Staffordshire Tennis Championships

The Staffordshire Tennis Championships or Staffordshire County Lawn Lennis Championships or simply Staffordshire Championships was combined men's and women's grass court tennis tournament founded in July 1878 as the Staffordshire County Cricket Club Lawn Tennis Tournament.[1] That event was initially held at Litchfield, Staffordshire. From the mid-1880s to 1890s the tournament was known as the Staffordshire Lawn Tennis Tournament. In 1893 the Staffordshire Lawn tennis Association was formed.[2] By the early 1920s it had become a county level event that ran until 1984.[3]

Staffordshire Tennis Championships
Defunct tennis tournament
Event nameStaffordshire County Cricket Club Lawn Tennis Tournament (1878–1885)
Staffordshire Lawn Tennis Tournament(1886–1919)
Staffordshire County Lawn Lennis Championships (1920–1950)
Staffordshire Championships (1960–1972)
Staffordshire Tennis Championships (1972–1984)
Staffordshire Championships (1900-1960)
Founded1878 (1878)
Abolished1984 (1984)
LocationVarious Staffordshire, England
VenueVarious
SurfaceGrass

History

In July 1878 the Staffordshire County Cricket Club Lawn Tennis Tournament was held for the first time at the Staffordshire County Cricket Club grounds, Lichfield, Staffordshire, England. In 1886 the tournament moved to Coton Hall Institution grounds in Stafford, where it was renamed as the Staffordshire Lawn Tennis Tournament.[4]

In 1920 the event was officially elevated to county level status and called the Staffordshire County Lawn Lennis Championships. In 1930 it changed venue to the Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis Club (f.1885).[5] The championships were staged as an open international tour event until the late 1960s before being downgraded from the annual circuit. It was held up until at least 1984 as local county championships[6] As of 2019 the Staffordshire Championships were still being staged.[7]

Venues

Event names
  • Staffordshire County Cricket Club Lawn Tennis Tournament (1878–1885)
  • Staffordshire Lawn Tennis Tournament(1886–1919)
  • Staffordshire County Lawn Lennis Championships (1920–1950)
  • Staffordshire Championships (1960–1972)
  • Staffordshire Tennis Championships (1972–1984)

Other tournaments
  • Stafford Tennis Championships (1926–1961)
  • Stafford Castle Lawn Tennis Tournament (1900–1936)
  • Staffordshire Hard Court Championships (1935–1950)

References
  1. "LAWN TENNIS: STAFFORDSHIRE COUNTY CRICKET CLUB TOURNAMENT. Fine weather favoured the tennis tournament on Friday last 26th July, when there was a large and most influential attendance. The original programme was somewhat curtailed, inasmuch as two matches were withdrawn". Lichfield Mercury. Lichfield, Stafforshire, England: British Newspaper Archives. 2 August 1878. p. 5.
  2. Lake, Robert J. (3 October 2014). A Social History of Tennis in Britain. Oxford: Routledge. p. 61. ISBN 978-1-134-44557-8.
  3. Nieuwland, Alex. "Tournament – Staffordshire". www.tennisarchives.com. Tennis Archives. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  4. "STAFFORDSHIRE LAWN TENNIS TOURNAMENT. The second annual County Tennis Tonmament commenced on Thursday morning on the splendid grounds the Coton Hill Asylum, Stafford". Staffordshire Chronicle. British Newspaper Archives. 23 July 1887. p. 8.
  5. "Staffordshire Championships. Arrangements have again been made between the Staffordshire Lawn Tennis Association and the Wolverhampton Club for the joint promotion and management of the Staffordshire Lawn Tennis Championships to be held at the Wolverhampton Club". Staffordshire Sentinel. Stafford, Staffordshire, England.: British Newspaper Archives. 30 April 1930. p. 3.
  6. "Title No. 5 for Benson local players figured strongly in the 64th annual Staffordshire Tennis Championships at Bilston, this as a fifth championship secured by Burton Manor's number one Benson Greatres". Staffordshire Newsletter. Stafford, Stafforshire, England: British Newspaper Archives. 15 June 1984. p. 47.
  7. Harper-Griffin, Aimee (2 September 2019). "Staffordshire Championships: A Big Success". www.wltsc.com. Wolverhampton Lawn Tennis & Squash Club. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
  8. Archives, The National. Stafford Institute Lawn Tennis Club: (1890-1952) Minutes Book: Ref: D1184. Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Archive Service: Staffordshire County Record Office.
  9. Guttridge, Richard (9 January 2018). "Former Bilston Tennis Club to be bulldozed – and it could be replaced by homes". www.expressandstar.com. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
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