History of Stansted Tennis Club

The origins of Stansted Tennis Club can be traced back to 1889. A tennis club with four courts was formed in Stansted, said to have been in Cambridge Road.

A number of people had played tennis on Greene’s Meadow in the 1920s but play began on the present site in 1934. There was a little wooden hut on the site and members had an old gramophone with which they amused themselves after their games or when the weather was wet.

In 1939 play ceased as most of the men were called up for military service due to the war. The club really established itself after the war in April 1946 when a group got together and started to cut and roll the two grass courts in Cambridge Road.
Matches were arranged with other clubs particularly Bishop’s Stortford, The Grove, Harlow, Sawbridgeworth, Sawston and Shelford.

In 1948 the club decided to invest in hard courts. Dances were organised and jumble sales were held until the princely sum of £500 was raised.

The Hospital Cup (link) was first played in 1949 and the Ladies Doubles and Mixed Doubles were won by Stansted. The first club cups were given in the 1950s and are still competed for today.