001, Hawthorn has successively cultivated a following in Tasmania, having increased membership from 1,000 to 2,000 and now 4,000 since the club began playing games in the State.

The Hawks have a very successful record at the stadium, with many in the media dubbing the venue 'Fortress Aurora' for opposition sides. As a result of the agreement with the Tasmanian Government, thousands of Melbourne based Hawthorn supporters have travelled to Tasmania to watch the Hawks play, increasing activity within the local Launceston economy. By the same token, Hawthorn has successfully increased its following in the state, with an estimated 1/4 young Tasmanian supporters now barracking for their 'local' team .^[9].

References

See also

• List of Hawthorn Football Club coaches
• Melbourne Hawks

External links

• Official Website of the Hawthorn Football Club
• "Around the Grounds" - Web Documentary - Glenferrie Oval