Ponsonby Rugby Club

Having got through the War in reasonable shape and with a few quid in the bank thanks to the Ladies' Committee, Ponsonby began looking at its place in the community. More importantly, it began looking at the state of its place in the community.

In common with just about every other building in the country, repairs and maintenance had necessarily been neglected for at least ten years. When the fighting was over Ponsonby, in common with virtually every other sports club in the land, had a building which probably leaked a little more than anyone was really comfortable with, may or may not have had critters living in the roof or the walls, definitely needed a thorough repaint, and which was just hanging on to its 'fit for purpose' listing.

Thanks to the ready cash in 1945, and a couple of enterprising lads with contacts, a couple of new hot water boilers were obtained from Whenuapai Air Force Base, but that only addressed one of the problems. By the middle of the decade an impressive Building Committee had been assembled - ten of them later became Life Members - and grand plans were sketched. Everyone knew nothing major could happen until the club had room to expand, and that involved purchase of neighbouring properties, but until that happy day came round some decent work could still be done.

The first fix was the social area upstairs. Despite the scarcity of materials, a significant enlargement and improvement was carried out, making the place far more attractive for both club members and those looking to hire the hall. As a result a steady income was secured - which later led to some serious disagreements. The changing rooms and offices were spruced up and the place looked better than it had since the rebuild after the second fire, almost 30 years earlier, had been completed.

On the field the Seniors were there or thereabouts for the first half of the decade, normally finishing in the top three. In 1954 it all came together for an almost perfect club team - one which had few stars but a lot of good stalwarts in the ranks - and they shared the new Alan McEvoy Trophy with Marist, before sweeping to another Gallaher Shield win. If you told anyone then it would be 22 years before the shield would be back in Blake Street, you would have been laughed at.

However, it wasn't long before reasons for unease were manifest. The suburb was getting old - a normal part of the urban decay and renewal process. The urban spread which began in the late 1940s continued apace in the 1950s, and every new housing area had a footy club. Ponsonby, in a tired old part of town and with the Freemans Bay slum clearance going on not far away, had little to attract people. Most of the club people were also getting old; the club had been a huge part of their lives for decades, but they couldn't or didn't want to move on. Things couldn't stay the same, no matter what the old guard wanted.

Ponsonby stopped attracting new players. So team numbers fell, and then fell some more. The population in the inner city ring halved quickly after the war, and by the end of the 1950s there were serious concerns about whether the club could survive. When Newton closed its doors in 1958, alarm bells started ringing stridently. When the Seniors began spending their time uncomfortably close to the bottom of the ladder, those with the club's best interests at heart got understandably nervous.

Things wouldn't get fixed in the 1950s and the darkest days were still to come, but by 1959 Ponsonby was a club on the brink.