Global Information59 Club information
 | A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject. (May 2018) |
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| Abbreviation | The 9 |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1959 |
| Founder | John Oates |
| Founded at | London, England |
| Type | Charity |
| Purpose | To help young motorcyclists [1] |
Region | Worldwide |
Membership | 30,000 (600 annual renewals) |
Key people | Reverend Bill Shergold Reverend Graham Hullett |
| Website | www |
The 59 Club, also written as The Fifty Nine Club and known as 'the 9', is a British motorcycle club with members distributed internationally.
The 59 Club started as a Church of England-based youth club founded at St Mary of Eton church in Hackney Wick by Reverend John Oates,[2] in the East End of London, then an underprivileged area suffering post-war deprivations. The club was established to provide a place where young people could meet together and enjoy music and fellowship. It broke with the tradition of most church youth clubs at the time by allowing entry to all young people from the local community whether they attended church or not. Oates managed to persuade teen star, Cliff Richard to play at the Club's opening night on Thursday 2 April 1959, guaranteeing a huge turnout of young people and making the club an instant success.
In 1962 a motorcycle section was established, meeting once a week on Saturday evenings at the Eton Mission where there was ample parking and a large hall with table tennis, billiards, a juke box and a coffee bar.[3][4] Motor Cycle staff writer Mike Evans in 1963 reported: "Ably managed by the Rev. Bill Shergold, the club is affectionately known by London riders as 'The Vic's Caff'!"[5]
It was notable, initially in the London area during the mid-1960s, for its adoption by the British motorcycling subculture known as 'rockers', who were at that time seen as "folk devils" at the centre of a moral panic in society.[6][7] Its badge has taken on an iconic value for them.[8]
- ^ "Charity overview". charitycommission.gov.uk.
- ^ ‘The 59 Club’. ACE Cafe website. Online resource, accessed 4 April 2019
- ^ The 59 Club: Rockers to host reunion at Hackney Wick church where world famous biker club was born 24 April 2018
- ^ Church of England Retrieved 8 July 2014
- ^ Motor Cycle, 28 Feb 1963, pp. 250–251 Coffee Bar Survey by Mike Evans. "Every Saturday night the motor-cycle section attracts a crowd of young riders from all over London". Accessed and added 8 July 2014
- ^ Rockers and bikers from the 1960s hold reunion in Hackney church East London Lines May 11, 2018
- ^ Folk devils and moral panics : the creation of the Mods and Rockers by Stanley Cohen. Routledge, London
- ^ Motor Cycle, 7 January 1965, p. 21 Emergency Vicar 59 by Mike Evans. "In the two short years since we published the news of the formation of the 59 Club motor-cycle section, Father Bill has won the hearts—and the respect—of thousands of motorcyclists from all over the country". Accessed and added 7 June 2014