Wests Campbelltown Celebrates 50 Years

And on Sydney’s southwest outskirts, a small community was celebrating the opening of The Campbelltown City Rugby League Club.

With a population back then of some 34,000 people, the Club was originally conceived to support the Campbelltown Kangaroos rugby league team.

As the population grew and the township developed, so too did the Club, evolving into what is now Wests Campbelltown and the home of sport in the Macarthur region, encompassing some 300,000 residents.

One of the Club’s Foundation Directors, Frank Ward, a real estate agent by trade, recalls the efforts that went into convincing the local council of the benefits of handing over a parcel of land to build the Club.

“I used my real estate nous to make the argument that it was going to be used for a community service rather than for a profit,” Frank recalls.

“That was the alternative — to sell it for profit — and that’s how we got the argument through. We now had a site… and we thought that’s all we had to do, but as it turned out there was a lot more that had to be done!”

The hard work to get it up and running paid off, with the community embracing their new Club for all types of social gatherings.

“In the early days of the Club and Campbelltown up until the mid-70s or 80s, everybody knew everybody and there were six or seven balls each year and you were battling to get a ticket,” says Frank.

“They used to worry about game days because after game days it was often a problem in the Club, because the guys had been out watching the game all afternoon and by the time they got in the Club it was 5 or 5.30 and they were more boisterous than they should’ve been!”

Testament to its success over the past 50 years, today the Club is part of a wider group, Wests Group Macarthur, encompassing four venues — Wests Campbelltown, Country Club Gledswood Hills, Lakeside Golf Club Camden and The Sherwood Macarthur.

^{The Sherwood, one of four venues that comprises Wests Group Macarthur.}

^{Wests Campbelltown as it stands today.}

The group has almost 90,000 members, sponsors 30 local sporting groups and contributes ClubGRANTS and community engagement funding to a range of worthy charities and community organisations, totalling more than $4.2 million annually.

“It’s about our members and giving them a wonderful place to come and enjoy themselves in a safe environment,” says Wests Group Macarthur Chair Alan Buxton.

Alan, who initially became involved with the Club in its early days as the bank manager who approved their first loan, says he’s proud to be a major employer in the region, and a big contributor to the area’s social fabric.

“We have over 450 staff now… it’s great that through the performance of our Club we are able to contribute so much to make so many lives better and I think it’s really important that we stop and celebrate that success,” he says.

^{The Club marked their 50 year anniversary by staging a special gala evening to celebrate the milestone.}

And the future is looking bright, with CEO Daniel Perkiss revealing there are big plans to expand the footprint and offering of the club group.

“The Greens will be a revolutionary entertainment precinct, the first of its kind in Australia, hosting some 56 bays of golf driving. There will be 27 holes of high-end mini golf and then that precinct will be surrounded by a 9-hole par 3 Greg Norman-designed golf course,” he says.

“It will be the entertainment hub of the Camden LGA, with a specific focus on entertainment and families.”

The success of Wests Group Macarthur is something the founding directors and members of the Campbelltown City Rugby League Club could’ve only dreamt of in 1974.

“It’s a community club in the true sense of the word,” says founding director Frank Ward.