Club History

MINISTERIUM INCULPATUM - Service without Fault

The Club was founded in the Summer of 1878 with the quaint title of THE LEICESTER LAWN TENNIS AND QUOIT CLUB and is reputed to be one of the twelve oldest tennis clubs in the world.

The Club was generally known as LEICESTER LAWN TENNIS CLUB until l9l2 and then LEICESTERSHIRE LAWN TENNIS CLUB until 1926 when the word 'THE" was added. In l929 the Club was incorporated as THE LEICESTERSHIRE LAWN TENNIS CLUB LIMITED.

The first known grounds were on land rented from Leicester Corporation for £30 per annum - an area of 6068 square yards on the south side of Park Road (now Victoria park Road) near the London Road. This is shown on the Ordnance Survey map of 1885. It is believed that there were at least six grass courts and a "cinder" court.

This land was a surplus piece of the old racecourse and when, in 1889, the Corporation put it up for sale, a resolution was put before a General Meeting to wind up the Club. The resolution failed and subsequent action taken resulted in the lease of suitable land on Evington Lane or Road - the exact place is not known. The cost of making new courts and fencing the land was £470.

In 1900 this ground had to be vacated because of road development and a new ground was leased from Mr J W Goddard - this has been our home ever since. The main entrance at that time was from Toller Road with another entrance being a path leading from Stoneygate Avenue through the garden of what is now number 15. The original grounds covered what are currently courts 1 to 6 plus an area of land to the south. The land to the north, then known as the "hockey ground" may have been rented in the summer. The old wooden pavilion, presumably moved from Evington Road, was erected in the southeast corner of the ground near the pathway from Stoneygate Avenue.

In March 1930, the present ground was purchased from the executors of J W Goddard for the sum of £6,500 and in 1930-31 the present clubhouse was erected at a cost of just over £3,600.

Since the 1930's the Club has continued to improve its facilities and now boasts eighteen tennis courts, of which fourteen are synthetic grass, three are grass and one is an all-weather hard court. Nine of the courts are floodlit. In 1973 two squash courts were built adjacent to the clubhouse.

On the playing-side, the first known Club Champion was C S Viccars in 1890 and the first recorded inter-club match was in July 1889 against Oxford University Lawn Tennis Club. Throughout its history the Club has been the scene of a variety of tournaments. Open tournaments were certainly held in 1886 and 1887, and from 1901 to 1914 the standard of entry was of a high order and included players such as Arthur W Gore, Reggie F. Doherty, H Laurie Doherty, Norman E Brookes, G W Hillyard, Anthony F Wilding, Mrs Lambert Chambers and Miss May Sutton. Mrs Hillyard (nee Blanche Bingley) was six times a winner of the Wimbledon Championships (having appeared in thirteen finals).

These players brought many world-class players to Leicester to play in tournaments and during this period the Club Tournament was known as "Little Wimbledon". Up to the outbreak of the First World War almost every player of renown, not merely from England but from all parts of the world, had played at The Leicestershire Club.

From 1947 to 1975 the Club competitions were combined with those of the County in a closed tournament but since then the Club has held its own separate competitions. In 1970 and 1971 a new type of commercially sponsored tournament was held. These were fairly large affairs and attracted some of the world's leading players.

The Club over the years has produced a number of distinguished international players: -

M Cox

Mrs. R E Haylock

G R B Meredith

D G Snart

N Taylor

Mrs. G I M Thompson

R P Tutt

Miss S Tutt