After weeks of negotiating with the former Hawthorn coach, North had to contend with an audacious late bid from Essendon.

But Clarkson has turned down the late interest from the Bombers and will instead return to the club he started his playing career with back in 1987.

North president Sonja Hood said she was delighted to announce Clarkson’s appointment on a five-season deal.

The 54-year-old will start with North on November 1, taking over from interim coach Leigh Adams.

“This is a real watershed moment for our club and I am writing to share it with members first – we’ll talk to media later today, but for now this is a moment for all of us,” Hood said in a statement.

“I can’t speak highly enough of the professionalism of Alastair and his manager James Henderson over this past four weeks.

“We’ve had a crash course in getting to know each other and Alastair’s passion to drive our club back to where we belong is incredibly infectious.

“Today is a good day. Alastair’s coming home – to our home.”

Clarkson will be North’s fourth full-time coach in five years after David Noble was sacked in July following less than two seasons in charge.

Clarkson coached Hawthorn for 17 seasons, leading the Hawks to premierships in 2008 and the 2013-15 three-peat.

He departed Hawthorn at the end of 2021, a year before his contract was due to expire, following a messy coaching succession plan to former Hawks champion Sam Mitchell.

Clarkson met with North and GWS, before this week telling the Giants he wanted to remain in Melbourne instead of relocating to Sydney.

The Kangaroos had been exclusively dealing with Clarkson since Noble’s exit six weeks ago and were in the box-seat.

Essendon attempted to lure Clarkson this week as board turmoil at the club resulted in David Barham replacing Paul Brasher as president.

The action prompted the manager of Bombers coach Ben Rutten, who is contracted for 2023, to label the club’s actions a “poor” and “really disappointing”.

“The behaviour and way he’s been treated is fundamentally not right,” Ramanauskas said on Friday.

“Whether that’s Ben Rutten or another senior coach, there’s only 18 of these jobs available in the country, it’s a very high-pressure job.

“The way you treat these individuals is critical to the success of your football club.”

Ramanauskas claims the club and David Barham had failed to inform the 39-year-old Rutten of their intentions.

“It’s fair to say Monday and half of Tuesday were pretty difficult days because no one was telling (Rutten) what was going on,” he said.

“He was reading on Monday he was sacked, and there was nobody who was telling him otherwise.”

Clarkson expressed embarrassment and regret the day before about how his move back into AFL coaching had played out.

“With the situation around ‘Truck’ (Rutten), he’s still got a year of his contract to run and it’s quite embarrassing being the centre of attention in a situation that is just so difficult for both him and his club,” Clarkson told Ten News on Thursday.

“I’d prefer to be able to get off the back page, and I know full well that this circus will all end once I can make a decision, one way or another.”