All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club

From Wikipedia we have: ‘The club was founded in 1868 at the height of a croquet craze as the All England Croquet Club, and held its first croquet competition in 1870. Its original ground was situated off Worple Road, Wimbledon. Croquet was very popular there until the then-infant sport of lawn tennis (a game introduced by Major Walter Compton Wingfield a year or so prior, and originally called “Sphairistike”) was introduced in 1875, when one lawn was set aside for this purpose. The first tennis Championships in men’s singles were held in 1877, to raise money for a pony-drawn roller for its croquet lawns, when it changed its name to The All England Croquet and Lawn Tennis Club. That year at Wimbledon serves were made underarm. The champion, Spencer Gore, opined that “Lawn tennis will never rank among our great games.” In 1878 the nets were lowered from 4 feet 9 inches (1.45 m) at the posts, to 3 feet 6 inches. In 1882, croquet was dropped from the name, as tennis had become the main activity of the club. But in 1889 it was restored to the club’s name for sentimental reasons, and the club’s name became The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

‘In 1884, the club added Ladies’ Singles and Gentlemen’s Doubles, and then in 1913 Ladies’ Doubles and Mixed Doubles. For the 1908 Summer Olympics, the venue hosted the tennis events. The early club colours of blue, yellow, red, and green were found to be almost identical to those of the Royal Marines so they were changed in 1909 to the present Club colours of dark green and purple. The popularity of Frenchwoman Suzanne Lenglen was largely responsible for forcing the club to move to larger grounds at its present site in Church Road, Wimbledon, in 1922, where its first Championship was “plagued by rain each day”. The current Centre Court dates from that year. It has been improved and extended on several occasions. Most recently a sliding roof was added in time for the 2009 Championships. In 1928 the old No. 1 Court opened on the west side of Centre Court. During World War II the club remained open with a much smaller staff, and was used for fire and ambulance services, British Home Guard, and a decontamination unit, and troops stationed nearby drilled on the main concourse. In October 1940 five 500 pound bombs struck Centre Court, demolishing 1,200 seats. The old No. 1 Court was replaced with the current No. 1 Court in 1997, and the Broadcast Centre was built at the same time. Shortly afterwards, the Millennium Building, which houses facilities for players, press, officials and members, was built on the site of the old No. 1 Court.