The first meeting of The Lawn Tennis Championships in 1877 enjoyed a garden party atmosphere, and attracted a few hundred spectators. Situated in Church Road since 1922, Wimbledon is the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass. As a highly professional tournament, it attracts an attendance of around 450,000 people and through press, radio and television a following of hundreds of millions throughout the world.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club is a not-for-profit organisation. The funds generated by The Championships, less tax, are used by the LTA to develop tennis in Great Britain.

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club
Church Road
Wimbledon
London SW19 5AE
Tel: +44 (0)20 8944 1066

Membership of the Club

There are 375 full members of the Club, plus a number of honorary members, including past singles champions, of various nationalities, who have rendered distinguished service to the game. In addition, there are about 100 temporary members, who are elected from year to year; they are active players who are in a position to make regular use of the Club and to play in Club matches during their period of membership. One reason for the restriction in numbers is that membership carries with it the right to purchase two tickets for each day of The Championships, and if the membership were increased it would cut down the allocation of Championships tickets to the public.

Club Colours

The present Club colours, dark green and purple, were introduced in 1909, following the discovery that the previous Club colours of blue, yellow, red and green were almost identical to those of the Royal Marines. The decision as to why dark green and purple were chosen is not stated in the Club's records.

Club Grounds

The Club grounds consist of 19 grass courts (including the Centre Court and No. 1 Court), five red shale courts, three Continental clay courts and one American clay court and five indoor courts, (two Greenset Velvelux and three Greenset Trophy). As part of the Club's Long Term Plan of moving courts south of the Centre Court, No. 12 Court has been demolished. No. 11 Court has been reconstructed and will be in use during The Championships. Also, an experimental SoftB hard court has been laid down. In Aorangi Park, there are 22 grass courts for practice before and during The Championships and two acrylic courts. The total area, including the Club's car parks, covers over 42 acres.

Use of Courts

Apart from the Centre and No. 1 Courts, the courts are used year round by Club members and LTA sponsored players. The grass courts are in play from May to September, except Centre Court and No. 1 Court which are used only for The Championships. The courts are occasionally used by a number of clubs and organisations, for the staging of various events and tournaments.

Due to changes in the world tennis calendar, the Wightman Cup is no longer played - the last time the event was held at the Club was in 1972. Davis Cup ties take place at the Club occasionally, the last contest being between Great Britain and Ecuador on the No. 1 Court on 14th to 16th July 2000.

Croquet

Croquet was not provided for when the Club moved to the present Church Road ground. It was next played in September 1953 when a match was arranged with the Croquet Association to mark Coronation Year. In 1957 the present lawn was laid down but this is not full-size. Competitive play is restricted to Club tournaments.

Club Staff

The permanent members of the office staff consist of the Chief Executive, Championships Director, Financial Director, Marketing Director, Director of Television, Information Technology Director, Club Secretary and 41 other administrative staff. Including the Head Groundsman, there are 15 permanent members of the ground staff and a team of 32 maintenance staff including the Buildings and Services Manager. The Dressing Rooms have a staff of four while 13 full- and part-time staff are assigned to the Members' Dining Room.

There are four members of staff at the Club's Raynes Park sports ground. A staff of four, including a Project Co-ordinator and Head of Projects and Development, are engaged in the Long Term Plan.

A number of temporary staff support the Club in the busiest periods.

Chairman
T.D. PHILLIPS, C.B.E.

Committee
P.G.H. Brook, J.S. Dunningham, R.M. Gradon,
I.L. Hewitt, Miss D.A. Jevans, Mrs. A.S. Jones M.B.E., M.A King, Mrs. M.B.H. Macpherson, G.W. Newton, J.C. Tatum, K.F. Weatherley.

Trustees
P.H.C. Moys, B.N.A. Weatherill C.B.E.