Marston Green Lawn Tennis Club was founded in 1923 and was known as Elite Lawn Tennis Club. The members in 1923 are pictured above. The women wore long dresses and men wore long trousers, and initially, there were more women players than men. The Elite name was dropped in 1926 and it became MGLTC.
It seems that there was an earlier Marston Green Lawn Tennis Club which, according to the Coleshill Chronicle, 11th June 1910, opened on Saturday 4th June 1910 with around 20-30 members. The President was Mr R. Cary Gilson, Headmaster of King Edward’s School, Birmingham, who lived at Canterbury House, Marston Green. His son, Rob, was killed in the First World War. If you have any further information about this earlier club please let us know.
The Club grounds on Elmdon Road have been the site for 100 years of tennis, and the current clubhouse still has the 1923 wooden section, which is now the lounge area. In the early 1930s, there were two grass courts, and the timber clubhouse had no running water, electricity, only a chemical toilet, and the changing rooms were very small.
Social events were a big part of the club from the beginning and the photograph below shows the 1936 dinner dance at Marston Green Village Hall. With everyone dressing up in their best evening wear, it was a much grander affair than anything we might routinely see today.
Right from the start, the tennis club was a big part of the community and joined in with any celebrations that happened in Marston Green. They won first prize in 1960 for their float themed “tennis through the ages” for the village carnival procession.
MGLTC were extremely lucky to have had some extraordinary people involved with the club, and in particular, Jim Lomasney who was a prolific player, and an excellent coach, especially for young club members. He set up the first Junior Tournament for young players at the club in 1962.
Jim’s years of service for the club are legendary. He was club chair between 1964-1981, and he gave so much over the years that he was made a Life Member. He coached both children and adults for the club, and more than anyone before or since. He was also well known for giving his time and energy to youth clubs and football teams in the local area.
Jim Lomasney officiated as a net-cord judge at Wimbledon in 1975 during the men’s final between Jimmy Connors and Ken Rosewall. Before appearing as a judge that year, he, and other lawn tennis judges played a Wimbledon officials’ team (see match card below).
Jim had endless enthusiasm for the game of tennis, and was very selfless, helping so many people to enjoy tennis. On the social side of the club, he set up the first bar in the clubhouse and was very happy to be given the job of pulling the first pint for a customer.
Jim passed away in 2005 at the age of 91, and those who remember him and his contribution to the local area and the game of tennis still miss him today.
Another legend associated with MGLTC was Rosie Smyth. She loved tennis and played it with skill and enthusiasm. She always encouraged others at the club and was much appreciated by everyone. Rosie played well into her 80’s and was a shining example to others at the club, especially the youngsters. She was also secretary of the MGLTC for 20 years.
At the age of 90, Rosie met and played tennis with the 1969 Wimbledon Ladies singles winner Ann Haydon-Jones. She was a much loved member of the Club, the life and soul of any social functions at the club, and an inspiration to anyone wanting to play tennis for longer. Rosie passed away in 2008 at the age of 95 and is still remembered fondly by everyone who knew her.
Present Day – Developments and Facilities
Through the years, improvements were made to the club house and in 1982, a new brick extension was added which meant that there were bigger changing rooms, and the kitchen area and bar were all housed within the extension.
The club house today. The brick extension is at the back of the building but the wooden part of the old clubhouse is still intact with a few additions.
The club has a new coach who is contacting schools, and will take over coaching in January 2024, with the aim of using and developing young members who have come up through the club. Past club members with lots of experience have also been trained in coaching, and these volunteers keep everything going.
Club Chair, Gina Godwin is particularly keen on working with young children to help them enjoy their tennis and has been inducting young children at a local nursery into the game. She has been the organiser of the junior tennis sessions on a Saturday morning for the last 35 years, making sure everything runs smoothly, and is the welfare officer and refreshments provider.
As a volunteer, this is a labour of love and Gina is not the only one to give her time and energy to the club. Without the many volunteers that help at the club, it could not have reached its centenary year and this shows how vital the volunteers have been to the health of the club and ensuring that it thrives. The community engagement is very much part of the club’s commitment to local tennis, from early years through to adults, and many of the children who play tennis at the club also find that their parents join too, as it is a very family orientated club.
The club currently has five courts, four of which are synthetic grass, with two being floodlit and two were re-covered around 5 years ago to make them better for grip and durability.
League matches are played on synthetic grass courts. The mixed doubles final this centenary year benefitted from the floodlights.
The hard court is used for both netball and tennis and is also floodlit. Netball has really taken off at the club with both junior and adult teams. Emma and Alison, two club members are involved with the netball initiative.
There is a plan in the future to build a cover over two of the courts so they can be utilised all year round to alleviate weather worries.
As well as the tennis and netball facilities, the club has a gym, with a selection of equipment, and there is junior coaching on a Saturday morning and adult tennis on Monday evenings.
Charity Fundraising
MGLTC today is involved in charitable work and is committed to fund raising for the Kufa Ngoni Tennis Academy and Trust. The Trust was set up in memory of Ngoni Kufa Chang Kufazvinei, who died of leukaemia in 2013, and whose brother was a member at MGLTC. It is a UK based charity, as Kufa worked in Coventry as a club coach at War Memorial Park. He was an excellent coach and officiated as a net-cord judge at the Barcelona Olympic Games in 1992.
Since his passing, the War Memorial Park club has held a tournament each year in September in Kufa’s memory. He had many friends through his umpiring work, as he worked for the Association of British Tennis Officials (ABTO), and ABTO holds a tournament each year in London during the week Wimbledon takes place. Many officials travel from all over the world to attend this tournament. The winners of the ABTO tournament and the Coventry tournament play in the finals at the National Tennis Centre in Roehampton London, and this is an experience those players will never forget.
It was Kufa’s dream to improve lives by promoting tennis as a community asset, and part of this was to build tennis courts at Chiguvare primary school in rural Zimbabwe, enabling young people to have the chance to play tennis. The Trust has provided tennis equipment and computers for Chiguvare too, which has 2,000 pupils.
The Trust has a mission statement that touches upon every benefit that tennis can deliver to all communities; health, community spirit, equality, and diversity, and to help others who might need support in local communities.
Sadly, Kufa didn’t see how his legacy has developed and been nurtured by the Kufa Ngoni Tennis Academy and Trust, but the Trust is working hard to fulfil his vision and make it a reality.
MGLTC holds an annual fundraiser every year for the Kufa Trust Project, with a barbeque, and social and cardio tennis. These events are part of the large network of fundraising and initiatives that exist within the Kufa Trust with tennis as their focus, for the good of community.
The local community in Marston Green have the opportunity to enjoy these events, and of course, the Trust then benefits from them too. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship to serve a wider community, not just in the UK, but in Africa too, with tennis at the heart of its focus.
Events such as these also take place in Coventry and different parts of London, including the National Tennis Centre where the Kufa Cup finals take place. This is an exciting experience for the players taking part and something they will never forget.
A Hundred Years and Counting….
The photographs below show the presentation from Warwickshire LTA in 2023 to celebrate a hundred years of tennis in Marston Green at MGLTC with (L-R) Club Secretary Tracey Blackwell, Club Chair Gina Godwin, and Warwickshire LTA Chair Sherrie Meaking. There are also photographs of the 1920s-themed afternoon tea party held on 10th June 2023.
For a hundred years, Marston Green Lawn Tennis Club has been at the heart of the local community, making tennis a game that is available for everyone to play, and where people can be part of a social space, which also welcomes the wider non-playing community. The tea party to celebrate the hundred year anniversary is an example of this, with 45 people attending after receiving the invitations.
Marston Green Lawn Tennis Club’s fundraising efforts give youngsters in the UK and Zimbabwe an opportunity to enjoy tennis and to grow up reaping the benefits of the game for years to come.
The reason that MGLTC has lasted so long is down to so many volunteers, too many to mention, who over the years have given their time so freely, some for many years, and have been essential to the club’s wellbeing and its ability to carry on, enriching people’s lives and making tennis a game for everyone. Here’s to the next hundred years.
My thanks to Gina Godwin and Tracey Blackwell from Marston Green Lawn Tennis Club for their patience, help and kind words.
Karen
Marston Green Library
Solihull Life 
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