Brentwood Hard Court History
You will have to go a long way to find a nicer setting in which to play your tennis!
Brentwood Hard Court Tennis Club is a warm family friendly club, which sits in a quiet forest clearing with seven floodlit all-weather courts.
Club History
Brentwood Hard Court Tennis Club has certainly been on an incredible journey since it all began on April 25th 1922.
Back then, we had just four grass courts on a plot of land adjacent to a bowls club, on the opposite corner of where the Fat Turk restaurant now stands.
Membership cost just 21 shillings (the equivalent of about £100 in today’s money) and 86 members were quickly recruited.
As the courts were near to the road which led to Brentwood, the main problem was horses straying onto the turf and damaging it much to the frustration of the grounds-man!
As a result, when the opportunity to play all year round on four shale courts for the princely sum of £100 including rates, a move to Headley Chase near Brentwood Station in 1929 became a reality.
The Club, as it still does today, relies upon a dedicated core of volunteers to keep It going and back in 1937, as it struggled to maintain and recruit members, stalwart Lionel Bass agreed to take over as both Secretary and Treasurer.
Having joined as a member in 1931, he astonishingly went on to serve on the committee for more than 50 years and it is partly due to his vision, commitment and drive that the club still exists as it does today.
Brentwood Hard Court Club became the official name after an amalgamation with Brentwood Town Club in 1939, the club house being an old first World War Army hut which the members rebuilt in situ.
Never afraid to take bold decisions to secure its future, Brentwood Hard became one of the first clubs in Essex to have floodlights installed in 1954 for the cost of £150 and also built a bar in the clubhouse to boost revenue further.
As tennis really began to take off in the 1970’s, Terry Sullivan joined as head coach and taught many of the top juniors in the country pulling in new members with his enthusiasm and dedication.
He was backed by local businessman and club captain John Tucker who had tennis in his DNA and he became one of the main driving forces behind the club, specifically overseeing the purchase of the club’s current abode in Childerditch Lane for £8,000 and laying seven new courts in 1976.
Brentwood Hard then started consolidating its position as the number one tennis club in Essex and big thanks must go to former president Frank Wainwright, Michael Cullen, Brian Wignall and Paddy Taylor (the head grounds-man) for all their stirling efforts
over the years.
On court, Brentwood Hard teams excelled winning multiple team and individual trophies and titles in Essex, also linking with a local Ford dealership, establishing the coveted Laidlaw Brentwood Hard Court Tennis Championship for top junior players around the UK.
Now with teams firmly established in the Essex Leagues and Brentwood and District Leagues and top coaching available we are ready for the next chapter.
*For a more detailed read about the Club’s history, please see “Brentwood Hard Court Club,” The History from 1922 written by former club captain Michael Wignall.
Copies are available in the club house on request.