26/08/2016
The Star TUESDAY AUGUST 12 2008
This month, the Wanderers Club celebrates its 120th birthday. It has survived the impingement of a fast-growing city on its grounds, sanctions
during apartheid, economic depression in the ’80s, and the ravages of a fire, to maintain its vision of being Gauteng’s leading sports club.
Every gentleman needs a sports club. Even the early gold prospectors, hardy adventurers who'd come to Joburg in the late 19th century with gleaming nuggets on the brain, needed some sort of civilised sports association. No sooner had the prospectors arrived in the Transvaal, than they'd formed the Witwatersrand's first rugby club, in 1886. They were nomads in search of a precious metal, so they called their club the Wanderers Rugby Club. The Wanderers Cricket Club soon followed, at a time when Joburg was nothing more than a few shacks in the dusty veld. In 1888, club members approached the Republican government with a request for formal grounds, and a piece of land north of Noord Street was made available. The lease was signed in 1890, and was set to expire after 99 years.
The annual rent was £50. In 1889, a decision was taken to form one club, the Wanderers, which would offer a range of sports. Within a few years of its formation, the Wanderers became a premier sporting site. Athletics and cycling were among the main attractions, bringing in most of the club's revenue. With the coming of the motor cycle and the motor car, cycling declined in popularity. Shortly after the Boer War, the railway station on the club's southern boundary gave its first expansive heave, spelling the doom of the only cycle track in Joburg at the time.
After World War 1, the rugby and tennis headquarters were moved to Ellis Park, but cricket and soccer remained at the Wanderers. Sport was not the only recreational activity that took place at the club. Before the building of the town hall, the club was the social centre of the community. The grounds were in constant demand for church services, public meetings, receptions, demonstrations and military parades. President Kruger spoke there. In 1932, greyhound racing was introduced, but it came to an end shortly after World War 2 as a result of objections from church bodies and other upstanding citizens who frowned upon gambling. At that time, the total membership was about 3 000. As the skyscrapers of Joburg began to demand more and more ground, members clung to their premises which, although ascetically unattractive, were soaked in tradition. In 1904, and again in 1927, the railway had expropriated chunks of the club's ground.
In 1943, it finally claimed the remainder. Club members did not submit without a fight, and controversy raged, but eventually Wanderers was forced to submit before the demands of a space-hungry city. It was a bitter moment, but there was the consolation of Kent Park – a section of land in Illovo which had been purchased in the 1930s to house the club's overflow.
Members set about expanding the Kent Park grounds. The clubhouse was built in 1950, and five years later, the stadium, with seating for 36 000 people. A swimming pool followed, and the club introduced table tennis, fencing, billiards and snooker.
In 1982, Wanderers took the bold step of introducing multiracial membership, despite government opposition. As the club entered its 10th decade, international sanctions against South African sport resulted in a decline in test match usage of the stadium - the country's premier cricket venue. The stadium became a financial liability. Relentless inflation and economic depression added to the problem, and in 1989, the club decided to sell.
Thereafter, a slow decline in membership increased financial strain. Membership numbers dropped from 11 916 in 1988/89 to 5 471 in 2006/07 - a decrease of over 54% in 18 years. At the turn of the century, windfalls such as the World Summit and the Cricket World Cup generated sufficient income to turn the club's fortunes around.
Then, in 2004, a devastating fire gutted the entire clubhouse. Insurance money was used to rebuild, and although many original features were lost, the new building and its decor have been accepted and praised by local and foreign visitors.
The club is booked months, and sometimes years in advance. It caters for events such as birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, including kosher and halaal weddings, and corporate events from small meetings to large conferences, banquets and exhibitions. Times have changed.
The sporting gentlemen of the 19th century have given way to a generation of instant gratification seekers. But despite the upheavals witnessed over 120 years of history, the Wanderers Club has maintained its place in the Joburg community as a family oriented environment offering a range of social facilities.
- Information taken from The Old Gold by Thelma Gutsche.
