An ambitious plan is underway to revive the distinctly inner-west sport of Trugo.
The Footscray Trugo club on Buckley Street in Seddon lies in a derelict state after hosting its last match in 2009.
But the game, invented by Newport railyard workers in the 1920s, could return this year if a move spearheaded by Footscray bar owners Stuart and Liana Lucca-Pope proves a success.
Mr Lucca-Pope said the idea was born after the pair took their Littlefoot Bar staff to the Yarraville trugo club for their Christmas party.
“They had a ball, particularly the girls,” he said.
“We thought it would be a great community thing to get going again. It is a very unique local sport and it would be a shame for it to disappear.”
People appear to have quickly embraced the plan – the Footscray Trugo Club Revival page on Facebook has attracted more than 350 likes within days of being created.
YARRAVILLE TRUGO CLUB’S JACK EDWARDS SHOWS HOW IT’S DONE. FILE PICTURE: SHAWN SMITS
Trugo’s objective is to score points by striking a rubber ring with a mallet backwards from between the player’s legs into a pair of goal posts.
A 2006 conservation analysis of the Footscray Trugo Club Pavillion and Grounds recommended the council-owned site receive heritage protection on the grounds of its historical significance.
The report noted the club was one of the oldest Trugo clubs still in existence, founded only a few weeks after the original club at Yarraville in 1937, and is “the only surviving example of an entirely purpose-built Trugo clubhouse”.
Council support
Maribyrnong Council sustainable development manager Nigel Higgins said the council would be supportive of a community club forming if the local community supported it.
“There is not a current master plan for the Trugo Club, however Council’s Open Space Strategy includes the recommendation for the site to ‘Investigate options to redesign this site as open space’.”
The council plans to consult with the local community in the middle of the year on improvements to the space as part of the 2016/17 capital works program.
“It is intended that the site be retained and improved as public open space as per the Maribyrnong Open Space Strategy. No decision will be made without consultation.”
Mr Lucca-Pope said the campaign, perhaps the last chance for the clubhouse to be saved, will rely on community support to succeed.
“It would be criminal for it to disappear from the area.”
