Hawthorn Football Club today announced Stuart Fox has been appointed the new Chief Executive Officer of the Melbourne Cricket Club and will depart his current position as CEO at the end of February.

Club President Richard Garvey said he was very proud of Stuart’s appointment.

“The appointment of Stuart to the MCC CEO role is a great accolade for him and a great accolade for the Hawthorn Football Club and its people,” Garvey said.

“This is a major role and one in which we believe he will do an outstanding job.

“It is also another endorsement of the quality of people the Hawthorn Football Club produces.

“Since joining the club in 2009, Stuart has played a significant role in the stability and growth of the Hawthorn Football Club and through his passion, dedication and drive he has grown Hawthorn from a successful club to a major AFL business.

“He will leave Hawthorn in a strong position commercially but also culturally having implemented and driven internal staff development programs throughout the workplace.

“The club are very grateful for Stuart’s service over the past seven years and everything he has achieved.

“We are confident he will do a great job at the MCC and would like to thank him, his wife Sybilla and children Millie, Sinclair, Chloe and Claudia for their time, commitment and service.

“We look forward to working closely with Stuart in his new role at the MCC and are confident of finding a quality replacement to take up the helm at Hawthorn.”

Stuart has been the CEO of Hawthorn Football Club since 2009. During this seven-year period his achievements include:

• Taking the club to four consecutive grand final appearances since 2012 including three premierships
• Overseeing seven years of collective club profit and achieving financial budgets in every season
• Delivering seven consecutive years of club membership records 52,496 in 2009 to 75,351 in 2016 which includes 9,249 Tasmanian members
• Growing the club’s merchandise business to an industry leader in sales
• Overseeing commercial growth and signing major sponsors Tasmania, Adidas, Bupa, Ricoh, iinet and Audi
• Recently purchasing the Dingley site with plans to build a world class training and administration facility and future proofing the club for the next 100+ years
• Been instrumental in the development of the club’s 2013 – 2017 ‘All for One’ strategic plan

The Board will meet in early January to discuss the process of recruiting a replacement CEO. Hawthorn is confident that the role will attract a field of high-quality candidates.