Forty-four members attended a special meeting on Sunday to vote on a plan that is expected to pull the club out of financial difficulty.

The 44 hands were raised in unison when voting on the motion to amalgamate the Memorial Club with the Goondiwindi Returned and Services League sub-branch took place.

The vote placed the Club under the patronage of the Queensland RSL leading to an immediate injection of $350,000 into the club’s depleted coffers.

The hands were again raised in unison when the motion was put to accept Mr Harvey Fewings, Qld RSL Commerical Manager for Licensed Clubs as the “appointed person”, giving him and a small group of local RSL members control over the financial future of the club.

Mr Fewings had earlier addressed the meeting praising the management of the club for calling for help when they realized they “had a problem.”

“I’ve looked at the books, this club is not trading badly, it’s not going broke but it has been stuck with large lease arrangements which has put it in a difficult financial situation.

“I’m not being critical of the decisions made in the past that has led to this position but I am pleased that I’ve been called in early enough to help resolve the matter.

“I’ve arrived at some clubs just before the receivers do, so it’s good that management here detected the problem and called me early enough.

“We can now work together to assure the future of the club for its members as well as its staff,” Mr Fewings said.

Mr Fewings said that he had prepared a five-year business plan for the club, which he believed, would ensure its future viability.

“We need to lift the profile of this club and we will start with signage.

“I couldn’t find this place when I first came into town, that needs to change.

“$350,000 will be transferred from QLD RSL to Goondiwindi RSL on Monday morning. That will be interest free,” he said.

The commercial sub committee that will administer the day to day running of the club will consist of Mr Fewings, the president of the Goondiwindi RSL sub branch, John Toohey, current manager, Robyn Bland and Mr Brian Brennan who had held the position of president of the Memorial Club.

Mr Brennan said he was happy with the decision made to amalgamate the two bodies.

“We are modelling the club for the next 100 years and that gives us opportunity for future ventures,” Mr Brennan said.

Mr Toohey was equally happy with the result from the meeting.

“This will ensure that the club maintains a presence in the community, staff get to keep their jobs and the community gets to keep their club.”