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Coordinates: 51°26′1.48″N 0°12′50.63″W / 51.4337444°N 0.2140639°W / 51.4337444; -0.2140639
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==Facilities==
==Facilities==
The club currently has 19 tournament courts, 16 other grass courts, which serve as competitors' practice courts during the championship, and several clay and hard courts, which are hidden under temporary stands and marquees during the tournament. The grass courts can be used from May until September. The largest court is [[Wimbledon Centre Court|Centre Court]], which usually hosts the finals of the main singles and doubles events at the championships. Centre Court currently seats 15,000 - expanded from 14,000 following redevelopment in 2007-08 (spatially the expansion is greater than those numbers imply, as seats have been widened). The club installed a retractable roof on Centre Court which was completed in May 2009. It is a "folding concertina" made of a translucent fabric, and opens/closes within 10 minutes. Redevelopment work commenced in 2006 and Centre Court had no roof at all in place for the duration of the 2007 Championships. The other 'show court' is [[No. 1 Court]], built in 1997, which holds around 11,500 people and occasionally plays host to [[Davis Cup]] matches (Centre Court being preserved for the Wimbledon Championship). A new [[No. 2 Court]] with 4,000 seats was first used at the 2009 Championships. The old No.2 Court was renamed No.3 Court in 2009, and will be rebuilt after the 2009 championships.
The club currently has 19 tournament courts, 16 other grass courts, which serve as competitors' practice courts during the championship, and several clay and hard courts, which are hidden under temporary stands and marquees during the tournament. The grass courts can be used from May until September. The largest court is [[Wimbledon Centre Court|Centre Court]], which usually hosts the finals of the main singles and doubles events at the championships. Centre Court currently seats 15,000 - expanded from 14,000 following redevelopment in 2007-08 (spatially the expansion is greater than those numbers imply, as seats have been widened). The club installed a retractable roof on Centre Court which was completed in May 2009. It is a "folding concertina" made of 5,200 square metres of a [[translucent]] waterproof fabric that allow [[natural light]] to reach the grass, and opens/closes in under 10 minutes.<ref>[http://aeltc2009.wimbledon.org/en_GB/about/guide/longtermplan.html#works "About Wimbledon - Behind the scenes, Long Term Plan, How the roof works," ''Wimbledon.org'', accessed 6/29/09]</ref> Redevelopment work commenced in 2006 and Centre Court had no roof at all in place for the duration of the 2007 Championships. The other 'show court' is [[No. 1 Court]], built in 1997, which holds around 11,500 people and occasionally plays host to [[Davis Cup]] matches (Centre Court being preserved for the Wimbledon Championship). A new [[No. 2 Court]] with 4,000 seats was first used at the 2009 Championships. The old No.2 Court was renamed No.3 Court in 2009, and will be rebuilt after the 2009 championships.


The club also houses the [[Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum]], and it still has a croquet lawn, but it is too small for top-level competitions.
The club also houses the [[Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum]], and it still has a croquet lawn, but it is too small for top-level competitions.

Revision as of 17:44, 29 June 2009

The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club (AELTC), based at Wimbledon, London, England, is a private members club. It is best known as the venue for the Wimbledon Championships, the only Grand Slam tennis event still held on grass. Initially a fun amateur event that occupied club members and their friends for a few days each summer, the championships have become far more prominent than the club itself. However, it still operates as a members tennis club, with many courts in use all year round. There are around 375 full members, 100 temporary playing members, and a number of honorary members, including past Wimbledon singles champions.

History

Template:Image stack The club was founded in 1868 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 was introduced in 1875. 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. 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, probably for sentimental reasons, and the club's name became The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.

In 1922 the club moved to its present site in Church Road, Wimbledon, and 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. It 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.

The All England Club, through its subsidiary The All England Lawn Tennis Ground plc, issues debentures to tennis fans every five years to raise funds for capital expenditure.[1] Each debenture provides a pair of tickets for each day of the tournament for five years. Only debenture holders are legally permitted to sell on their tickets to third parties.

The club's "exclusivity" included its not allowing any black tennis player to play there prior to 1951, and no Jewish tennis player being able to claim it as their home until 1952.[2] It also has led to the exclusion of, among others, Angela Buxton, the Jewish former British Wimbledon doubles champion. Buxton said in 2004, reflecting on the fact that the All England Club, almost 50 years after Buxton's 1956 Wimbledon triumph with Althea Gibson and, had still not invited Buxton to join: "I think the anti-Semitism is still there. The mere fact that I'm not a member is a full sentence that speaks for itself." Buxton told New York Post reporter Marc Berman that she had been on the "waiting list" since she applied in the 1950s. The Chairman of the Club appeared on television, and when asked about it said that he would have to look into it, and couldn't comment without more information.[3] "I wish it still wasn't such an elite sport," Buxton told Berman. "I wish we could bring it down to a common baseline. It's going that way. It's still not there."[4][5][6] After Gibson and Buxton won the doubles at Wimbledon, one British national newspaper reported their success under the headline, "Minorities Win". "It was in very small type," said Buxton, "lest anyone should see it".[7]

The club will be the venue for the tennis competition at the 2012 Summer Olympics.[8]

Facilities

The club currently has 19 tournament courts, 16 other grass courts, which serve as competitors' practice courts during the championship, and several clay and hard courts, which are hidden under temporary stands and marquees during the tournament. The grass courts can be used from May until September. The largest court is Centre Court, which usually hosts the finals of the main singles and doubles events at the championships. Centre Court currently seats 15,000 - expanded from 14,000 following redevelopment in 2007-08 (spatially the expansion is greater than those numbers imply, as seats have been widened). The club installed a retractable roof on Centre Court which was completed in May 2009. It is a "folding concertina" made of 5,200 square metres of a translucent waterproof fabric that allow natural light to reach the grass, and opens/closes in under 10 minutes.[9] Redevelopment work commenced in 2006 and Centre Court had no roof at all in place for the duration of the 2007 Championships. The other 'show court' is No. 1 Court, built in 1997, which holds around 11,500 people and occasionally plays host to Davis Cup matches (Centre Court being preserved for the Wimbledon Championship). A new No. 2 Court with 4,000 seats was first used at the 2009 Championships. The old No.2 Court was renamed No.3 Court in 2009, and will be rebuilt after the 2009 championships.

The club also houses the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Museum, and it still has a croquet lawn, but it is too small for top-level competitions.

See also

References

  1. ^ "About Wimbledon Debentures," The All England Lawn Tennis Ground, accessed 6/29/09
  2. ^ Siriginia, Saraswathi, "Wimbledon Rewind: How Angela Buxton and Althea Gibson Broke Barriers in 1956," Bleacher Report, 6/16/09, accessed 6/29/09
  3. ^ Schoenfeld, Bruce, "The Match: Althea Gibson & Angela Buxton: How Two Outsiders--One Black, the Other Jewish--Forged a Friendship and Made Sports History" (2004), pp. 279-80, Amistad, ISBN-10: 0060526521, ISBN-13: 978-0060526528, accessed 6/29/09
  4. ^ "Buxton, Angela," Jews in Sports, accessed 6/29/09
  5. ^ Slater, Robert, "Great Jews in Sports," Jonathan David Publishers, 2005, ISBN-10: 0824604539, ISBN-13: 978-0824604530
  6. ^ Giles, Juanita, "No Jews allowed: UAE bows to 'neighborhood' pressure," The Hook, 2/26/09, accessed 6/29/09
  7. ^ Henderson, Jon and O'Donnell, Matthew , "Angela Buxton & Althea Gibson," Connections: Hidden British Memories, 7/8/01, accessed 6/29/09
  8. ^ Wimbledon.org
  9. ^ "About Wimbledon - Behind the scenes, Long Term Plan, How the roof works," Wimbledon.org, accessed 6/29/09
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