Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre is a sports and leisure venue located in
Leyton
Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...
,
London Borough of Waltham Forest
The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is an Outer London, outer London boroughs, London borough formed in 1965 from the merger of the municipal boroughs of Municipal Borough of Leyton, Leyton, Municipal Borough of Walthamstow, Walthamstow an ...
, to the north of
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park. It is regularly used for international
field hockey
Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...
fixtures by both the
Great Britain men's and
women's field hockey teams. It hosted the
2018 Women's Hockey World Cup
The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England.
Defending champions ...
. Owned and managed by
Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, the site was previously known as Eton Manor and was a
wheelchair tennis
Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...
venue for the
2012 Summer Paralympics
The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...
before being converted for public use and reopening in June 2014.
History
Eton Manor
The site was originally known as Eton Manor, the name taken from
Eton College
Eton College ( ) is a Public school (United Kingdom), public school providing boarding school, boarding education for boys aged 13–18, in the small town of Eton, Berkshire, Eton, in Berkshire, in the United Kingdom. It has educated Prime Mini ...
, which from the 1880s had run a "mission" to raise living standards in the
East End of London. In 1909, four Old Etonian philanthropists founded
Eton Manor Boys' Club to provide sporting facilities in the Hackney area, purchasing the former Manor Farm in 1913. In 1920, an old rubbish tip site was converted into the club's new sports ground, known as The Wilderness. Facilities included nine football pitches, two rugby pitches, cricket pitches, six tennis courts, a bowling green, a squash court and a running track. Eton Manor Boys' Club closed in 1967 and the club ground fell into disuse in 2001 before being selected for use during the 2012 Olympic Games. The charitable trust set up in 1924 to run and support Eton Manor Boys' Club still continues with different aims and a new name,
Villiers Park Educational Trust.
Four sports clubs originating from Eton's "mission" are still in existence:
*
Eton Manor RFC, now playing at The New Wilderness ground in
Wanstead
Wanstead () is an area in East London, England, in the London Borough of Redbridge. It borders South Woodford to the north, Redbridge to the east and Manor Park to the south, with Leytonstone and Walthamstow to the west. It is located 8 m ...
*
Eton Manor FC, now groundshare and are playing their matches at Waltham Abbey's ground in
Waltham Abbey
* Eton Manor A.C., meeting at Waltham Forest Track and Pool in
Walthamstow
Walthamstow ( or ) is a town within the London Borough of Waltham Forest in east London. The town borders Chingford to the north, Snaresbrook and South Woodford to the east, Leyton and Leytonstone to the south, and Tottenham to the west. At ...
(young athletes) and The Cottage, Marsh Lane, in
Leyton
Leyton ( ) is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Waltham Forest. It borders Walthamstow to the north, Leytonstone to the east, and Stratford to the south, with Clapton, Hackney Wick and Homerton, across the Ri ...
(senior athletes)
* Eastern Otters Water Polo Club (formerly Eton Otters) who currently play at the new Becontree Heath Leisure Centre in Dagenham (www.eastenotters.co.uk)
Eton College has a second connection to the 2012 Olympic Games, as the rowing events were held at the college's private facility,
Dorney Lake
Dorney Lake (also known as Eton College Rowing Centre, and as Eton Dorney as a 2012 Summer Olympics venue) is a purpose-built rowing lake and Meetings & Events Venue in England. It is near the village of Dorney, Buckinghamshire, and is around ...
.
London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games
During the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games, Eton Manor was the only purpose-built Paralympic venue. It hosted the
wheelchair tennis
Wheelchair tennis is one of the forms of tennis Adaptive sport, adapted for wheelchair users. The size of the court, net height and rackets are the same, but there are two major differences from pedestrian tennis: athletes use specially designe ...
. The venue comprised nine competition courts and four warm-up courts. There were a total of 10,500 seats for spectators, with a 5,000 capacity centre court. The 27-acre site also housed temporary training pools for participants in aquatics events, including three 50m pools for swimmers and smaller pools for synchronised swimmers and water polo competitors.
Before the Games, Poet Laureate
Carol Ann Duffy
Dame Carol Ann Duffy (born 23 December 1955) is a Scottish poet and playwright. She is a professor of contemporary poetry at Manchester Metropolitan University, and was appointed Poet Laureate in May 2009, and her term expired in 2019. She wa ...
was commissioned to write a poem about Eton Manor to celebrate its history and legacy. The poem is inscribed on a brass plaque at the entrance to the venue and was part of the Winning Words initiative, a national poetry scheme inspired by London 2012 which integrated permanent and temporary poetry on Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park.
Post-Olympics
After the Olympic Games, Eton Manor housed the scaled down
Olympic Hockey Centre which was relocated from Riverside Arena. The venue was made public following a £30 million conversion and was renamed Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre. Run by the Lee Valley Regional Park Authority, it has two hockey pitches and ten tennis courts four indoor and six outdoor. The venue offers a range of events and programmes from grassroots to elite level.
[Anderson, Gary]
Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre officially opened after £30 million revamp
Inside the Games (17 June 2014). Dunsar Media Company Limited. Retrieved 12 July 2022.
In December 2012, the
International Tennis Federation
The International Tennis Federation (ITF) is the governing body of world tennis, wheelchair tennis, and beach tennis. It was founded in 1913 as the International Lawn Tennis Federation by twelve national tennis associations. there are 211 nat ...
announced that the venue would stage the NEC
Wheelchair Tennis Masters, an annual event, on its indoor courts.
International field hockey
Since 2014, Lee Valley has staged a number of major international events, most notably the
2018 Women's Hockey World Cup
The 2018 Women's Hockey World Cup was the 14th edition of the Women's Hockey World Cup, a field hockey tournament. It was held from 21 July to 5 August 2018 at the Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre in London, England.
Defending champions ...
, which was the 14th edition of the tournament. It also hosted the
2016 Women's Hockey Champions Trophy and the
2016 Men's Hockey Champions Trophy. From 2019, it has been the home venue of both the
Great Britain women's and
men's field hockey teams for their home matches in the
Women's FIH Pro League
The Women's FIH Pro League is an international women's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which replaces the Women's FIH Hockey World League. The competition also serves as a qualifier for the Women ...
and
Men's FIH Pro League
The Men's FIH Pro League is an international men's field hockey competition organised by the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which replaces the Men's FIH Hockey World League. The competition also serves as a qualifier for the Hockey World ...
, most recently in May and June 2022 for the
2021–22 Women's FIH Pro League and the
2021–22 Men's FIH Pro League. The women's team played its first Pro League match at Lee Valley against the
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
on 27 April 2019.
2019 FIH Hockey Pro League (W). Match report (27 April 2019)
International Hockey Federation. Retrieved 12 July 2022. For major hockey events, the stadium capacity is increased from the default 3,000 to 15,000 all seated.
References
External links
2012 Paralympics profile
Lee Valley Hockey and Tennis Centre
{{2012 Summer Paralympics venues
2014 establishments in England
Field hockey venues in England
Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Sports venues completed in 2014
Tennis venues in London
Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Waltham Forest
Venues of the 2012 Summer Olympics
Wheelchair tennis at the 2012 Summer Paralympics
Sport in the London Borough of Waltham Forest
Buildings and structures in the London Borough of Waltham Forest
2012 Summer Paralympic venues