Hawthorn Football Club

Hawthorn Football Club

Names
Full name	Hawthorn Football Club
Nickname(s)	Hawks, Hawkers, Mayflowers, Mayblooms
Motto	Spectemur agendo
Season 2009
Home & Away Season	Ninth (9th)
Pre-season Cup	Semi Final
Leading Goalkicker	Lance Franklin (67)
Best & Fairest	Sam Mitchell
Club Details
Founded	1902
Colours	Brown      and Gold
Competition	Australian Football League
Chairman	Jeff Kennett
Coach	Alastair Clarkson
Captain(s)	Sam Mitchell
Premierships	10 (1961, 1971, 1976, 1978, 1983, 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2008)[1]:160
Ground(s)	MCG (Capacity: 100,0181)
	Aurora Stadium (Capacity: 23,000)
Other information
Official website	www.hawthornfc.com.au
Guernsey:
Current season: Hawthorn Football Club season 2010

Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed The Hawks, is one of the 16 Australian rules football clubs in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club, founded in 1902, is the youngest of the Victorian-based teams in the AFL. The club is the most successful club in the modern era, having won 10 premierships, a premiership in each of the last 5 decades, including the 2008 Premiership. 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, however, have not been played there since 1973. In 2006, Hawthorn's training and administration was relocated to Waverley Park—in the midst of the club's major supporter base in Melbourne's outer-eastern region and since 2007 Hawthorn have played four games a year at their second ground of Aurora Stadium in Launceston, Tasmanian with the remaining games played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the club's current playing home ground.

Club history

Obscure and disputed origins

The origins of the Hawthorn Football Club are obscure—very few records were kept and the early history is subject to interpretation, embellishment and historical revisionism.

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.^[2] Although a Hawthorn Football Club did indeed form at this time and the region has since continuously been represented by a football team, it was not the Hawthorn which competes at AFL level today. It is likely that today's club is actually the third club to carry the name "Hawthorn Football Club". The Daily Telegraph Saturday 12 May 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. 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.

Modern club founded

In April 1902, Alf Kosky formed a club from the various district clubs under the banner of Hawthorn Football Club to compete in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association.^[3] 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 Victorian Football Association (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 17 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 I with players enlisting caused the club to finish last in 1915. The VFA then went 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, North Melbourne, Prahran, Camberwell and Caulfield. On the night of 9 January 1925 a committee meeting of the VFL, chaired by Reg Hunt of Carlton, decided to expand the competition from nine clubs to twelve. It was decided in the meeting to admit the "Hawthorn Football Club", along with Footscray and North Melbourne, all three coming from the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Hunt originally recommended Hawthorn, Footscray 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 players of true class 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 a season.

1940s

Roy Cazaly was the non-playing coach of Hawthorn in 1942, he was reported to have given the club its nickname the "Hawks". Cazaly thought that it was tougher than their original nickname the "Mayblooms" and 1943 turned out to be the club's 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 of the board that he remain as captain. Brownlow Medallist Col Austen sided with Albiston and a split occurred. The board sided with the coach and gave Albiston and Austen open clearances. Subsequently, the team did not win a match in 1950. Two positives were 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 less accepting of defeat than before. Although Hawthorn finished last in 1953, from the following year improvement was steady.

Hawthorn had their first recruitment coup in 1954 by signing Clayton "Candles" Thompson from South Australia. Thompson was the glamour player from the 1953 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's 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 for 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 a year when Cyril Collard became the first indigenous Australian to play for Hawthorn.

Glory years: 1961—1991

First premiership

1961 VFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Hawthorn	13	16	94
Western Bulldogs	7	9	51
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 107,935[1]:669

John Kennedy, Sr. is the Hawks' first premiership coach. His son, John Kennedy, Jr., would later be a multiple-premiership player with his father's club. Josh Kennedy, would be the club's first third-generation player. Hawthorn honoured their first premiership coach with a bronze statue in front of Waverly Park

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 was 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. In 1963 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 centurion 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.

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 strengthened with the arrival of full back Kelvin Moore and centre half-forward Alan Martello.

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

In 1971 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 an 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. It was a hard and tough game was played out with the Saints leading 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, who had kicked 8 goals before being injured before half time. John Hendrie whose 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 team 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 when 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).

7 straight: 1983—1989

The Hawthorn-Essendon bitter rivalry started in the 1980s, when the two clubs met in three succesive grand finals (2007)

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 failing to finish within the eighth and seen by most critics as a spent force. Coach David Parkin left and agreed to coach Carlton and captain Don Scott would shortly retire after playing his 300th game. In a surprised apppointment Hawthorn persuaded former St Kilda premiership coach Allan Jeans to coach the team. Jeans had not coached in the VFL for five years.

1982 would mark the start of 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 the 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 premierships for the decade was in the 1983 Grand Final, with Hawthorn 20.20 (140) defeating Essendon 8.9 (57) This was at that 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 Grand Final due to Essendon's famous final quarter charge, and losing again in 1985 Grand Final by a far greater margin; souring the final game of club legend Leigh Matthews. Playing along side him was young Jason Dunstall, 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. Their second premiership came the following year in the 1986 Grand Final, with Hawthorn 16.14 (110) defeating Carlton 9.14 (68) 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 1987 Preliminary Final breaking the hearts of tens of thousands of Melbourne supporters. Ill health to coach Allan Jeans meant that Football Operations Manager Alan Joyce took the coaching position for 1988. The Hawks lost only 3 games for the year; Jason Dunstall kicked 132 goals and the team would win the 1988 Premiership 22.20 (152) against Melbourne 6.20 (56); a then record margin in a Grand Final of 96 points.^[1]:836 Gary Ayres won his second Norm Smith Medal.

The 1989 season is today viewed as one of the most spectacular AFL/VFL seasons to date; with the emergence of Geelong great Gary Ablett Sr., the resurgence of Geelong and the greatest Grand Final of the modern era occurring in this year. The Hawks 21.18 (144) defeated Geelong 21.12 (138) in the 1989 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 physical play. 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.^[1]:837 By midway through the final quarter the Cats were charging; with Hawthorn desperately trying to hold off the Cat's avalanche of goals while containing the brilliance of Ablett who ended the match with a Grand Final record of 9 goals. Hawthorn's experience and determination allowed them to hold off Geelong just long enough, scraping through to victory by one goal. The 1989 Grand Final victory over Geelong is widely regarded as one of the greatest and toughest Grand Finals in the history of the competition.^[4]

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 seven successive Grand finals. Leading players of the 1980s included Dermott Brereton, Gary Ayres, Chris Mew, Michael Tuck, Jason Dunstall, Gary Buckenara, John Platten and Chris Langford.

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 for the 1991 season and the Hawks subsequently won the pre-season cup. The club recruited skillful South Australian Darren Jarman and with improvement from young players, such as Paul Hudson, Ben Allan and Stephen Lawrence the team made the 1991 Grand Final.

1989 VFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Hawthorn	21	18	144
Geelong	21	12	138
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 94,796

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. 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 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, if not for inaccuracy in front of goal in the second term, they 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 (52) to 1.3 (9) in the final quarter, to win a fifth premiership in nine seasons. 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 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). At the end of 1991, Hawthorn selected a young Shane Crawford with pick 13 in the National Draft, who eventually became the only surviving link between this era of success and its next triumph 17 seasons later.

Rebuilding: 1992—1996

In 1992 the club moved its 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 injured his achilles tendon and retired. Loss 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, who went to Brisbane.

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

Proposed merger

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, 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, led by businessman Ian Dicker.

After fighting off the merger the new board launched the "Proud, Passionate and Paid Up" campaign in a bid to get more members. 27,450 memberships were bought by supporters, more than doubling the memberships from the previous year. Even in the successful days of the 1980s the club struggled to get 10,000 members. The team won the 1999 pre-season competition but missed out on the finals of the premiership season.

Post-Operation Payback: 1997—present

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. The team made steady progress all over the field. Daniel Chick and Nick Holland were the joint winners of the Peter Crimmins Medal. 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 number 1 Draft Pick Luke Hodge, no. 20 Daniel 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.

The Hawks missed the finals altogether in 2002, finishing 10th, which was considered to be a very disappointing result for the club. Shane Crawford won the Peter Crimmins Medal after another stellar season. Players that made their debuts 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 Peter Crimmins Medal, with 'Crawf' also coming second in the Brownlow Medal, by a single vote.

New coach, changing times

Main articles: Hawthorn Football Club seasons 2007, 2008 and 2009

During the 2004 pre-season Hawthorn coach Peter Schwab declared that the Hawks would "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 a 2007 Semi Final against the Kangaroos, led by then 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. Former Hawk Trent Croad who had played for the Fremantle Dockers for 2 years returned to his former side on exchange for draft selection No.10 Ryley Dunn before the 2004 season.

With Clarkson at the helm, the Hawks made solid progress, and instituted a culture of discipline at the club. The Hawks won only 5 games and played a widely criticised high-possession game plan 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 tally. The Hawks received pick 3 Xavier Ellis, pick 6 Beau Dowler from finishing 14th. List manager Chris Pelchen also traded the clubs 2001 All-Australian full-back Jonathan Hay to North Melbourne and Nathan Lonie to Port Adelaide. In return the club got pick no. 14 Grant Birchall and pick 18 Max Bailey. The club had a record 5 picks inside 22 with Beau Muston rounding out the 5 players. Ellis and Birchall went on to play an integral part in the clubs 10th premiership in 2008.

Jeff Kennett is the current president of the Hawks

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.

After numerous years of planning, the club relocated its administrative headquarters from Glenferrie Oval to a state-of-the-art redeveloped facility at Waverley Park in the early stages of 2006. Glenferrie Oval was to remain the spiritual home of the club.

In 2006, after a flying start, with a win/loss ratio of 4–1 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.

The Hawks ran out onto the MCG on Grand Final Day in 2008, with the banner saying:Endurance, Mateship, Courage, Sacrifice

Hawthorn's progress up the ladder, developing youth, and attacking style of play saw coach Alastair Clarkson rewarded with a new 2-year contract after the mid-season break.

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 Launcston, involving the Tasmanian Government becoming an official sponsor of the club, in one of the biggest sponsorship deals in Australian sporting history,^[5] worth $15–20 million dollars.

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 North Melbourne Football Club.

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

2008 AFL Grand Final	G	B	Total
Hawthorn	18	7	115
Geelong	11	23	89
Venue: Melbourne Cricket Ground	Crowd: 100,012

2008 saw Hawthorn played a brand of football described by many as "unsociable",^[6] and the win of their first premiership since 1991, defeating Geelong 18.7 (115) to 11.23 (89) in the Grand Final. This took place on Saturday 27 September 2008 at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG). During the second quarter Trent Croad suffered a serious foot injury and was on crutches the rest of the game. Luke Hodge won the Norm Smith Medal, overcoming a serious rub injury inflicted upon him during the Preliminary Final match against Western Bulldogs. Mark Williams was the leading goalkicker on the day with 3 goals.^[7]

In 2009 Hawthorn had a bad season with injuries to several top players, who missed considerable number of games through out the season. The club did not make the finals, however the club's chances of final were not extinguished until the last few matches with a late season charge fading in the last couple of games.

Club symbols

Logo, crest and mascot

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

Logo
1980s shield In 1982, however, on the back of large scale marketing drive, ‘the new force of the 80s’, the club adopted the famous ‘Hawk Head’ created by a Swinburne Institute student. It is still closely linked to the club 10 years after being replaced. The ‘Hawk Head’ was a popular choice amongst Hawthorn FC supporters as the club had 5 premierships, 8 grand finals and 14 finals appearances during its 15 years at the club
1997–2007 On the back of the failed 1996 proposed merger of Hawthorn with the Melbourne Football Club, Hawthorn – under Ian Dicker – looked to a new banner for a change of fortunes in 1997. The ‘New Hawks’ adopted a modernistic version of the pre-existing ‘Flying Hawk’ and was launched with the infamous ‘Proud, Passionate and Paid Up’ membership drive in 1997. The new logo was successful in drumming up support for the Hawks, as the club went from one of the lowest supported clubs to being the first club in Victoria to attract more than 30,000 members in the space of only two years. Since then the club has successfully retained a consistent level of support despite struggles on the field.
2008 – present On Saturday, 6 October 2007, the club president, Jeff Kennett, launched the club's fourth logo in 30 years at a lavish function at Crown Casino.[8] The new logo, which has striking similarities to the ‘Hawk Head’ of the 80s and 90s was a project of Cato Purnell Partners. In describing the logo, Cato has made reference to the eye and beak of the Hawk representing the ‘determination, pride, and focus’ of Hawthorn.

Club jumper

The Hawthorn colours are Brown and Gold vertical stripes. Hawthorn has worn this design since 1950. The current major sponsors of the team are Tasmania, HSBC, MBF and Puma. The standard home guernsey is used in all home and away games in Victoria, Sydney and Tasmania while the away guernsey is used in every away games in Adelaide, Perth, and Brisbane.

Home Guernsey	Away Guernsey

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 are 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 have similar club songs, with the same tune and several familiar lyrics. The recording currently in use by Hawthorn was performed in 1972 by the Fable Singers.^[9]

Previously the club used a song titled "We all come from Hawthorn Way" to the tune of the folk song "Camptown Ladies".

It is a little know fact that until the early 1950s the first line of the Hawthorn Football Club theme song was "We're a gay team at Hawthorn".

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 30 September 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 14 December 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 5-year business plan titled "five2fifty", the core idea being that in the next five years the club will target to 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.^[10]

HANZ-UP

In 2009 Hawthorn launched a community-based program called 'HANZ-UP! AFL Program' in New Zealand. The Hawks announced they had entered the New Zealand market, with an initial three-year deal with an option to extend the partnership until the end of 2018.

Hawthorn has joined with AFLNZ to promote HANZ-UP! through programs such as KiwiKick (a New Zealand version of Auskick), the Hawks Cup (a year-9 and year-10 schools competition) and the Trent Croad Scholarship Scheme (AFL international scholarships). Annual skills clinics will also be held throughout New Zealand featuring Hawthorn players. KiwiKick will see all participants receiving kits branded with the Hawks and HANZ-UP! logos, while Hawks Cup players will be given exclusive Hawthorn merchandise.^[11]

Support

Supporters came out in numbers to show the Hawks on at the MCG

Hawthorn boasts a large support base throughout Australia, particularly in Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and South East Queensland. In accordance with a 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%).

According to club research, the club has well over 400,000 supporters across Australia. Notable supporters include club former Victorian premier and current 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

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 7,000 Tasmanian members, 3,000 WA members and 3,000 QLD and NSW members complementing the clubs 35,000 Victorian members. In 2007 Hawthorn stated its ambitions were to grow their membership to beyond 50,000 by 2011 which was achieved in 2009.

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. In May 2009, the Hawthorn Football Club boasted the largest membership in the AFL, becoming the first Victorian club to break the 51,000 barrier for membership.

Membership base and home crowds

Below is a table containing club membership numbers from 1996.

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 (1925–2009)

Seasonwise listing

Includes the Peter Crimmins Medal (best and fairest) winners^[12].

(*) Competition Leading Goal-Kicker.

Team of the Century

Current squad

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Reserves

Hawthorn no longer fields a standalone reserves team, however it did field teams until the AFL restructured the competition. The club had won reserves premierships in 1958, 1959, 1972 & 1985. It has formed a number of grassroots alliances, including a major alliance with the Box Hill Hawks Football Club that plays in the Victorian Football League.

Captains

The following is list of captains of the Hawthorn Football Club senior team in chronological order.

Coaches

The following is a list of coaches who have coached the Hawthorn Football Club.

• Statistics are correct as of the end of 2009

Legend:

P = Played

W = Won

D = Drew

L = Lost

W% = Win percentage

Presidents

The following is a list of presidents of the Hawthorn Football Club.

Records and achievements

Records

Most games

• 426 Michael Tuck
• 332 Leigh Matthews
• 305 Shane Crawford
• 303 Chris Langford
• 302 Don Scott
• 300 Kelvin Moore
• 269 Gary Ayres
• 269 Jason Dunstall
• 264 Peter Knights
• 258 John Platten

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) (AFL Record)
• Most 100 goals seasons in AFL: 12 – Jason Dunstall 6 (1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1996), Peter Hudson 5 (1968, 1969, 1970, 1971, 1977), Lance Franklin 1 (2008)

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)
• Most scores over 200 points – Hawthorn 5, Geelong 5

Achievements

Peter Crimmins Medal (best & fairest) winners

Hawthorn's best and fairest award is titled as the Peter Crimmins Medal, in honour of former Hawthorn captain Peter Crimmins who played as a rover, during 1966–1975 and led the side in 1974–75. He died of cancer just days after the club's 1976 premiership win.

The Match Committee now awards the votes. The player with the maximum number of votes at the conclusion of the season, is awarded the medal. See Seasonwise listing for the complete list of winners.

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.

Norm Smith Medal winners

2008 Norm Smith Medalist and current vice captain Luke Hodge

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

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)

Michael Tuck Medal winners

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

Alex Jesaulenko Medal (AFL mark of the year) winners

• Peter Knights (1972, 1975, 1977)
• Gary Buckenara (1986)

Australian Football Hall of Fame inductees

• Leigh Matthews
• Peter Hudson
• Jason Dunstall
• Michael Tuck
• Robert DiPierdomenico
• Darren Jarman
• Gary Ayres
• Dermott Brereton
• Chris Langford
• John Platten
• Graham Arthur
• Peter Knights
• Paul Salmon

All Australian representatives (AFL only)

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

National team representatives (since 2005)

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

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)

Glenferrie Oval is the spiritual home the Hawks. However, the last VFL/AFL match was played back in 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 Crescent 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 Crescent 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, alienating 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 20 km east of the Melbourne CBD and location of Hawthorn's 1991 Premiership success. Whilst the move to Waverley was met 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 percent (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 club's centennial year at Glenferrie Oval, the club's administration, museum and player base relocated to Waverley Park.

Melbourne Cricket Ground (2000–present)

On 13 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.^[14]

Aurora Stadium (2001–2011*)

Aurora Stadium (formerly York Park) is Hawthorn's second home ground

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.^[15]

See also

Melbourne Hawks

Footnotes

Notes

1.^ Including standing room.

References

Further reading

• The Hard Way, The Story of the Hawthorn Football Club 1990 by Harry Gordon ISBN 0949853429
• One for All, The Story of the Hawthorn Football Club 2009 by Harry and Michael Gordon ISBN 9781921332838 a.k.a. "Son of Hard Way"

External links

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