[17] His second appearance came on 11 December 1965, when first-team defenders David Woodfield and John Holsgrove were both out injured, in a 4–1 victory over Ipswich Town at Molineux.
[18] His third appearance came on 26 Match 1966, when a win at Norwich City started a run of six unbeaten games, and Hawkins kept his place in the team until the end of the 1965–66 season.
[19] Wolves secured a return to the top flight after finishing second in the Second Division in the 1966–67 campaign, though Hawkins spent most of the season on the bench behind Woodfield and Holsgrove.
[22] In the summer he spent three weeks on tour with the club's affiliated soccer team in the United States, Los Angeles Wolves, where he shared a room with Derek Dougan.
[25] Preston finished the 1967–68 season just one place above the Second Division relegation zone, before rising to 14th-place in 1968–69 under the stewardship of Bobby Seith, with Hawkins making 42 appearances in all competitions.
[28] Preston finished 18th in the Second Division in the 1971–72 season, with the highlight of the campaign coming in the FA Cup, where they came close to taking Manchester United to a replay.
[33][34] Recently appointed manager Gordon Lee was in the process of revamping the first-team, as he also signed Ken Beamish, Pat Hilton, Don Hutchins, Jimmy Mullen and Graham Oates.
[34] Hawkins formed a strong central defensive partnership with Derek Fazackerley, and played 49 games as Rovers won promotion as Third Division champions in 1974–75.
[35] For his performances that season, Hawkins was named on the Third Division's PFA Team of the Year alongside teammates Roger Jones (goalkeeper) and Andy Burgin (full-back).
[36][37] Hawkins credited Lee with teaching him the concept of playing the ball out from the back, permitting him to use flair and patience rather than direct football tactics.
[39] Blackburn finished 12th at the end of the 1976–77 campaign and Smith began to blood new signing Glenn Keeley as a future successor to Hawkins at centre-back.
[40] Now aged 31, Hawkins became more of a reserve team player at Ewood Park in the first half of the 1977–78 season, and though he looked for a move away he rejected an approach from Shrewsbury Town as he wanted to secure a coaching role as well as a playing one.
[40] Hawkins joined Bobby Smith's Port Vale in January 1978, signing as a player and youth team coach for a transfer fee of £6,000.
[43] Hawkins returned to Wolverhampton Wanderers as manager, having been appointed after the Derek Dougan-led takeover saved the club from extinction in August 1982.
[45] He installed Jim Barron as his assistant, whilst Frank Upton was put in charge of the youth team on the understanding that young players would be important to the first-team due to the club's tight budget.
[46] He got the players to devise their own bonus structure, which rewarded them for winning matches; he told the press that "they must stay in the top bracket if they want to earn their corn".
[47] However, budget constraints meant that he had to rely on four teenage debutants – Ian Cartwright, Paul Butler, Billy Livingstone and Dave Wintersgill – against Blackburn Rovers on the opening day of the 1982–83 season.
He refused to change his matchday suit until the team were beaten, resulting in a 3–0 home defeat to Leicester City on 16 October, ending a run of 817 minutes without conceding a league goal.
[53] Mixed results in November were followed by four wins and a draw in December, which saw Hawkins named as Second Division Manager of the Month with the club three points clear at the top of the table.
[54] Hawkins drew up a list of players he wanted for the 1983–84 campaign, at an estimated cost of up to £1 million, with Gary Lineker the number one target.
[56] Wolves secured a 1–1 draw with reigning champions Liverpool on the opening day of the season, with Geoff Palmer converting a penalty won by Gray.
[57] Yet promised investment from Bhatti brothers was not forthcoming after their company, Allied Properties, were denied planning permission by the City of Wolverhampton Council, leaving the squad poorly equipped to handle life in the top-flight.
[57] The team failed to pick up a victory and were bottom of the table by October, with bare new signings and the existing squad largely unhappy that they had not been granted pay rises for their promotion success.
[71] He re-entered the football industry after being employed by Elite Sports, helping the company to earn screening contracts to prevent the sudden cardiac death of athletes.