| Club: | Hawthorn Football Club |
| Season: | 1979 |
| President: | Phil J. Ryan |
| Coach: | David Parkin |
| Captain: | Don Scott |
| Home Ground: | Princes Park |
| Regularseason Comp: | VFL season |
| Regularseason Result: | 10–12 (7th) |
| Finals Series: | Finals series |
| Finals Result: | Did not qualify |
| Club B&Amp;F: | Best and Fairest |
| Best And Fairest: | Kelvin Moore |
| Leading Goalscorer: | Michael Moncrieff (45) |
| Highest Attendance: | 37,276 (Round 4 vs.) |
| Lowest Attendance: | 10,977 (Round 8 vs.) |
| Average Attendance: | 20,016 |
| Prevseason: | 1978 |
| Nextseason: | 1980 |
The 1979 season was the Hawthorn Football Club's 55th season in the Victorian Football League and 78th overall. Hawthorn entered the season as the defending VFL Premiers. This was the first time since 1973 Hawthorn didn't qualify for finals.
| Rd | Date and local time | Opponent | Scores (Hawthorn's scores indicated in bold) | Venue | Attendance | Record | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Home | Away | Result | |||||||
| 1 | Saturday, 7 April (2:10 pm) | 19.14 (128) | 14.19 (103) | Lost by 25 points | Moorabbin Oval (A) | 22,060 | 0–1 | ||
| 2 | Saturday, 14 April (2:10 pm) | 13.24 (102) | 19.18 (132) | Lost by 30 points | Princes Park (H) | 29,391 | 0–2 | ||
| 3 | Saturday, 21 April (2:10 pm) | 18.15 (123) | 11.17 (83) | Won by 40 points | Princes Park (H) | 14,876 | 1–2 | ||
| 4 | Wednesday, 25 April (2:10 pm) | 29.15 (189) | 15.5 (95) | Won by 94 points | VFL Park (H) | 37,276 | 2–2 | ||
| 5 | Saturday, 5 May (2:10 pm) | 11.16 (82) | 24.17 (161) | Won by 79 points | Melbourne Cricket Ground (A) | 31,479 | 3–2 | ||
| 6 | Saturday, 12 May (2:10 pm) | 16.12 (108) | 25.18 (168) | Lost by 60 points | Princes Park (H) | 29,935 | 3–3 | ||
| 7 | Saturday, 19 May (2:10 pm) | 14.18 (102) | 11.24 (90) | Lost by 12 points | Junction Oval (A) | 15,872 | 3–4 | ||
| 8 | Saturday, 26 May (2:10 pm) | 17.18 (120) | 10.17 (77) | Won by 43 points | Princes Park (H) | 10,977 | 4–4 | ||
| 9 | Saturday, 2 June (2:10 pm) | 16.12 (108) | 17.14 (116) | Lost by 8 points | Princes Park (H) | 24,875 | 4–5 | ||
| 10 | Sunday, 10 June (2:10 pm) | 16.9 (105) | 23.18 (156) | Won by 51 points | Sydney Cricket Ground (A) | 31,395 | 5–5 | ||
| 11 | Saturday, 16 June (2:10 pm) | 15.10 (100) | 15.11 (101) | Lost by 1 point | Princes Park (H) | 12,516 | 5–6 | ||
| 12 | Saturday, 23 June (2:10 pm) | 19.18 (132) | 13.15 (93) | Won by 39 points | Princes Park (H) | 13,176 | 5–7 | ||
| 13 | Saturday, 30 June (2:10 pm) | 25.19 (169) | 8.16 (64) | Lost by 105 points | Victoria Park (A) | 22,903 | 5–8 | ||
| 14 | Saturday, 7 July (2:10 pm) | 13.11 (89) | 10.14 (74) | Lost by 15 points | Lake Oval (A) | 10,626 | 5–9 | ||
| 15 | Saturday, 14 July (2:10 pm) | 11.12 (78) | 11.13 (79) | Won by 1 point | VFL Park (A) | 20,777 | 6–9 | ||
| 16 | Saturday, 21 July (2:10 pm) | 14.20 (104) | 18.11 (119) | Lost by 15 points | Princes Park (H) | 13,557 | 6–10 | ||
| 17 | Saturday, 28 July (2:10 pm) | 15.21 (111) | 12.11 (83) | Lost by 28 points | Princes Park (A) | 22,159 | 6–11 | ||
| 18 | Saturday, 4 August (2:10 pm) | 15.14 (104) | 15.25 (115) | Lost by 11 points | Princes Park (H) | 15,104 | 6–12 | ||
| 19 | Saturday, 11 August (2:10 pm) | 8.25 (73) | 14.11 (95) | Won by 22 points | VFL Park (A) | 12,827 | 7–12 | ||
| 20 | Saturday, 18 August (2:10 pm) | 9.16 (70) | 10.14 (74) | Won by 4 points | Windy Hill (A) | 18,671 | 8–12 | ||
| 21 | Saturday, 25 August (2:10 pm) | 7.18 (60) | 24.21 (165) | Lost by 105 points | Princes Park (H) | 18,492 | 8–13 | ||
| 22 | Saturday, 1 September (2:10 pm) | 9.11 (65) | 14.19 (103) | Won by 38 points | Western Oval (A) | 12,839 | 9–13 | ||
| [1] | |||||||||