MARK Evans will begin his new role as the AFL's general manager of football operations on Tuesday, April 2.
As a result, Evans will finish his current position as the head of Hawthorn's football department at the end of this week.
Evans, who began his involvement in elite football when he was appointed Melbourne's communications manager in 1999, has been at Hawthorn since late 2004.
He was unveiled as the AFL's new footy boss on March 13.
“I’m passionate about the game," Evans said at the time.
"This is a terrific opportunity for me to apply my experience and learnings from my time in football and also the further training and education I have undertaken in recent years."
The 47-year-old has replaced Adrian Anderson, who resigned last November and finished his role with the League in December.
Evans is taking on a restructured position that no longer oversees the integrity unit, which has become a stand-alone department within the AFL.
But he is still responsible for a vast number of the AFL's activities, including:
- Staging of all NAB Cup, premiership season and finals matches
- AFL rules and regulations
- NAB AFL Draft
- Match Review Panel, AFL Tribunal
- Umpiring
"I am delighted that Mark Evans has accepted the role of football operations manager, following in the footsteps of Adrian Anderson," AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said at the season launch last week.
"Adrian did a wonderful job in his nine years in the chair, instituting and managing many vital changes to our ever-evolving game.
"However, whenever there is a change of personnel, there is a change of approach, and Mark will be managing a new-look department, totally focused on football matters, including talent development, which has been part of game development for some years."
Hawthorn recently began an advertising campaign to find a new football operations manager to replace Evans.
