"Golden brown, texture like sun", sang The Stranglers, but there is certainly nothing warm and sunny that can be said about the gold and brown kit worn by the Hawthorn Hawks. The Australian rules team, who were formed in 1902, have worn this striped stain on the sporting landscape since 1950. Brown has never been something to strike fear into the heart of sporting opponents, in colour or name (are you listening in Cleveland?), but the Hawks have certainly made up for that by being one of the best teams in their sport's history.
They have won 10 Premiership titles, including last year, and are the fifth-best supported team in the league, having broke through the 40,000 mark for members for the first time in 2008. Thankfully, goalkicking legends such as Jason Dunstall and Peter Hudson, who helped inspire the club mascot Hudson "Hawka" Knights, have made sure the club's play has been far more palatable than their kit. According to psychologists, the colour brown implies strength and reliability, but can also create feelings of sadness and isolation, which is hardly condusive to creating a healthy team atmosphere and a stadium full of positive supporters.
Thankfully for Hawks fans it was the gold which once again eclipsed all else last season. One line in the official club song is "Come what may you'll find us striving", forgetting to add "for a new kit designer". It is time for the Hawks to fly off in search of some new togs.
