We are celebrating our Centenary this year - it all started on 18 July 1914. As the name of the club suggests, we were originally locted in the Shirley Park area of Croydon, on the site now occupied by Trinity School. The grounds were formerly part of an old landed estate, which included a fine 18th Century dwelling known as Shirley House, later to become the core building of the Shirley Park Hotel. The creation of the hotel and country club offered a wide range of leisure activities, which included the Shirley Park Tennis and Croquet Club, a miniature golf course and a bowls and an ornamental lake "well stocked with fish, rustic boat and bathing house". There were four hard courts, four grass courts and a pavillion. A 1914 brochure described the location as "agreeably sheltered by a grove of trees so that play is seldom disturbed by blistering weather".
By the early 1930's the club was enjoying success in county competitions and in 1933, it was reported that a Miss Southwell had become the first member of the club to play at Wimbledon. In 1934, a junior section was formed and it wasn't long before members were hearing of the success of Master G.L. Paish. This of course was Geoff Paish who was later to represent Great Britain in the Davis Cup and become a leading tennis official. In 1951 the club introduced an important open tennis tournament to Croydon, which continued to be held every year until 1957. Leading British and International players competed, of which the most famous was probably the American, Doris Hart, who won all three events in 1954.
In January 1961, the Whitgift Foundation announced its intention to rebuild Trinity School at Shirley Park and purchased the 24 acre site for £87,500. When the tennis club moved to Sandilands and merged with the Addiscombe Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, the Shirley Park name was retained due to its reputation as one of the leading tennis clubs in Surrey.
For a more detailed history of the club please visit our website or facebook page. www.shirleyparkltc.org.uk
https://www.facebook.com/ShirleyParkTennis