Hawthorn Football Club

History

Origins

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 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". On 12 May 1883, The Age reported that "the Hawthorn club has disbanded and all engagements for the ensuing season are therefore 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 from 1890 to 1892. A new representative club, also called the "Hawthorn Football Club", was formed in 1893. It competed in the Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA) 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 (MJFA). Hawthorn's first win was in round 4, 1902, with an 18-point victory over Celtic. The club finished sixth on the ladder at the end of the 1902 season with six wins from its 16 games. On 30 March 1905, prior to the start of that year's MJFA season, Hawthorn merged with the Boroondara Football Club and adopted Boroondara's colours of a black guernsey with a red sash, but retained the "Hawthorn" name.

Hawthorn changed its official name to the Hawthorn City Football Club in 1906 as a result of Glenferrie Oval opening, although the club continued to be known simply as Hawthorn. In 1912, the club merged with the Hawthorn Rovers, a successful junior club, changing to a gold guernsey with a blue "V" of the Rovers, and again renaming officially to "Hawthorn City". The council then applied to the Victorian Football Association (VFA) for inclusion, which was granted in 1914 when Hawthorn replaced the disbanded Melbourne City Football Club.

VFA years: 1914–1924

The first task for the club was to decide on club colours; their jumper of blue and gold was already taken by Williamstown, so a change was required. At a Special General Meeting held on 17 February 1914, a Mr J. Brain proposed brown and gold as the new colours, and the motion was carried. The Mayblooms won three games and had one draw in their first season in the VFA. The consequences of players enlisting in World War I caused the club to finish last in 1915. The VFA then went into recess in 1916 and 1917, and Hawthorn did not compete when resumption occurred in 1918. Upon Hawthorn's resumption in 1919, it was more competitive, winning eight games and finishing sixth out of ten teams. Hawthorn dropped to eighth in 1920, but in 1921 they won seven games and finished sixth.

Bill Walton was appointed captain-coach of Hawthorn in 1922. He was, however, refused a clearance by Port Melbourne; and, as a result, spent the season playing for Port Melbourne while coaching Hawthorn during the week. Twice that season, he had the unusual situation of playing a VFA game against the club that he coached. In one of those matches, a Port Melbourne teammate had to be restrained from striking Walton over Walton's vocal support for the player's opponent. 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. In 1923, Walton was granted his clearance, and the club made the finals by finishing in fourth place, 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 this bye via the admission of a tenth club. In 1924, a group calling itself the Hawthorn Citizens' League Campaign Committee began gathering support for the football club's admittance to the VFL. Other representations came from Brighton, Brunswick, Footscray, North Melbourne, Prahran, Camberwell, and Caulfield.

On 9 January 1925, a committee meeting of the VFL, chaired by Reg Hunt of Carlton, examined the question of expanding the competition from nine clubs to twelve; and then, at a further (full) meeting on 16 January 1925, the VFL decided to admit the three Victorian Football Association (VFA) clubs: Hawthorn, Footscray and North Melbourne.

Bumbling along the bottom: 1925–1949

The Mayblooms, as they were then known, became the perennial whipping boys of the competition. Hawthorn had an almost casual attitude towards playing football and—lying remote from major industrial areas and consequently devoid of the business or political patrons available to Carlton, Richmond and Collingwood—were not able to even pay their players the match payment then allowed by the Coulter Law. Despite the presence of a number of players of true class—such as Bert Hyde, Bert Mills, Stan Spinks, Alec Albiston, and Col Austen—Hawthorn never won more than seven games in a season in its first seventeen years in the League.

Roy Cazaly was the non-playing coach of Hawthorn in 1942; he was reported to have given the club its nickname the "Hawks" on the suggestion of one of his daughters. 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. Half-back flanker Col Austen tied with South Melbourne's Ron Clegg for the 1949 Brownlow Medal but was not awarded it based on the "countback" system in place at that time. The League later changed the system for tied results, and, in 1989, he was awarded the medal retrospectively, a year before his death.

1950s

1950 started with the club in turmoil. The club appointed Bob McCaskill as coach, and he wanted Kevin Curran to be captain. Outgoing captain-coach Alec Albiston was angry as he was told by a member of the board that he would remain as captain. Brownlow Medallist Col Austen sided with Albiston and a split occurred. The board sided with the new coach and gave Albiston and Austen open clearances. Without the club's best two players, the team did not win a match in 1950. New captain Kevin Curran was suspended for striking Austen on the first occasion Hawthorn and Austen's new club Richmond played.

The club decided to change its playing jumper to the brown and gold vertical stripes. Two positives were the arrival of John Kennedy and Roy Simmonds. Over the next ten years, Kennedy would play 169 games for Hawthorn, serving as Captain from 1955 until his retirement in 1959, 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.

In 1952, Jack Hale took over as coach, Hale had been Bob McCaskill's assistant, but McCaskill's health was failing and he died in June 1952. Aided by dividends from the VFL's finals revenue making the club more competitive financially—despite no Hawthorn team in any grade playing VFL finals to that point—this proved 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, Allan Woodley, Noel Voigt and Brian 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 Hawthorn a first finals appearance in any grade.

In 1957 the senior team broke through for their first finals appearance, defeating Carlton in the first semi-final long remembered for the freak hailstorm after half time. It was a surreal look of the MCG covered in golfball-size hailstones. They were outclassed by Melbourne in the preliminary final.

Kennedy era: 1960–1982

It was a great thing for people who had followed the club through all the bad years. Until then, before and through the match, I had been absorbed with the conviction that we were fighting for something that was our right, to be up there with the best of them.

After three seasons in mid-ladder 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 best player for the Grand Final.

However, Hawthorn fell back in 1962, winning only five games and finishing in ninth position on the ladder as the club's modest support base and lack of wealthy supporters limited its ability to compete for the growing number of country recruits joining the VFL. 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 penultimate game to Melbourne and dropped to fifth – had they won they would have finished on top of the ladder. They fell to last in 1965 with only four wins, and rebuilt the team for the rest of the 1960s. 1966 saw the debut of Peter Crimmins, Des Meagher, Michael Porter and Ray Wilson.

John Kennedy returned to coach in 1967. Don Scott, Ian Bremner and Geoff Angus were local recruits. The club convinced Peter Hudson to join them in 1967 and he immediately became the competition's leading 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 than ever before. In 1968, Kevin Heath and Norm Bussell become members of the senior team and in 1969 two teenagers, Peter Knights and Leigh Matthews, were recruited.

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.

Glory years: 1983–1991

Their greatest era was arguably the 1980s, when 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 in the top five (as it was then known) 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 surprise appointment, 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 Dermott 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 the 1984 Grand Final due to Essendon's famous final quarter charge, and losing the 1985 Grand Final by a far greater margin; souring the final game of club legend Leigh Matthews. Playing alongside him was young Jason Dunstall, from Coorparoo, Queensland; he was recruited after winning the QAFL goalkicking in 1984.

Their second premiership of the 1980s 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 Gary 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. Gary Ayres won his second Norm Smith Medal.

End of an era: 1992–96

After having shared Princes Park with Carlton as a home venue since 1974, Hawthorn began to move its home games to Waverley Park in Mulgrave in Melbourne's south-east in 1990. The club played five home games at Waverley Park and the balance at Princes Park in each of 1990 and 1991, and played all home games at Waverley Park from 1992. 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 by Peter Knights and club legends Gary Ayres and Dermott Brereton departed. Chris Mew injured his achilles tendon and retired. Behind the scenes the Hawthorn board began to spend large amounts of money that the club didn't have, board members flew first class to games interstate and $1 million was spent renovating club offices by a company owned by the then-club president. Despite a decade of onfield success, the club failed to attract supporters who would become long term backers of the club. 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 fifteenth and missed the finals for the first time since 1981. The board sacked the coaching staff and appointed Ken Judge who was an assistant to David Parkin at Carlton. Club Champion Darren Jarman told the club he wanted to return to Adelaide.

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.

1997–2004

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 years 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. Ken Judge resigned at the end of 1999 to accept the coaching job at West Coast Eagles.

Peter Schwab was appointed coach of the Hawks for the 2000 season and the team played a more attacking style than the "accountable football" discipline of Ken Judge. The Hawks reached the semi-finals before losing to the reigning premiers, the North Melbourne Football Club. 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 eight games straight at the start of the season and, despite faltering late in the home-and-away season, had a close win in a semi-final against Port Adelaide and made it to the preliminary finals in when 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). Croad would return to Hawthorn two years later.

The Hawks missed the finals altogether in 2002, finishing tenth, which was considered a very disappointing result for the club. Shane Crawford won the Peter Crimmins Medal after another strong season. Players that made their debuts that year, Luke Hodge, Sam Mitchell, Campbell Brown, Robert Campbell and Mark Williams would all play in the 2008 premiership side. In the off-season, the Hawks again proved to be big players and gained 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 ninth position, narrowly missing the finals. Sam Mitchell shone for the Hawks and won the AFL Rising Star award. This form had punters excited and the team was early favourites for a top four finish the next year. Shane Crawford once again won the Peter Crimmins Medal and also came second in the Brownlow Medal by a single vote.

Alastair Clarkson era: 2005–2021

After the turmoil of the 2004 season Hawthorn produced a surprise move by appointing Alastair Clarkson, a little known Port Adelaide assistant coach, to his first senior AFL coaching role for the 2005 season. Clarkson was selected over the higher profiled former players Terry Wallace and Gary Ayres and embarked on a rebuild of the team, delisting older players and instituting a youth policy. Club veterans Rayden Tallis, Mark Graham, Kris Barlow, Luke McCabe and Lance Picioane left the club while Nathan Thompson was traded to North Melbourne. In turn, the Hawks took Jarryd Roughead, Lance Franklin and Jordan Lewis at picks 2, 5 and 7 respectively in the 2004 AFL draft. With Clarkson at the helm, the Hawks made solid progress and instituted a culture of discipline at the club. During the 2005 season, Hawthorn won only five games and finished in 14th position. Despite this, the Hawks showed some promising growth in their young players, with Franklin, Roughead and Lewis all winning Rising Star nominations during that season. 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.

Former number one draft pick Luke Hodge also had a breakthrough season in 2005, winning the Peter Crimmins Medal, All-Australian jumper and coming equal 4th in the Brownlow Medal (15 votes) from half-back. Peter Everitt and Trent Croad were also named in the All-Australian team. After 2005, another round of culling took place and the club bid farewell to Angelo Lekkas, Nick Holland and Steven Greene.

Hawthorn recruited Xavier Ellis (pick 3), Beau Dowler (pick 6), Grant Birchall (pick 14), Max Bailey (pick 18) and Beau Muston (pick 22) all early in the 2005 draft; two of those selections were received by trading 2001 All-Australian full-back Jonathan Hay to North Melbourne and Nathan Lonie to Port Adelaide.

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, Clarkson showed innovation by restructuring the forwards into a system that came known as "Buddy's box", a tactic that involved the formation of a 4-tall-man forward line playing in a square formation. The strategy however was highly dependent on the tall forwards' ability to take contested marks, with the lack of small forwards meaning that opposition teams can easily rebound if the ball hit the ground. Starting the season 4–1 after the first five rounds, the Hawks faltered and lost twelve of the next thirteen games to fall to 5–13. The team won the final four matches to finish eleventh. 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.

Sam Mitchell era (2022–present)

Hawthorn's first two seasons under Mitchell did not achieve success, finishing 13th in 2022 and 16th in 2023. However, the Hawks played a successful 2024 campaign.

Hawthorn started the 2024 season 0–5, but would lose just five more games for the rest of an amazing season. The Hawks would make the finals for the first time since 2018, finishing seventh with a 14–9 win–loss record. In doing so, they became one of just a select few teams in VFL/AFL history to play finals after starting a year that poorly.

The Hawks knocked the Western Bulldogs out of premiership contention with a 37-point victory in the elimination final, before their fairytale campaign came to an end after an emotionally charged three-point semifinal loss to Port Adelaide.

Hawthorn had another solid campaign in 2025, finishing eighth with 15 wins and eight losses. The Hawks improved on their 2024 finals run and reached a preliminary final for the first time since the 2015 premiership, before bowing out following a 30-point loss to eventual runner-up Geelong.

Season summaries

List of the last five seasons completed by Hawthorn. For the full season-by-season history, see List of Hawthorn Football Club seasons

Club symbols

Logo, crest and mascot

When Hawthorn entered the VFL in 1925 their nickname was known as The Mayblooms. The origins of this nickname are unclear, although "Maybloom" was another name for the Hawthorn bush. In Round 2, 1943 when Hawthorn played Essendon, the match report in the Sporting Globe newspaper announced that prior to the start of the game at Glenferrie, Roy Cazaly, Hawthorn's coach told the players that in future they would be known as the Hawks instead of the Mayblooms. Cazaly said I expect players to live up to the name being ready to fight hard and carry the ball away with pace and dash to the goal. 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' Mascot Manor representative and club mascot is Hudson "Hawka" Knights, a caricature of a hawk dressed the same way as the Hawthorn players and slightly depicting club champion Dermott Brereton.

Club guernsey

The Hawthorn colours are brown and gold vertical stripes. Hawthorn has worn this design since 1950. The current major sponsors are Tasmania, iiNet, Bupa, Nissan and Adidas. Some of their former major sponsors are MBF, Samsung, HSBC 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 game in Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane. The club's colours and designs have changed a few times during their history. From 1902 to 1904 they wore a blue guernsey with red shoulders and a red stripe down the front of the guernsey along with blue and white hooped socks. After they merged with Boroondara in 1905 they changed to a black guernsey with a red sash with black and red hooped socks. After the club had struggled for a few years it was decided to reform it and for seasons 1912–13 and they wore a yellow guernsey with a blue V. Upon entering the VFA the club was forced to change their colours again, as Williamstown already had the combination Blue and Gold on their guernseys, and adopted the colours brown and gold which have since remained to this day although the design has changed a few times, the main ones being:

1914–1924 – brown with a gold circle around the neck and the HFC monogram in the centre

1925–1932 – brown with a gold V and a smaller HFC monogram on the left breast

1933–1934 – gold with a brown V

1934–1949 – brown with a gold V and brown socks with gold tops

1950–1974 – brown and gold stripes front and back with black numbers on a white panel and brown and gold hooped socks

1975–1988 – brown and gold stripes with a plain gold back and brown numbers with brown and gold hooped socks

1989–1997 – brown and gold stripes with a plain gold back and brown numbers with plain gold socks

1998–2005 – brown and gold stripes with a plain gold back and brown numbers with brown and gold hooped socks

Club song

The Hawthorn club song is entitled "We're a Happy Team at Hawthorn" and is sung to the tune of "The Yankee Doodle Boy", which was written by George M. Cohan for his 1904 musical Little Johnny Jones. In the musical Johnny Jones is a patriotic US jockey competing in England. The song gained prominence when it was featured in the wartime 1942 musical Yankee Doodle Dandy starring James Cagney as George M. Cohan performing the part of Johnny Jones on stage. The song was adapted with new Hawthorn lyrics by Chick Lander in 1956.

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 club's spiritual home.

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. On 30 September 2008, the Hawthorn Football Club's relationship with Glenferrie Oval was rekindled when the club hosted a Supporters Day at the club's spiritual home celebrating the club's 10th premiership, attended by an estimated 20,000 fans. On 29 September 2013, the Hawthorn Football Club shared the spoils with their supporters again at Glenferrie Oval, celebrating the club's 11th premiership with more than 22,000 fans in attendance.

Dingley development

In 2025, Hawthorn moved its headquarters from Waverley Park to a new facility situated on a 28-hectare (69-acre) site in Dingley, containing a lavish new space for players, administration, and supporters modelled on English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Tottenham. Hawthorn president Andrew Newbold said "We want an elite training facility and administration facility, to align with our values of being a destination club. That's one bucket. The next is if you've got 80,000 members, how do you engage with them? We think this facility can tick that box." The site is named the Kennedy Community Centre, after former Hawthorn player and head coach John Kennedy Sr.

The first sod was turned in February 2024, with Hawthorn President Andy Gowers, CEO Ash Klein, Senior Coach Sam Mitchell, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, along with state and local representatives present on the occasion. The construction of the Kennedy Community Centre will be undertaken in stages, with Stage 1 to consist of the construction of a community pavilion and AFLW oval featuring full broadcast capabilities and grandstand seating, and the Harris Elite Training and Administration Facility, comprising an indoor training field, high-performance gym and aquatic facilities and an MCG-sized oval. With the new site, Hawthorn is now the only team to own its own facility and the land on which it is situated.

Hawthorn's AFLW team held their final training session at Waverley Park on Tuesday 21 October 2025.

Relationship with Tasmania

Since 2001, Hawthorn has successfully cultivated a following in Tasmania, where the membership base has increased from 1,000 to more than 9,000 to 2014. Studies have valued Hawthorn's economic impact in Tasmania and national brand exposure to total $29.5 million in 2014. The club first started playing up to two home games per season at York Park in Launceston in 2001. Since 2006, Hawthorn has increased its presence in the state as part of an agreement with the tourism component of the Tasmanian government, whereby they are contracted to play up to four home games at York Park, whilst the Tasmanian government acts as the major sponsor of the club. This relationship was renewed for a further period of five years in November 2011. Hawthorn offered to play an additional home game in Tasmania as part of this deal. On 31 July 2015, Hawthorn extended their partnership with Tasmania for a further five years. Hawthorn continued to sign extensions to their Tasmanian arrangement, culminating in an agreement which will last until the end of the 2027 season. In 2026 the AFL ended Hawthorn's home games at York Park, citing the entry of the Tasmania Football Club into the competition in 2028.

Reconciliation plan

On 19 July 2019, Hawthorn launched their reconciliation plan, which builds upon a foundation of existing programs and events and lays the groundwork towards fulfilling the club's aspirations of becoming leaders in community connection to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Five-year plans

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 would target to win 2 premierships and have fifty thousand members. As part of the plan, the football club wanted to be seen as the most professional club in the AFL, and it placed great emphasis on the welfare of the people associated with the club. Hawthorn managed to achieve the 50,000-member milestone in 2009, and they won four premierships over the next eight years.

Following the completion of the "five2fifty" business plan in 2012, Hawthorn released a new business plan, "All for One". Striving for 80,000 plus members and investing a further $35m into capital investment projects in and around Waverley Park, the Hawks have set themselves an objective to become "the destination club", targeting successive top four finishes over the 2013 to 2017 period. Central to successfully achieving its commercial objectives, the Hawks have identified the importance of solidifying its status as a major MCG tenant as crucial to growing its membership and crowd support.

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.

New Zealand–born Kurt Heatherley became the first player to make his AFL debut in 2016. Raised in New Zealand, the club had spotted him as a fourteen-year-old, and the club signed him in 2011. His development was through the TAC cup and the VFL. He was rookie-listed in 2014 and promoted to the main list in 2015. He played five games before being delisted at the end of 2018.

Corporate profit or loss

The Hawthorn Football Club financial year ends on 31 October each year.

Support

Hawthorn boasts a huge support base throughout Australia, particularly in Victoria and Tasmania. In a survey appearing in the 9 July 2008 edition of the Herald Sun, 11% of respondents barracked for Hawthorn, behind only Collingwood (14%), Essendon (12%) and Carlton (12%). As an MCG tenant, Hawthorn is among the top 5 crowd-drawing clubs in the league, averaging crowds of more than 50,000 to their MCG home games since 2008. Since 1997, Hawthorn has drawn the fifth-largest crowds to home and away matches, drawing more than 36,000 per game across all home and away games.

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 club's 45,000 Victorian members. In 2007 Hawthorn stated its ambitions were to grow their membership to beyond 50,000 by 2011 which was achieved in 2009. By 2012, Hawthorn became just the second club to grow membership beyond 60,000, setting a goal of reaching 80,000-plus members by 2017. In 2008, the Hawthorn Football Club drew 1,164,396 to all 25 completed games, a club record and seventh-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. In all, Hawthorn has drawn more than 1,000,000 annual fans to AFL matches in 7 separate seasons—2008 and 2011–2016.

Membership base and crowds

Hawthorn's official membership figures 1925–1983 (* indicates official figure was an estimate)

The table below also contains crowd figures along with club membership numbers from 1984. Total attendance includes finals matches.

¹ as of 10 August 2026

Rivalries

Essendon – The clubs contested the Grand Final in three consecutive seasons between 1983 and 1985. The rough nature of these games, and several others between the two, made them fierce rivals during the 1980s; particularly during those years where they were the top two sides of the competition. In the 1990s and right up until 2004 the rivalry became more quiet and uneventful with the exception of the 2001 preliminary final, which was the first time they met in a finals game since the 1980s. More recently, the clubs have played two matches which saw bench-clearing brawls: the "Line in the Sand Match" in 2004, which resulted in four players being suspended and $70,700 in fines; and the final round of 2009, a match which would decide eighth place between the two teams, in which four players were suspended for a total of seven matches and $27,000 in fines being handed out. The latter brawl was famously sparked by Matthew Lloyd who applied a very hard bump, knocking out Brad Sewell, in what would be Lloyd's last game.

Geelong – The rivalry between Hawthorn and Geelong is defined by two Grand Finals: those of 1989 and 2008. In the 1989 Grand Final, Geelong played the man, resulting in major injuries for several Hawks players: Mark Yeates smashed into Dermott Brereton at the opening bounce with a premeditated blind-side hit; Garry Hocking knocked Hawthorn's champion rover, John Platten out of the game with a concussion and Gary Ablett cannoned so hard into the back of Robert DiPierdomenico when Dipper took a mark that he broke Dipper's ribs and punctured one of his lungs. It was a free-flowing, high-scoring contest with unrelenting brutality and was regarded by many as one of the greatest games ever. The Hawks led by 30 to 40 points for most of the match, but as their injury toll started to mount, the Geelong players and their fans started to find self-belief. The Hawks were reduced to 13 fit players in the last quarter with 5 others hurt and unable to come off the ground. e.g. DiPierdomenico played out the entire match with broken ribs and a slowly-deflating lung. Hawthorn controlled the game, leading by approximately 40 points for most of the match; in the last quarter, Geelong almost managed to come from behind to win, piling on 8 goals for the quarter and falling short by 6 points.

In the 2008 Grand Final, Geelong was the overwhelming favourite having lost just only one match for the season and winning 23 games by an average of 52 points. But Hawthorn managed to pull off a magnificent upset victory by 26 points thanks in part to a stellar performance by Luke Hodge in defence and also a match-winning five minute burst from Stuart Dew late in the 3rd quarter.

Players

Current squad

At the end of the 1976 season, Hawthorn retired guernsey number 5, worn by former captain Peter Crimmins, following Crimmins' death. The guernsey would stay retired until 1993, when Gwen Crimmins, Peter's widow, chose Andy Collins to wear the guernsey. Since then, the Crimmins family have selected the player they think should wear the number 5, with only Daniel Harford, Sam Mitchell, Ryan Burton, James Worpel and Nick Watson chosen to wear the number.

On 6 March 2011, at its annual family day, club representatives announced that as of the 2011 season the no. 1 guernsey would be officially retired as a player number and instead presented as a tribute to the fans.

Max Bailey, who was the last player to wear no. 1, made the announcement by saying "the fans are number 1". He then presented the cheer squad with a giant Hawthorn guernsey displaying "1" on its back. The oversized guernsey will be on display at selected home games. On 7 December 2018, at its open training session, it was announced that the number would be un-retired, with Harry Morrison chosen to wear it, in honour of his late-godfather Ken Judge who wore the number during his time at Hawthorn.

Staff

Club honour board

Achievements

Hawthorn is the only club in the VFL/AFL to have won Senior Premierships in the 1960s, 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, 2000s and 2010s (decade)

Finishing positions (after finals)

Note: bold indicates finals appearance

Coaches

Correct as of round 23, 2021

Presidents

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

Players' individual honours and awards

Peter Crimmins Medal ("Best & Fairest") winners

Hawthorn's "Best & Fairest Award" is called 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 Peter Crimmins Medal for the complete list of winners.)

Brownlow MedalAwarded since 1924.

Col Austen – 1949

Robert DiPierdomenico – 1986

John Platten – 1987

Shane Crawford – 1999

Sam Mitchell – 2012

Tom Mitchell – 2018

Leigh Matthews TrophyAwarded since 2002. (Retrospectively awarded to players from 1982, known as the VFLPA MVP until 1989, known as the AFLPA MVP until 2001.)

Leigh Matthews – 1982

Russell Greene – 1984

Jason Dunstall – 1992

Shane Crawford – 1999

Tom Mitchell – 2018

Norm Smith MedalAwarded since 1979.

Colin Robertson – 1983

Gary Ayres – 1986, 1988

Paul Dear – 1991

Coaches individual honours and awards

Jock McHale MedalAwarded since 2001. (retrospectively awarded to premiership coaches from 1950 to 2000)

John Kennedy Sr. – 1961, 1971, 1976

David Parkin – 1978

Allan Jeans – 1983, 1986, 1989

Alan Joyce – 1988, 1991

Alastair Clarkson – 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015

VFL Team of the Year (1982–1990)

Allan Jeans – 1983, 1986

All-Australian teamAwarded since 1991 (premiership coach selected since 1999)

Alastair Clarkson – 2008, 2013, 2014, 2015

Coaching Legend award

John Kennedy Sr. – 2009

David Parkin – 2012

Allan Jeans – 2015

International Rules series

Alastair Clarkson – 2014, 2015

Records

Bold denotes player still plays for Hawthorn.

Games played

Correct as of round 10, 2026

Goals kicked

Correct as of round 22, 2026

Playing records

Correct as of round 13, 2026

Correct as of round 9, 2026

Correct as of round 9, 2026

Hall of Fame

Australian Football Hall of Fame

Hawthorn have 26 Hall of famers (23 players, 3 coaches) who contributed to the club.

Bold indicates legend status.

Hawthorn Football Club Hall of Fame

The following is a list of everyone who has been inducted into the club's Hall of Fame.

Bold indicates legend status.

Home grounds and training and administrative base

During the history of the Hawthorn Football Club, the club has had four mainstay home grounds (Glenferrie Oval, Princes Park, Waverley Park and the Melbourne Cricket Ground). Prior to adopting Glenferrie Oval as the club's traditional home the club had a nomadic history, playing home games at whatever the most suitable obtainable ground was for that season. Their first home ground, the Hawthorn C.G. (West Hawthorn Reserve) was abandoned after the first season due to conditions imposed by the Hawthorn Cricket Club and they played at John Wren's Richmond Racecourse in 1903 (which was off Bridge Road between Stawell Street and Westbank Terrace—where Tudor Street with 5 no through streets are now located) and moved to the Richmond Cricket Ground in 1904. Their merger with Boroondara in 1905 had them move to Boroondara's ground, which at the time was the East Melbourne Cricket Ground. Hawthorn dropped their colours of blue and red (similar to Melbourne's guernsey at the time) and adopted Boroondara's colours, which was a black guernsey with red sash but retained the name Hawthorn FC. When the Hawthorn council opened the Hawthorn City Sports Ground (Glenferrie Oval) in October 1905 they endeavored to get a senior club to represent the district to be the main tenant during the next football season. The Hawthorn FC, competing in the Metropolitan Junior Football Association (now known as the VAFA), and Hawthorn Rovers (a popular club in the Eastern Suburbs Association) merged to form the Hawthorn City Football Club and made Glenferrie their home ground (the word City was later dropped and the club was just known as the Hawthorn Football Club when it entered the VFA in 1914) .

Glenferrie Oval: (Home and Away games 1906–1973), (Training and administrative base 1906–2006)

Between 1906 and 1973, home games were played at the club's traditional home, Glenferrie Oval, in the heart of the affluent suburb. The state of Glenferrie Oval and its location, close to Glenferrie train station on the Melbourne East route, was a central reason why the club was first accepted into the VFA in 1914, and then the VFL in 1925. The club's on-field results had not reached any great heights in those early days but both the VFA and VFL had recognised the importance of representation in the suburbs east of the Yarra River. Glenferrie Oval was pivotal in these advancements of the Hawthorn Football Club as it was considered the most suitable at the time.

In 1914, when Hawthorn entered the VFA, the council was required to build a new dressing shed to meet the standards of the VFA competition. These dressing sheds were erected in the north-west corner of the ground, where the Tuck Stand now resides, and were later moved to the Rathmines Road Reserve in Hawthorn where it still exists today. In 1922 the ground was widened by 30 yards and lengthened westward by 50 yards – taking in the previous outer reserve ground – to the dimensions that remain today. The 1922 ground improvements also resulted in Glenferrie Oval's first main stand, which was a wooden structure to be known as the Kennon-Owen Stand and had been purchased from the East Melbourne Cricket Ground in late 1921 when that ground was closed due to expansion of the Jolimont railyards. The Kennon-Owen Stand was located where the Victorian Weightlifting Building is now situated. Glenferrie Oval is universally known for its famous art-deco Grandstand, built in 1937 and later named the Michael Tuck stand after the club great, and housed the new changerooms and administration of the club. It is now heritage protected as one of the most significant buildings of the era. The Kennon-Owen Stand was replaced by the Dr A S Ferguson Stand, a new brick stand opened in 1966 which was 185 feet long and could seat 1450, with 400 undercover. It was later to be home of the Past Players Association and the original Museum. The northern part of the Ferguson stand was demolished to make way for the Victorian Weightlifting Building. In 1963, the large scoreboard was erected at the eastern end of the ground. After the club won the 1961 premiership it was decided to buy some houses on the other side of Linda Crescent to build the Social Club which opened in 1962. The ground was relatively small by VFL standards, but the intimate nature of the ground (with the grandstands and train line surrounding the ground) made for a terrific atmosphere.

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 club's 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 club's 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 the 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: (Home and Away Games 1992–1999), (Training and administrative base 2006–2025)

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 the 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 precinct (alongside Essendon, St Kilda, Western Bulldogs and North Melbourne) 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 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, player base and training 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, becoming one of four tenant clubs to play at the ground. Until 2008 the shift from to the MCG has been met with a barren period on the field for the Hawks, having played in five out of nine non-finals seasons at the ground. Since 2000, Hawthorn has played between seven and nine home games at the MCG, with secondary home games being played at Docklands Stadium and York Park in Tasmania. In 2008, Hawthorn played seven home games at the MCG, drawing 369,614 (52,802) to seven games and a total of 773,089 (59,468) to 13 games at the venue for the year.

York Park: 2001–present

Since 2001, Hawthorn's has played "secondary" home games at York Park (currently also known by the sponsorship name of The University of Tasmania Stadium) in Tasmania. The Hawks have a successful record at the ground, winning 45 times and losing only 13 and a draw since games started playing there in 2001. 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 25% of young Tasmanian supporters now barracking for their "local" team.

VFL Women's

Victorian Women's Football League which was the major women's competition in Victoria had in 2016 been reorganized and now came under the VFL brand, local club Knox Falcons contested in 2016. Hawthorn obtained a licence from the Knox Falcons and transferred it to its senior VFL-affiliate Box Hill. The team won three games in the 2017 season. In December 2017 the announcement that the Box Hill Hawks' VFLW women's side has been re-licensed and will be now known as Hawthorn.

The VFLW team will play before the Box Hill men's team on most occasions, with their home ground the Box Hill City Oval. It provides Hawthorn fans an opportunity to support both sides every home game.

In 2018 the Hawthorn women team won the 2018 VFLW premiership defeating Geelong 4.6.30 to 2.5.17.

Defender Chantella Perera was awarded the Lisa Hardeman Medal as best afield in the Grand Final.

Club President Jeff Kennett wrote, Hawthorn is committed to women's football. While the AFL have not yet given us an entry date, I trust after this year's performance we have earnt the right to be elevated into the AFLW competition in 2020.

For a list of the VFLW team's coaches, captains and performances in the competition click here Archived 17 March 2021 at the Wayback Machine. For the 2021 season, the coach is Bec Goddard and the captain is Jess Trend.

Reserves team

The Hawthorn reserves were the reserves side of the club, competing in the AFL reserves until the competition disbanded.

Since 2000, Hawthorn has been affiliated with the Box Hill Football Club in the Victorian Football League.

History

Hawthorn's first reserves side was fielded in 1924 in Division 2 of the Victorian Junior Football Association (VJFA), with the team known as the Hawthorn Junior Football Club. The club defeated North Melbourne in the semi-final AND again in the challenge final. They were defeated by Division 1 minor premiers South Melbourne District in the grand final.

Hawthorn first fielded a side in the VFL seconds in 1925, the same year they entered the VFL.

The reserve team's first flag was won in 1958, when they held onto a winning lead by defeating Collingwood by four points. Gary Young kicked four goals, while Elward kicked two. Horace Edmonds was the coach.

In 1959, the reserves side went back-to-back after defeating Fitzroy by 31 points.

The side's third premiership came in 1972, with a team that contained four of the previous years senior premiership players, Geoff Angus, Ken Beck, Michael Porter and Ray Wilson. Up and coming future club champions Michael Moncrieff, Michael Tuck, Kelvin Matthews and Alan Goad were instrumental in the match. The Hawks led all day before Melbourne hit the front with two minutes to go, a late goal to Fitzgerald won the game. Wayne Bevan kicked 4 goals for the winners.

In 1985, the reserves team's fourth and final premiership contained future premiership players in James Morrissey, Greg Dear, Peter Curran, Chris Wittman and Paul Abbott, as well as Hawthorn veterans Peter Knights, Gary Buckenara, Rodney Eade and Colin Robertson, and in his only year at the club, Steve Malaxos. Buckenara kicked 8 goals.

The reserves side's last grand final appearance came in 1997, when the side were defeated by Richmond by 44 points.

Starting in 2000, Hawthorn has been affiliated with the Box Hill Football Club in the Victorian Football League. Under the affiliation, Hawthorn players who are not selected in the AFL can play alongside Box Hill senior players in the VFL competition. The clubs have a strong affiliation, with Box Hill changing its club nickname from Mustangs to Hawks when the sides affiliated. Box Hill has won three premierships since the affiliation began (2001, 2013 and 2018).

Under-19s

1972

Hawthorn fielded a side in the VFL Under-19s competition. The Under-19s played in two grand finals, losing the first in 1969 to Richmond but in 1972 won against North Melbourne. The team included Bernie Jones, Ron Beattie, Michael Zemski and Ian Scrimshaw.

Under-17s

For a few years Hawthorn had an Under-17s team that played in the local suburban competition. The team played in the Melbourne Boys League until 1968 before transferring to the South East Suburban FL from 1969 to 1973. The 1970 Premiership side included Bernie Jones, Paul Reinmuth and Wayne Bevan whom made the senior ranks.

A proposal was made in 1973 for the formation of an Under-17s competition including all VFL clubs, but it never got enough support for it to get off the ground. Robert DiPierdomenico was the only player to make the senior ranks.

The Under-17s won three Premierships in a row from 1960 to 1962. These teams produced additional Under-17s players to play for the 1st 18: David Albiston, Neil Ferguson and Percy Cummings.

Another U17s player from that era was Alan Piper, who was a hugely respected businessman and football visionary who played a pivotal role in the establishment of AFL football in Queensland via the Brisbane Bears in 1987, and the club's relocation from the Gold Coast to Brisbane in 1993. Piper died at age 55 in 2001.

Other teams

Hawthorn has one team in the Victorian Blind Football League as of 2024, which previously existed from 2019 until 2022. The side won the 2019 premiership by 7 points.

In 2023, Hawthorn had two seats in the competition—Hawthorn Gold and Hawthorn Brown—which both entered the competition in 2023. Brown defeated Gold in the 2023 Grand Final, however both teams ceased to exist in 2024 (in favour of a single Hawthorn team) after VFL club Port Melbourne joined the VBFL.