Hawthorn Football Club and Box Hill Football Club established an alliance on 23rd December 1999, forming the Box Hill Hawks.
The negotiations were led by Hawthorn’s CEO, Michael Brown, President, Ian Dicker, Vice-President, Ivan Moore and Box Hill’s Directors, Tony Pinwell, Mark Lisle and John Ure.
The affiliation meant that Hawthorn players who are not selected in the side each week represent the Box Hill Hawks in the VFL.
Hawthorn members were issued with Box Hill Hawks Season memberships, allowing them entry into every home match at Box Hill City Oval.
Donald McDonald was appointed the inaugural coach, with Brian Coleman Chairman of Selectors and a year later, Box Hill would win their first ever VFL premiership, with another two to follow in 2013 and 2018.
The Box Hill / Hawthorn alliance is the longest-running VFL - AFL alignment and has yielded a range of successful outcomes, including premierships as well as an array of players and coaches from the program reaching AFL level.
Five players from the 2001 VFL Premiership would later play leading roles in Hawthorn’s 10th Premiership, Chance Bateman, Robert Campbell, Mark Osborne, Mark Williams and current Hawthorn coach, Sam Mitchell.
The alliance with Hawthorn continues to be one the most successful VFL/AFL partnerships in the league.
Thirty-seven Box Hill players have been drafted into the AFL, highlighting the ongoing success of the VFL pathway.
Sam Mitchell (Hawthorn)
2001 National Draft Pick 36
Michael Georgiadis (Hawthorn)
2002 Rookie Draft
John Baird (North Melbourne)
2002 Rookie Elevation
Clinton Alleway (North Melbourne)
2003 Rookie Draft
Michael Firrito (North Melbourne)
2003 Rookie Elevation
Laurence Angwin (Carlton)
2003 Rookie Elevation
Matthew Ball (Hawthorn)
2003 National Draft Pick 51
Steve Kenna (Carlton)
2003 National Draft Pick 75
Doug Scott (Hawthorn)
2004 Pre-Season Draft Pick 7
Michael Rix (Hawthorn)
2004 Rookie Draft
Simon Taylor (Hawthorn)
2004 National Draft Pick 52
Kristan Height (Hawthorn)
2005 Rookie Draft
Cam Howat (Richmond)
2006 Rookie Draft
Ben McGlynn (Hawthorn)
2006 Rookie Draft
Sam Gibson (Hawthorn)
2007 Rookie Draft
Lukas Markovic (Western Bulldogs)
2009 National Draft Pick 63
Sam Iles (Gold Coast)
2009 Rookie Draft
Cameron Pedersen (North Melbourne)
2010 Rookie Draft
Ed Curnow (Carlton)
2010 Rookie Draft
Robbie Campbell (Melbourne)
2010 Rookie Draft
Jarrad Boumann (Hawthorn)
2011 Trade from GWS
Sam Gibson (North Melbourne)
2011 Rookie Draft
Adam Pattison (Hawthorn)
2011 Rookie Draft
Matt Jones (Melbourne)
2012 National Draft Pick 52
Sam Collins (Fremantle)
2015 AFL draft
Sam Switkowski (Fremantle)
2017 AFL draft
David Mirra (Hawthorn)
2017 Rookie draft
Ned Reeves (Hawthorn)
2019 Pre-Season Supplementary Selection
Lachlan Bramble (Hawthorn)
2021 Pre-Season Supplementary Selection
Jai Newcombe (Hawthorn)
2021 Mid-Season Rookie Draft
James Blanck (Hawthorn)
2022 Mid-Season Rookie Draft
Fergus Greene (Hawthorn)
2022 Delisted Free Agent
Ryan Maric (West Coast)
2023 Mid-Season Rookie Draft
Clay Tucker (Hawthorn)
2023 Mid-Season Rookie Draft
Ethan Stanley (Fremantle)
2023 Mid -Season Rookie Draft
Ethan Phillips (Hawthorn)
2024 Pre-Season Supplementary Selection
Max Hall (St Kilda)
2024 Mid-Season Rookie Draft
25 YEAR CELEBRATION (RIVER’S EDGE) – Friday June 21 - You can join us as we celebrate 25 years of alignment between Box Hill and Hawthorn with a panel of exciting guest speakers. For more information and to secure your tickets, click here.
