The Fairy Meadow club was placed into voluntary administration in November 2006 with debts of about $11 million after renovation costs blew out.

Close to collapse, the club only continued after anonymous investors, including businessmen from the Italian community, came to its rescue with a $2 million loan in March.

Since then the club has been hit by the downturn in gambling revenue following the introduction of anti-smoking laws.

The new board is keen on introducing different activities to attract new members, including foosball, under-age disco nights and barefoot bowling.

Many of the new board members are second generation Italian-Australians with fond memories of visiting the club when it was founded.

They concede there will be tough decisions to be made if the club is to broaden its membership base and survive.

Voting for the new positions closed at yesterday's annual general meeting, the first since the club was taken out of administration.

Board member John Apolloni remembers being taken to the club while only a boy. His father is one of the founding members.

He said there were big challenges going ahead.

"We need to make the club attractive to a broader Australian community ... but at the same time we need to keep the culture and heritage intact."

Fellow incoming board member Robert De Dominicis helped to introduce the first code of conduct for board members.

He expects some resistance to the board's new approach.

"There's a lot of work to do and the biggest challenge is that we are introducing change, but that's not always welcome."