Hawthorn has appointed Alistair Clarkson as its coach for the next two seasons.
The Hawks confirmed the appointment at a board meeting on Wednesday and have said he will start with the club immediately.
Clarkson, 36, will be formally introduced at a Glenferrie Oval media conference at 5pm on Wednesday.
He is the first non-Hawthorn person to take charge at Glenferrie Oval since Allan Jeans in 1981 and comes to a club after a coaching apprenticeship that included VFL side Werribee, St Kilda, Central Districts in the SANFL and most recently two years at Port Adelaide, where he was responsible for the midfield in 2003 and the forwards in 2004.
He played 93 games with North Melbourne between 1987 and 1995 and 41 games for Melbourne in 1996 and 1997 as a hard-working midfielder/forward, but is best remembered by some for his part in the brawl during the Carlton-North Melbourne exhibition match at The Oval in 1987 that came to be known as the 'Battle of Britain'.
The search for the new coach at Hawthorn has been something of a saga. Rodney Eade and Terry Wallace were sounded out before taking the Western Bulldogs and Richmond jobs, while Gary Ayres, Shaun Rehn, interim coach Donald McDonald, John Longmire and Daryn Cresswell were also interviewed.
Next on the agenda for the Hawks will be a new chief executive, with interviews continuing, while a new captain will be sought after Shane Crawford stepped down from that position.
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