History of the Wimbledon site: historically ready for expansion

If you visit the original site of the All England Lawn Tennis Club today, you might see some Wimbledon High School students doing a bit of exercise.

Since its inception in 1877, the world’s oldest tennis tournament has had two homes, both in the south-west London suburb of Wimbledon, with the familiar postcode of SW19. The AELTC was founded as a croquet club in 1868 on four acres of rented grassland between Worple Road in Wimbledon and a railway line. As lawn tennis grew in popularity in later years, the club added the sport to its offering and the first men’s-only Championships, with 21 competitors, took place in 1877. In 1884, the AELTC added permanent stands around the club’s Centre Court, named for its location in the park.

The Worple Road site experienced modest growth before the First World War, but soon after the war the tournament had simply outgrown its rented site and the All England Club purchased land nearby in Church Road in 1920, first playing there in 1922. (After leaving Worple Road the site changed use and is now used by local students from Wimbledon High School.)

For over 100 years now, the house in Church Road, Wimbledon, has seen both upheaval and change. While 2024 doesn’t feature a long list of updates (for this year, the club remains in the process of upgrading the Millennium Building, which houses members, players and media), one of the most Important developments in recent years have been the addition of a second retractable roof in 2019, this one for Court No. 1.

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In 2022, to mark its centenary, Wimbledon renovated Centre Court by removing a tent-like rain cover to open up an extra three feet of space between the grass edge and the start of the seats. This created a new entrance for players. At the same time, an unused camera location was converted into 47 new premium seats.

However, it took 100 years of history to achieve modern change.

When it opened in 1922, the 14,000-seat central court was joined by 12 other courts. The original Court No. 2 was established in 1923 and the original Court No. 1 in 1924.

Just over 15 years after the move to Church Road, the Second World War brought the tournament to a close from 1940 to 1945 and led to the bombing of Centre Court in 1940. During the war, the facilities housed fire and ambulance services as well as a decontamination unit. Troops camped at the club, including in the concourses.

Following the club’s post-war restoration, growth remained quiet for many decades. A 1,088-seat addition was added to the top of Centre Court in 1979, bringing its total capacity to just under 15,000, including 80 dark green Lloyd Loom wicker chairs in the Royal Box, which the Queen attended in 1957, 1962, 1977 and 2010.

But the real changes began in the 1990s.

The addition of a new No. 1 Court at Aorangi Park – the 11 acres to the north of Centre Court – gave the Championships a second major stadium, this one with 11,393 seats. Also in 1997, a new broadcast centre and two additional grass courts joined the grounds.

A major non-structural change occurred in 2000 when the All England Club moved from a mix of 70% ryegrass and 30% red fescue for its playing surface to 100% ryegrass for a increased durability. The tournament still uses Rufus, a trained Harris Hawk, to patrol the courts for an hour on Championship mornings before the gates open to deter pigeons roosting on the court.

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In 2009, a new 4,000-seat No. 2 Court replaced No. 13 Court. (There is no longer a No. 13 Court on the grounds, as the 18 grass championship courts are all numbered 1 through 18, with the exception of Center Court, which replaces No. 13.) At the same time, a brand new No. 3 Court provided the Championships with a 2,000-seat venue in the location of the former No. 2 and No. 3 Courts.

While Wimbledon’s grounds benefited from the addition of 6,000 new stadium-style seats in 2009, the most talked-about addition that year was the brand new retractable roof on Centre Court. Then came the second roof in 2019 on No. 1 Court. The 80,000-square-foot fabric covering required 11 new 112-ton steel trusses atop the second-largest stadium on the grounds. What opened in 1924 with a seating capacity of 2,500 and standing room for about 750 more spectators became a new No. 1 Court in 1997 with a capacity of 11,432. Today, it seats more than 12,000 people.

Other changes over the past five years include an additional floor to the museum building, a new public space in the Southern Village and updates to existing buildings.

With a record attendance of over 530,000 in 2023 (the venue is capped at 42,000 at any one time), Worple Road simply would not have had the popularity of tennis at Wimbledon in London, much to the benefit of Wimbledon High School.