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See also: clubs elsewhere.
Some clubs may be in the organisations list.

Fremantle Clubs

The day of the club with its own clubhouse is over. Most of the clubs shown above no longer exist, or no longer have their own buildings. Only a handful of Fremantle area clubs still have clubhouses: the Buffalo, Italian, Navy (sharing the building), Portuguese (?) and Rowing Clubs. The football club is a sports business. Freo Park SCC has a new building, but it's an amalgamation of three clubs. In 2024 it has taken to calling itself, misleadingly, Fremantle Park Club.

The first Fremantle Club (at 1 Henry Street) was the first to go, in 1912. The German Club was closed by the First World War, in 1914. Caledonian Hall was no longer used by the Caledonian Society after the 1930s. The Commercial Club (first set up for the Commercial Travellers Association in 1912) closed due to a lack of members in 1991.

The second Fremantle Club, in Bannister Street, closed in 2008. There was a hotel there before, and the club building is now a hotel again (the Hougoumont). The Wyola Club was wound up in 2016, as it had 'no assets' - tho the building (built for Hicks & Co. in 1903) is still extant, and the first floor facade intact. Deckchair and Harbour Theatres never had their own buildings. Both leased the Victoria Hall.

The Fly by Night Musicians Club had its own building (the former drill hall) for over twenty-five years 1986-2015, when they lost the lease. So the Fly by Night 'Club' no longer has a clubhouse, and if it hasn't ceased to exist when you read this, it probably soon will. It is or was operating in the Victoria Hall, but struggling. Also, the Victoria Hall was offered for sale. ... And is to be so again in 2024.

The Bowling Club building was demolished mid-July 2019, and the Tennis Club building at the end of the year.

That leaves the Buffalo Club which certainly looks to be in poor condition. And the Navy Club, which hasn't had its own discrete building since 1993, occupying the third and fourth levels of a commercial building at 64 High Street, on the corner of Pakenham Street.

The Italian Club has been in glorious isolation in its own premises in Marine Terrace for many years. The Portuguese Club has been trying to sell its premises in Beaconsfield because it no longer has enough members to keep it sustainable. There was talk in 2017 of the Portuguese Club moving into the St John's Ambulance building in Parry Street, but the land there - between city and park - is too valuable, and will probably become a condo, like the former SEC building next door.

The Fremantle Rowing Club has premises, including a boathouse, on the river at 75 Riverside Drive in East Fremantle.

References and Links

Parker, David Dare & Ron Davidson 2010, The Clubs, FotoFreo, Fremantle.

Garry Gillard | New: 1 October, 2014 | Now: 15 April, 2024