The 59 Club, or Fifty Nine Club, was formed in London, England by Reverend Fathers John Oates, Bill Shergold and Graham Hullet in 1959 as a church-sponsored youth organization to help underprivileged youth in the church\u2019s parish.\u00a0 In\u00a01960, sensing that the young rebellious bikers of North London that raced along the North Circular Road might be in need of spiritual guidance, Reverend Bill Shergold, an avid biker himself,\u00a0rode up to the Ace Caf\u00e9 to see if these “Ton-Up boys,” as they were called, would be interested in Sunday mass services where they could have their bikes blessed.\u00a0 Surprisingly it turned out to be hugely successful, and thus the relationship between Londons bikers and the 59 Club began.<\/p>\n
By 1962 the club had transformed into a very popular hangout where the wild biker hooligans of the time could socialize, tune-up their bikes, play billiards and basically stay out of trouble.\u00a0 It\u00a0also became a clubhouse where you could dance and listen to 1950s Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll and Rockabilly music, which was favored by the Rockers and their predecessors the Ton-Up boys.\u00a0 The club was also the first place to premiere the 1950s Marlon Brando film The Wild One<\/em>, which was banned in UK cinemas\u00a0by the BBC.\u00a0 Throughout the 1960s the Fifty Nine Club sponsored numerous motorcycle rallies in Scotland, Wales, Germany, and the famous T.T. Races on the Isle of Man; and it became a beacon in the community for social activism when it became a registered charity in 1965.\u00a0 Within a short period of time the motorcycle section of the youth club became so large it overtook the entire club and eventually transformed into the 30,000 member strong, worldwide motorcycle club it is today.\u00a0The clubs success, according to Father Bill Shergold, was based on its entire lack of rules or formal structure and its association during the 1980s with the\u00a0Rocker Reunion Movemement created by Len Paterson.\u00a0 Also pivotal to the clubs legacy was the\u00a0creation of\u00a0a Classic Section, a\u00a0sub-group of members dedicated to upholding the 1960s Rockers subculture (the music, the\u00a0fashion style, and British motorcycles).<\/p>\n The 59 Club is now based in Plaistow, London and meets twice weekly. It remains a registered charity as established in 1965, and has evolved into a place where families and\u00a0bikers are welcome. Today the club is led by Father Scott Anderson, a fellow motorcycle rider and Rocker, and is still favored by those who are passionate about classic or vintage British, European, Japanese\u00a0and Caf\u00e9 Racer style motorbikes.\u00a0 Current members continue the proud 50 years-long traditions and original club philosophy of having: no rules, no\u00a0club officers,\u00a0no politics, and no church agenda.\u00a0\u00a0The club is open to male and female bikers alike. \u00a0Even though we are a registered charity, we are\u00a0not a ‘Christian motorcycle club’ or a religious organization, also important is that the club has never been a 1% or outlaw biker club, but do we respect all motorcycle riders.<\/p>\n The club exists today as a historical celebration of the original 1950s and 60s British biker subculture, which was centered on 1950s Rock\u2019n\u2019Roll and Rockabilly music, British motorbikes and Caf\u00e9 Racers.\u00a0 The club also maintains strong ties to the Ace Caf\u00e9 and the annual Rocker Reunions outside of London each year.\u00a0 Over the last five decades the club has become an icon in the international Rockabilly music community and Caf\u00e9 Racer motorcycle scene.\u00a0 The 59 Club is still a motorcycle club for individuals who are passionate about riding bikes, gathering at late-night pubs and cafes, and attending bike related events, like the annual ride to Brighton from the Ace Caf\u00e9 in North London.\u00a0 Our 50-year relationship with British motorcycles, Caf\u00e9 Racers, the Ace Cafe and Rock’n’Roll music has been and always will be our pride and passion.<\/p>\n The Fifty-Nine Club has officially recognized sections all over the world, mostly in Europe, the UK, and here in the United States. Only card-carrying members are allowed to wear the 59 Club patch.\u00a0 These members have paid their club dues and have ID cards registered in London.\u00a0 We wear our patches with pride knowing that we represent a motorcycle club with a vibrant British motorcycling history and a worldwide following.\u00a0 We equally cherish the club’s association with the modern Caf\u00e9 Racer motorcycle scene.<\/p>\n Cheers mates.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The 59 Club, or Fifty Nine Club, was formed in London, England by Reverend Fathers John Oates, Bill Shergold and Graham Hullet in 1959 as a church-sponsored youth organization to help underprivileged youth in the church\u2019s parish.\u00a0 In\u00a01960, sensing that the young rebellious bikers of North London that raced along the North Circular Road might […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-creating-the-los-angeles-section"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=143"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1108,"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/143\/revisions\/1108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.the59clubla.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}