Northampton Lawn Tennis League sponsored by John Henry Sports 1.97

The Northampton Lawn Tennis League was set up in 1931 when a small group of club representatives met to discuss the possibility of forming a tennis league. Having unanimously agreed to do so, the Northampton Lawn Tennis League (NLTL) started its first league programme in 1932 under the direction of W. H. ( Bill ) Mellor who subsequently gave his name to the LTA Mellor Cups which are still competed for today. Apart from a break for the Second World War the League has run continuously since 1932.

For many years the NLTL was essentially a " town league " with its member clubs almost exclusively based in Northampton itself. In addition to the private clubs such as Northampton, County and Dallington there were a number of business related clubs, among them Northampton Electricity, Anglia Building Society, Express Lifts and British Timken. Over the years the League has expanded geographically to include clubs in Corby, Kettering, Thrapston, Priors Marston and two clubs from Warwickshire: Rugby Tennis Club and LMRCA - London Midland Railway Club Association. There are now 24 member clubs in total, compared to the 7/8 founder members in 1932.

Other significant developments have seen the change from a 3 pair to a 2 pair format in the 1980's and the huge growth of winter league tennis that started in the 1970's with the advent of court surfaces such as artificial grass along with floodlighting. What was once an exclusively summer sport has become, despite the British climate, a truly all year round game with thriving Winter Leagues and Veterans Leagues for large numbers of players.

Technology has also played its part in the way the NLTL operates. Until 2012 all match results were recorded on scorecards and posted to a co-ordinator for checking and entering onto the league's website. However, in 2013 a new online result system (MyDivision) was introduced, enabling team captains to enter match results immediately after a match had ended and provided league tables, match information, player statistics and a great deal of information that had not been available previously.

In recent years the NLTL has had sponsorship arrangements with Slazenger, Wilson and currently from a local sports goods business, John Henry Sports.

Our Facebook page hopes to be able to connect the clubs' playing in the league and provide information throughout the seasons.