The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club is home to the Wimbledon Championships. The event is held every year during the last week of June and the first week of July. The first championships took place in 1877 and, by the start of the 20th century, the tournament had become an international competition.
Before the First World War, the club had facilities at Worple Road in Wimbledon. It moved to its present site in Church Road, SW19, in 1922. That year, applications for tickets were so numerous that a ballot system had to be used – something that has happened for every championships since. In 1932, the number of spectators reached over 200,000 for the first time.
The years from 1934 to 1937 were a golden era for British tennis players, who won 11 titles including three successive singles for Fred Perry and two for Dorothy Round.
During the Second World War, the club remained open. It was used for a variety of civil defence and military functions and housed ambulance services and the Home Guard. Troops stationed nearby used the main concourse for drilling. There was also a small farmyard of animals such as pigs, chickens, geese and rabbits. In October 1940, a bomb hit Centre Court, destroying 1,200 seats. The championships resumed in 1946.
In 1927, the first radio broadcast from Wimbledon took place. The first colour television broadcast of the event occurred in 1967, although this was actually an invitation tournament sponsored by the B.B.C.
In the 1920s and 30s, the ball boys were provided by the local children’s charity, Shaftesbury Homes. From 1946, children from other local institutions and schools were used. Ball girls were introduced in 1977.
Wimbledon is one of four major Grand Slam tennis tournaments, along with the French Open, the United States Open and the Australian Open. The term ‘Grand Slam’ was coined after Don Budge’s achievement of winning all four tournaments in 1938.