Australian Football League side Hawthorn has "revealed well-advanced plans" to move its HQ from Waverley Park to a "massive new facility" at Dingley, where it has signed a contract of purchase, according to Jake Niall of THE AGE. After investigating 15 to 20 sites, the Hawks have "chosen -- and on Monday paid a deposit for -- a 28 hectare site in Dingley" worth between A$7M ($5.4M) and A$8M ($6.2M), where the club "intends to a build a lavish new headquarters for players, administration and supporters" modeled after Arsenal and Tottenham. If all goes according to plan, the Hawks will be "established at the new facility within five or six years, though they say it could take five to 10 years." The new HQ will cost several times the A$7M-plus the club is paying for the land, with the Hawks hoping to "receive a significant return from the sale or lease of their Waverley base." Hawthorn President Andrew Newbold said that the cost of the new facility was "not set yet." The funding strategy for the new facility "will be done over the next 18 months to two years" (THE AGE, 6/2).
