Leichhardt Bowlo's 100th Birthday Bash

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It’s already home to the biggest beer garden in Sydney’s Inner West, now Leichhardt Bowling Club has earned another badge of honour after keeping the doors of the beloved community institution open for 100 years.

Friday, 14 April saw the Club’s centenary celebrations kick off in the late afternoon with a bowls tournament, a member photo to recreate the founding members’ first snap, some glowing words from Leichhardt Mayor Darcy Byrne, and speeches from a few of the venue’s much-loved managers, employees and board members — including 31-year-old Chairman Alistair Scott, who is the second-youngest bowling club Chairman in NSW.

The party continued well into the evening, with live music performed by local blues band The Foreday Riders.

Despite the on-and-off drizzly weather, more than 500 people turned up to enjoy a few beers and a free sausage sandwich, and to share their favourite memories of the bowlo. Tickets quickly sold out for the regular Friday night meat raffle and the Club’s famous Golden Bowl draw, which saw one lucky local lady snap up a record $10,000 when her raffle ticket was plucked from the barrel and she successfully guessed the bowling ball behind which the golden ticket was hidden.

Saturday and Sunday saw more bowls competitions, live music and family friendly fun — including a jumping castle and free facepainting for the little ones.

What made the 100th birthday celebrations all the more special was that just a short time ago the Club was in a precarious financial situation, with COVID seeing the venue’s audited financials on 30 June 2021 listing cash and cash equivalents well and truly in the red.

“Miraculously, we opened from the first lockdown sooner than expected, and by borrowing some cash from the affiliated bowling clubs we had just enough to order stock and float our tills,” says Leichhardt Bowling Club Secretary Manager Baz Compton.

“We prayed our members and guests would come back — and they did in droves!”
Baz says in hindsight COVID was a blessing in disguise for the Club.

“It allowed us to put everything on pause and really take stock of what was working and what wasn’t. Our directors and a handful of dedicated volunteers used the COVID lockdowns to give the clubhouse a shoestring facelift — which started with a lick of paint and ended up with us converting a bowling green into the biggest beer garden in the Inner West — funded by ‘cutting off a few fingers’ and selling some EGMs.”

The expansive outdoor area has become enormously popular with younger patrons and families, and is booked out most Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. The vibrant community hub now also boasts a pop-up gin bar, which sees local couple Jen and Shan — the brains behind Lily Fields Distilling Co — serve up classic G&Ts and other creative cocktails every weekend.

At the Club’s main bar, patrons can enjoy a selection of regularly rotated craft beers and seltzers, while at the restaurant, 88 on Piper, they can order everything from a classic chicken parmigiana to a special Bangladeshi style roasted baby snapper.

“What’s been a really nice surprise is now that we’re a more desirable venue to visit we’re actually picking up more bowlers than we did with the extra bowling green,” says Baz.

“While it’s still too early to definitely call it, we’re pretty confident that with our continually growing food and beverage trade we can become a successful and profitable club without relying on gaming.”