Birkenhead Tennis Club has a long and successful history.  Over the 100+ years that our club has been in existence we have produced many firsts.

It is hard to pinpoint exactly when we began. Minutes from Birkdale Primary show a tennis club in existence in 1905 while past members like Frank Scholarman have dated our beginning as far back as the 1890s.  Regardless of the exact date, it’s clear that we have shown our ability to adapt, having survived both location and name changes while pre-dating many of the suburbs we now draw on.

In 1923 we opened our first court at our current location in John G Kay Park.  This court was clay with copper lines and was dug out of the side of the hill by volunteers with shovels and wheelbarrows. We now have a pavilion and three fully fenced artificial turf courts, three of which have floodlighting (the most recent added in 2024).

​Amongst our club’s many proud achievements is our place as a founding member of the North Harbour Lawn Tennis Association (now Tennis Northern) in 1948, and what is believed to be the world’s first tiebreaker tournament in 1981.

Past and present members have claimed numerous tennis successes.  These range from North Harbour Senior Titles, to the 2005 US U/18 Boys Singles Clay Court Title, and even a Grand Slam Doubles title! Other members have been key players in Tennis North Harbour and are responsible for the creation of the region’s premier tennis competition – the Chelsea Cup.  We are also proud that several members have served as local councillors, local MPs and two have served as Mayor of Birkenhead.

​Birkenhead Tennis Club has always been small membership relative to other established tennis clubs on the North Shore. This size gives us the friendly atmosphere which we've been noted for throughout our past, and will hopefully continue to have in the future.