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History of Huddersfield Lawn Tennis and Squash Club

In 1881 a small group of enthusiasts began to play the relatively new game of Lawn Tennis on a small pocket of land off Halifax Road.  Within a short space of time they had formed the Huddersfield Lawn Tennis Club, making it one of the oldest clubs in Yorkshire.  On its first anniversary the membership stood at around 180 people.

1884 marked the start of the Club’s unbroken affiliation to the Yorkshire Lawn Tennis Association.

History of Squash at the Club

The game of squash racquets is of later and a more dubious origin than lawn tennis. It seems to have originated from the game of fives, played in yards at Harrow and other public schools, and clearly was popular amongst service personnel during the Second World War.

No doubt this particular memory of National Service weighed heavily in decision of a few enthusiasts to bring portable squash court from Warwickshire to the club in 1948. This band of no more than a dozen players could not possibly have believed at the time how popular their game was to become.