Sandwell social club celebrates 50th anniversary

At its height Tipton Sports and Social Club had 1,000 members and although membership has dwindled over the years the long-established club still proudly boasts football, darts and dominoes teams as well as offering a mix of entertainment.

The club began life 50 years ago when a group of workmates feared they would lose their football team as their base was being sold off.

Founding member and secretary Trevor Pearce, together with his friends William 'Bill' Andrews, whose son Bill now sits on the committee, and Raymond Cresswell each played for teams formed through their company Palethorpes Sausages.

In the early 60s the club began selling off some of its land - including where the teams played at Coneygree Road in Tipton.

The football team was at the time playing in the Birmingham Works League, but suddenly were given a week's notice that they would no longer be able to continue.

So the three friends decided to look for land where they might be able to move the teams.

Mr Pearce, now the only surviving founder member of the club, said: "We were losing the patch of land and everything.

"We wrote to everyone in the area, even as far away as Stoke. There was at least 10 sites I wrote to personally to try to get the land to form a club, but none became available."

The group, under the name Tipton Sports and Social Club, could use a council-owned pitch for the football team but it still needed a club house - they first moved into a room above the Boscobel Tavern, on Boscobel Street, which they rented for £1 a week.

They ran bingo sessions to amuse the 30 or so regular members, which were mostly the players and their wives, and early gross takings reached around £40 a week. Mr Pearce, collecting the subs, had to sit at the top of the stairs in the pub so that the others had space for their activities inside the hired room.

Eventually, running club Tipton Harriers approached the group, as its hut was on land that was also owned by Palethorpes - land which was also to be sold.

Between the two clubs they agreed that Tipton Sports would buy the land, while in return for use of the building Tipton Harriers would be allowed to use the facilities as its headquarters.

The club then had a home to call its own, and Tipton Sports and Social Club was born.

The Harriers had not been a licensed club and so for the first month all the committee could provide for the members was cups of tea and faggots - if anyone wanted a drink they had to sprint to the Boscobel before closing time. But within a month Tipton Sports had been granted a licence.

There was concern initially that the new group would not attract new members, as the building was built for a running team and not a social club. Best suits were ruined as men went down into the cellar to stoke the boiler, with some even bringing their own fires from home to help out.

Despite this, the club became packed every night it was open and it became difficult to fit all members in, and membership had to be closed when it reached 250.

As the club grew, their base improved, with a bar being installed, a car park laid, and in 1968 a new building was erected.

Since then the club's home on Sedgley Road East has been significantly improved, and two years ago had a £98,000 refurbishment.

Mr Pearce, aged 79, said: "We run regular entertainment, and have two football teams, two darts teams and two dominoes teams.

"We used to play crib but we don't have a team anymore.

"We have about 570 members now - we used to have 1,000 at one time, in the 90s, but a lot of the steel works around the club closed down so membership declined," he said.

Mr Pearce said no special celebrations were planned to celebrate the landmark anniversary, but the club would be sticking to its usual programme of entertainment including bingo and artists, such as singers.

For more information about the club, including the hire of its function room, see www.tiptonsportsandsocialclub.co.uk, or call 0121 5574136 or 0121 5201754.