The History of 'Tennis Liverpool'.

Founded in 1921, ‘The Sefton Park and District Lawn Tennis Association’ was the first representative association for tennis clubs in Liverpool and is the direct descendant of our current association, ‘Tennis Liverpool’.

In 1921 there was a mini crisis for many tennis clubs in Liverpool.

The background to this crisis was that, from the inception of tennis in Liverpool in the 1880’s, many clubs were based in public parks, renting courts from the council on an annual basis.

In 1921, Sefton Park alone was reported to have over 100 courts rented to over 25 clubs.

In January 1921 Liverpool Council increased the cost of the annual court rental by 3 times for large clubs and 5 times for smaller clubs - £1 1sh per court per month to £5.5sh per court per month for the approx. 5-month season.

In addition to the huge rent increase, many clubs were dissatisfied with the changing facilities, sanitation and water supply provided by the council.

In response to this action, almost all the clubs in Sefton Park met together on the 14th April 1921 at the Liberal Club, Smithdown Road and formed an association to represent their interests and negotiate with the council. This association was called ‘The Sefton Park and District Lawn Tennis Association’ (SPDLTA) and the cost of affiliation to this new association was set at 5 shillings per court.

In addition to negotiating with the council, the association also organized its own tournaments notably an annual tournament which came to be known as the ‘Parks Tournament’. Originally a handicap tournament held at  both Sefton Park and Calderstones Park, by 1934 the tournament was held solely at Calderstones Park and had expanded to include both open and handicap events, attracting up to 400 players annually.

By the mid 1930’s the SPDLTA represented nearly 50 tennis clubs in the south and east of the city some of which were not based in public parks and at some point, it affiliated to Lancashire County LTA.

Tennis clubs had first appeared in the Greater Liverpool area in 1880 and inter club matches quickly followed, starting in 1882. These inter club matches were played across the whole Merseyside area and normally, included both men and women. In August 1882 a mixed team from Mersey Bowmen played Wirral Archers at Sefton Park in the first 'cross river' match  . As tennis grew in popularity over the following decades, more clubs were established and an extensive network of 'friendly' matches developed across the region. However, unlike other cities in England, a formal league structure failed to develop in Liverpool.

This changed in 1938 when the SPDLTA initiated a meeting of all tennis clubs in Liverpool interested in starting a Liverpool Tennis League.

This meeting was successful and a Liverpool Tennis League commenced in  the 1939 season comprising 2 Divisions for both the Men and Ladies. The format for the inaugural league was more or, less the same as we have today: doubles tennis; separate leagues for men and women; teams of 3 couples with each playing 2 rubbers. We don't have a complete list of clubs playing in the first Liverpool League, in fact most of the clubs from that time no longer exist but, from contemporary newspapers we do have have some match results. One of these comprises 4 match results:  2 Mens teams and 2 Ladies teams from East Wavertree playing against 4 teams from Logos, a multi sportclub then based in the Wavertree area. 

The 2nd World War started in September 1939 and after one season the Liverpool League and club tennis was suspended.

The 2nd World War finished in September 1945 however, there was insufficient time for clubs to prepare their grounds and have sufficient players to play matches and hold tournaments in the 1946 season.

In January 1947 the SPDLTA arranged a series of meetings of tennis clubs in Liverpool and these agreed to: revive the Liverpool Tennis League for the 1947 season; to change the name of their association from ‘The Sefton Park and District LTA’ to, ‘The Liverpool Association of Lawn Tennis Clubs' and finally, to try and revive the Calderstones Park Tournament.

However, the after effect of the 2nd World War was still being felt at tennis clubs in Liverpool and the 1947 league probably comprised only one division for men and one division for women.

By the start of the 1948 season, the name of the association had changed again to, ‘The Liverpool and District Group’, presumably, to better reflect the wider geographical spread of tennis clubs in the Liverpool League. The Liverpool and District Group remained the representative assocition for tennis clubs in Liverpool for the following 75 years until 2023 when the name was changed to the current title, ‘Tennis Liverpool’.

From a small beginning in 1939 and revival in 1947, The Liverpool Tennis League became increasingly popular and by 1960, the League had grown to 8 men's divisions (about 104 teams) and 7 women's divisions (about 84 teams). Despite the closure of many tennis clubs in the Liverpool Region since 1960, the Liverpool League remains a vibrant competition with about 114 teams competing each week.

Over 103 years, Tennis Liverpool, The Liverpool & District Group and The Sefton Park & District LTA have all shared certain common goals: to represent the interests of its member clubs; to provide a league format competition and arrange tournaments for its member clubs in the Liverpool region.