Our History

On 19 July 1905, the first meeting was held at the Masonic Hall on Cambridge Street, West Leederville for the formation of the Leederville Bowling and Croquet Club (now known as the Leederville Sporting Club or the West Leedy Bowlo).

Bowlers attended the meeting from all over the city along with the Mayor of Perth at the time, Harry Brown. Initially the first membership only consisted of forty bowling members (men) and twenty-one croquet members (women). A committee was soon formed to set the club rules and allocate financial agreements.

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In that same year, the club was accepted as an affiliated member of the Western Australian Bowling Association (WABA). The acceptance was processed prior to any playable greens being laid with the condition that they were to be of high quality when opened. Wednesday 8 November 1905 was the official opening of Leederville Bowling and Croquet Club’s playable greens. The first game was played against Claremont the following Saturday.

In 1924 the Fallen Soldier’s Memorial was designed and created by WA’s first local sculptor, Pietro Porcelli, who arrived in Australia in 1898. The gardens surrounding this memorial have recently been renovated and feature interactive displays and information about local soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice and whose names appear on the cenotaph.

Leederville Bowling Club was on the rise with a number of successes under its belt in State competitions during the period between World War 1 and World War 2. In 1935 the newly established Leederville Ladies Bowling club won Division 1 of the Ladies Bowling Association’s inaugural pennant competition. A few years later W Roberts, a member of the club, was named Champion of Club Champions in 1938, winning the Josh Hamill Cup.

The original clubhouse was officially opened on 19 October 1929 by the Rt. Hon. J.T Franklin C.M.G M.L.C 1st Lord Mayor of The City Perth.

The current club house was built behind the Leederville Town Hall in 1959 and opened in 1960. Over the years the bowling green has been extended to occupy the ground of the former tennis courts, picture gardens and the original croquet lawn. Leederville Bowling Club was one of the first clubs established in Western Australia and is currently the only club in its original location with grass greens still in use. In fact, the greens at Leederville Sporting Club now have State Heritage protection.

The name was officially changed to The Leederville Sporting Club in 1980 and the club reopened under that name by The Lord Mayor of Perth Mr Llloyd Zampatti on 29 November 1980.

During the late 1990’s many of the club’s older members were no longer able to bowl competitively and the club was no longer able to compete in WABA events. Social bowling has occurred at the Club ever since.

In 2020-21, the Club underwent a re-awakening under new management and with a new Committee. Members numbers increased from 142 to 604 (a 300% rise in 12 months) and the Club secured a $143,000 pre-election commitment from the McGowan Government for infrastructure upgrades. Today, the Club is a thriving space for all cohorts of the community to enjoy.