Hawthorn Football Club

The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed The Hawks, is an Australian rules football club playing in the Australian Football League (AFL). They play in brown and gold vertically striped guernseys.

The Hawks origins are in the inner Melbourne suburb of Hawthorn where they are based at Glenferrie Oval. Glenferrie Oval is an administrative and training base and social club in Linda Crescent in Hawthorn. Matches have not been played there since 1973, when they moved to Princes Park. In 2006, they moved their administration to Waverley Park.

History

Early years

Hawthorn was relatively late in joining the Victorian Football League (VFL), the predecessor of the AFL, joining in 1925 with Footscray and North Melbourne from the Victorian Football Association (VFA). Hawthorn's origins date back much earlier however to its founding in 1873 at a meeting at the Hawthorne Hotel. The Mayblooms (The club's nickname changed from the Mayblooms or Mayflowers to Hawks in 1950) became the perennial whipping boys of the competition. Hawthorn broke through to their first finals appearance in 1957, and in 1961 they went one better, winning their first premiership by defeating Footscray. This was the first of three flags for coach John Kennedy, a Hawthorn legend.

1970s

In the 1970s Hawthorn had more success winning three flags. During the 1970s a strong rivalry grew with North Melbourne and they met in three grand finals with the Hawks prevailing twice. The 1976 flag was inspired by the illness of former vice-captain Peter Crimmins who died a week after the victory. Many of the Hawks greats such as the prolific goal-kicker Peter Hudson, rover Leigh Matthews and centre half-back Peter Knights played through this era.

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 Essendon. The first of four Grand Final wins for the decade was in 1983, with Hawthorn (20.20) defeating Essendon (8.9). 1983 would mark Hawthorn being in the finals for 13 years in a row. Their second premiership would come three years later in the 1986 Grand Final, which saw Hawthorn (16.14) defeat Carlton (9.14). The decade closed on a high-note for the Hawks, who would win back to back premierships first in 1988 (22.20) against Melbourne (6.20), and again a year later in 1989, (21.18) against Geelong (21.12). Their fast-paced style of 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. Leading players of the 1980s included Dermott Brereton, Gary Ayres, Michael Tuck, Jason Dunstall, Gary Buckenara, John Platten and Chris Langford.

1990s

Due to gentrification in the Hawks traditional areas of support in Melbourne's leafy eastern suburbs, the club realised they needed to broaden their supporter base to remain viable. 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.

2000s

The Hawks were starting to rise near the end of the 1990's and in 2001, Hawthorn reached the preliminary final, where they lost to Essendon. 2002 was a terrible season for Hawthorn, before the start of the season, Peter Schwab, the coach, announced that Hawthorn would win the Premiership. Hawthorn lost many games and finished outside the top 8. 2004 was the year in which Peter Schwab was sacked mid-season, then two weeks later resigned effective immediately leaving the assitant coach to lead the team. At the end of season, Alistar Clarkson, a former Melbourne and North Melbourne player was appointed coach. He decided to start from the bottom up, and went for a complete rebuild of the team. Trading players such as Nathan Thompson for high drafts picks, meaning the Hawks would have a talented but young squad who were inexperienced.

Since 2001, the club has played 2 home games each year at Aurora Stadium in Tasmania in a bid to lift its strong presence in the Apple Isle, a breeding ground of many of Hawthorn's past champions.

Merger debate

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. 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 had developed a strong following. Home games were moved to the Melbourne Cricket Ground. Their relationship with the south-east will be rekindled however as in 2006 the Hawks will return 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. Hawthorn will retain their social club and continue to also train at Glenferrie.

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.

Corporate

Membership base

In 2005, the Hawthorn Football Club had 31,927 members.

Year	Members	Finishing position²
1996	12,300
1997	27,450
1998	27,649
1999	32,120
2000	27,879
2001	30,140
2002	33,319
2003	31,500
2004	31,255
2005	29,261
2006	27,600¹

¹(as at 26 June, 2006) ²following finals matches

Presidents

Jeff Kennett (2006-)
Ian Dicker (1997-2005)
Brian Coleman (1996)
Geoff Lord (1994-1995)
Trevor Coote (1988-1993)
Ron Cook (1980-1987)
Phil Ryan (1968-1979)
Dr A S Ferguson (1953-67)
D A Prentice (1950-52)
Dr J Jona J.P (1932-1949)
J W Kennon (1925-31)

Premierships

1961 - Hawthorn 13.16 def. Footscray 7.9
1971 - Hawthorn 12.10 def. St. Kilda 11.9
1976 - Hawthorn 13.22 def. North Melbourne 10.9
1978 - Hawthorn 18.13 def. North Melbourne 15.13
1983 - Hawthorn 20.20 def. Essendon 8.9
1986 - Hawthorn 16.14 def. Carlton 9.14
1988 - Hawthorn 22.20 def. Melbourne 6.20
1989 - Hawthorn 21.18 def. Geelong 21.12
1991 - Hawthorn 20.19 def. West Coast Eagles 13.8

Individual awards

Best and Fairest

See Peter Crimmins Medal

Brownlow Medal winners

Leigh Matthews Trophy winners

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.