Lilys Function Centre rises from former Demons Club

The former Demons Sports licensed club in the western Sydney suburb of Blacktown has been relaunched as Lilys Restaurant, Bar & Function Centre.

The former licensed club, which backed the Blacktown City Demons football club for over 30 years, closed its doors in May 2009 when receivers could not find a buyer.

The licensed club, and the adjacent Gabbie Stadium, was purchased in November last year by western Sydney entrepreneur and founder of house-builders Lily Homes, Vince Camera for a sum believed to have been in excess of $2.5 million.

As Camera, who was uninterested in reopening the former club as a gambling area, explained "we want the venue to support the football club" noting "I don't believe gambling and sport should go together."

Instead Camera has driven the re-opening of the venue as a multi-use functions venue able to host a wide variety of corporate and private functions, local meetings, conferences and exhibitions for private, family and commercial events; the venue has installed state-of-the-art technology to functions and corporate events to run smoothly.

The venue also offers a sports bar, Lilys Restaurant, a Pizzeria and an outside terrace area along with a children's play area.

The football club has also been reborn as Blacktown City FC.

The redevelopment of Lilys Function Centre and the creation of Blacktown City FC came at the end of a turbulent two-year period for the former and once prosperous Blacktown City

Demons - the club having played in the former National Soccer League and being among the most competitive in the Football NSW Premier League.

With registered club income across NSW hit by poker machine taxes and anti-smoking legislation over recent years, expanding the club to include other sports proved to be a major drain on resources.

As the licensed club entered administration, Joe Meissner, the former world karate champion and one-time President of the Australian Poker Association, paid a $60,000 deposit on the Stadium in January 2009, planning to use it as a training base for a Western Sydney team should his bid for an A-League licence succeed.

However, Meissner later withdrew his bid for what a local newspaper reported as "personal reasons" while a different consortium was awarded the licence for the Western Sydney team that will enter the A-League in 2011.

Camera subsequently reached an agreement with Meissner over the stadium's transfer, rebranding it as Lily Homes Stadium.

Both the stadium and Lilys Function Centre are now managed by General Manager, Ken Schembri, who took up the role after having stepped down as the football clubâs first-grade coach.
Schembri, who played at the club when it was known as Toongabbie Junior Soccer Club and was a coach with the Demons since the 1980s, has been the driving force in making the club a respected breeding ground for young football talent.

During bleak times in late 2008 and early 2009, Schembri feared that the end of the Demons as being indicative of a decline in the sustainability of State-level football in NSW.

Schembri, still concerned for youth development in football, highlighting that "we have produced a lot of good young players for Australian football but get little support from Football Federation Australia (FFA).

"The FFA needs to appreciate that State Leagues underpin the A-League and that the structure and future of football is dependent on the youth player development undertaken by club such as ours."

Together, Camera and Schembri are aiming for Lilys Function Centre to help fund the football club. While driving community support for its sporting operations, they are also establishing

Lilys Function Centre as an entertainment and dining destination at the heart of a growing part of western Sydney.

An upcoming event that combines both activities will be on the night of Saturday 19th June, when Australia play Ghana in the FIFA World Cup.