It was 1951, the start of a decade that saw the birth of rock and roll, televisions appear in loungerooms across the country and the post-war population explosion of babyboomers.
The Korean War had just begun, Dragnet aired for the first time on TV and the Menzies government tried unsuccessfully to ban the communist party in Australia through a referendum.
But in southern Sydney, weighty matters that were far more local in nature were being discussed in the dressing room of Kogarah's Jubilee Oval.
After 30 years of failed attempts by other social groups to start a St George community club, 17 local businessmen met and voted to form the St George League's Club. On that night more than 5000 pounds was pledged, some of it interest free and the remainder on loan at just 4 per cent.
The first directors of the St George League's Club were elected and instructed to proceed with the erection or purchase of a club house.
The block of land for the original Club, at 155 Princes Highway, was bought for 1,450 pounds early the next year.
Working bees demolished an old stone building which had previously held a hotel and the land was cleared.
When the basement or "the pit" beneath the Club first opened, there was little chance of anyone pilfering the takings.
The Pit held the Club's first cash register, which was an ingenious design of aluminium saucepans nailed to a board, into which customers waited to hear their pennies drop when they purchased a drink from the bar.
The building officially opened on July 4, 1953 and when its first six months made a net profit of almost 20,000 pounds,
the delighted directors agreed to proceed with construction of the first floor.
Before the Club was first granted its liquor license in August, 1955, almost all the work - except for that done by two
cleaners and a steward - had been voluntary.
By 1960, the old premises were simply too small to meet demand for the growing local community, and the members who flocked to join. Plans for the new, current Club were drawn up and a few short years later it was again debt free.
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St George Leagues Club
NEWS
