Queen's Club facts for kids
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| Formation | 1886 |
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| Type | Private members' club |
| Purpose | Sport |
| Location |
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Chief executive
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Ross Niland (as of 2019[update]) |
The Queen's Club is a special private sports club in West Kensington, London, England. It's famous for hosting the yearly Queen's Club Championships, a big men's grass court tennis tournament. This event is currently known as the "cinch Championships" because of its sponsor.
The club has many courts for different sports. There are 28 outdoor tennis courts and 10 indoor ones. It's also the main place for real tennis in the UK, with two courts. The British Open for real tennis happens here every year, except for 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Queen's Club also has courts for rackets and squash. It became the main club for these sports after the Prince's Club closed in 1940.
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Discovering Queen's Club History
The Queen's Club was started on 19 August 1886. Three people named Evan Charteris, George Francis, and Algernon Grosvener founded it. It was first called The Queen's Club Limited.
A Unique Sports Complex
The Queen's Club was only the second place in the world to offer many different sports in one location. The first was the Prince's Club. But when the Prince's Club moved, it lost its outdoor sports areas. This made the Queen's Club the only multi-sport complex left in the world. The club is named after Queen Victoria, who was its first supporter.
Early Days and Sports
The first grass tennis courts at the club opened on 19 May 1887. The very first sports event happened on 1 and 2 July 1887. This was a match between teams from Oxford and Cambridge universities. The main club buildings opened in January 1888. They took about 18 months to build. William Marshall, a tennis player who reached the final of the first 1877 Wimbledon Championships, was the architect.
When the club first opened, you could play many sports there. These included real tennis, Eton Fives, rackets, and lawn tennis (both on grass and covered courts). You could also play football, rugby, and do athletics. Cricket was played too, but it wasn't an organized sport at the club. The yearly sports meeting between Cambridge and Oxford universities took place at the Queen's Club from 1888 to 1928.
Olympic Connections
The Queen's Club was a special venue for the 1908 Summer Olympics. It hosted the indoor tennis events. It also held the jeu de paume (which is another name for real tennis) and rackets events during those Olympics. On 7 March 1914, King George V watched a rugby match there between the Navy and the Army. The Army team won that game.
Football at Queen's Club
Until 1922, the Queen's Club was the main place where the football team Corinthian F.C. played their games. One international football match was held there. It was between the England team and the Wales team on 18 March 1895. The game ended in a 1–1 draw.
Changes and Modern Tennis
For a long time, the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) owned the Queen's Club. The LTA is the main group for British tennis. In 2005, they decided to sell the club.
Selling the Club
The LTA put the club up for sale on 13 September 2005. They wanted to make sure that the rackets club and the Queen's Club Championships would still continue. On 8 March 2006, the LTA announced they would sell the club to its members. The price was £45 million.
Some members thought the LTA didn't have the right to sell the club. They believed the LTA was just holding it for them. They even started to raise money to go to court. But in December 2006, both sides agreed to a deal outside of court. The sale price was lowered to £35 million.
Queen's Club Today
In February 2007, the LTA moved its main office from Queen's Club. They moved to the new National Tennis Centre in Roehampton. The Cinch Championships is still one of the six most popular grass tennis competitions for men. These tournaments are part of the ATP tour. Other popular grass tournaments include the Halle Open in Germany and Wimbledon.
The ball girls who help at the Queen's Club Championships are chosen from students in years 8, 9, and 10. They come from St Philomena's Catholic High School for Girls in South London and Nonsuch High School for Girls in Surrey.
