King's House School Sports Ground

KING’S HOUSE SCHOOL SPORTS GROUND: A SCHOOL AND COMMUNITY ASSET

FACILITIES INCLUDE:

Full size floodlit 3G pitch

Full size floodlit hockey pitch

4 floodlit acrylic tennis courts

2 floodlit artificial clay tennis courts

Tennis centre including cafe, shop, stringing service and strength and conditioning area

6 floodlit netball courts

6 adult football pitches

5v5, 7v7 and 9v9 pitches

2 rugby pitches

8 junior rugby pitches

4 full size cricket pitches

4 cricket nets

7 mini cricket pitches

8 rounders pitches

6 softball pitches

400m athletics track

100m athletics track

Dedicated areas for high jump, long jump and shot put

2 lacrosse pitches

3 function rooms and bars

Extensive outdoor patio

Children’s birthday party room

FACILITY DEVELOPMENTS

King’s House School has managed the site, formally known as the Civil Service Sports Ground, since 2010 and has overseen many new developments and facility upgrades:

2015 – FIFA and RFU 3G pitch

2015 – Acrylic tennis courts

2021 – All weather pitch and 4 lane cricket nets

2021 – Extended car park

2021 – Tennis centre (cafe, tennis shop and stringing service)

2021 – Strength and conditioning facility

2022 – Two artificial clay tennis courts

King’s House School hopes to continue to develop the Sports Ground in future years to provide first class sports facilities for the school and local community.

HISTORY OF THE GROUNDS KING’S HOUSE SCHOOL

Opened in 1926 by King George V and Prince Albert, the Sports Ground has a longstanding history and was run by the Civil Service Sports Council until 2010.

The first recorded match at the Sports Ground was in 1926, when the Civil Service cricket team played Australia in a non-first-class match. The following year, the ground held its only firstclass match when the Civil Service played the touring New Zealanders. His Royal Highness King George VI and the Queen Consort visited the bowls green in 1946, and HM Queen Elizabeth II in 1956.

The site has remained the home of the Civil Service Football Club and the Civil Service Rugby Club, now known as CS Stags 1863, since its opening.

The Civil Service Football Club was one of 11 clubs who founded the English FA in 1863 and is the only existing founding member club, as well as a founding member of some of the oldest amateur leagues in the world. It helped create and played in the first ever FA Challenge Cup competition in the 1871/72 season and the Civil Service took part in the FA Cup from its inception until 1951.

On 26th January 1871, the Civil Service Rugby Club (now CS Stags 1863) was one of 20 clubs that met at the Pall Mall Restaurant to form the Rugby Football Union (RFU). Exactly 100 years later, on 26th January 1971, the centenary of the Rugby Football Union was celebrated with a Founder Member Clubs’ Banquet at the Guildhall in London. The Club was one of the founders of the Surrey RFU in 1879 and has been a member of the Middlesex RFU since the 1880s.

King’s House School is an independent day prep school for boys aged 3 to 13, with a co-ed Nursery, in Richmond. The School has managed the Sports Ground since 2010, and boys from Year 1 upwards enjoy the facilities for their games lessons.

The site is a ten-minute drive from the main school site in Richmond, and pupils are transported by coach for PE, games lessons and home sports fixtures.

Schedule of KHS Games Lessons

The Sports Ground is also used throughout the year by the School for a variety of nonsporting activities. This includes the annual Summer Concert, induction days and school leavers’ parties.

Morning (11.00–12.00pm) Afternoon (2.30–4.30pm)

Monday Year 3 Years 7 & 8

Tuesday Year 4 Years 5 & 6

Wednesday Year 1 Years 7 & 8

Thursday Year 2 Year 5

Friday Year 3 (Summer Term only) Years 4 & 6

A COMMUNITY ASSET

Schools

A range of local state and independent schools also use the site for their PE lessons, matches, events and Sports Days. This includes West London Free School, Kew College, St James School for Girls, St James Prep School, Fulham Prep and Senior Schools and Hammersmith Academy.

Events

Corporate events and away days are regularly held at the Sports Ground, as well as large sports events and competitions. Regular events include Try Tag Rugby tournaments, the London Hospitality Festival, London Softball League events and government department sports days.

Clubs

King’s House Sports Ground is home to a wide variety of clubs and teams. The Civil Service Football Club runs 11 teams for all ages, genders and abilities in the Southern Amateur, Greater London Women’s’ and West London Veterans leagues.

London Wayfarers Hockey Club was founded in 1989 in Battersea. King’s House Sports Ground became its home in 2021 following the completion of the all-weather pitch. The club trains and plays at the site six days a week and is the largest hockey club in the UK. Both the men’s’ and women’s’ first teams play National League Hockey.

London Scottish RFU moved all mini and junior activity to the site in 2021 and the amateur London Scottish Lions teams joined the site in 2022. King’s House Sports Ground looks forward to growing this rugby partnership in the future.

Excel Sports is the Sports Ground’s partner junior football provider, with extensive football activity including holiday clubs, birthday parties, Excel FC teams and advanced development programmes.

Over 100 different clubs use the ground for their training and home fixtures, including East Grinstead Hockey Club, Quintin RFU, Teddington Hockey Club, Fulham United, Chelsea Rovers FC, Chiswick Lacrosse, Richmond Lacrosse, Let’s Play Netball, Junction Elite FC, Rocks Lane FC & Friday Night 5’s, TAP FC, Hampstead CC, Shepherds Bush CC, Kensington and Chelsea CC, Kew CC and Chiswick CC.

KING’S TENNIS CENTRE

The Sports Ground is also home to King’s Tennis Centre, which was established in 2018. Facilities include six floodlit tennis courts on acrylic and artificial clay surfaces.

King’s Tennis Centre teaches and supports children and adults whilst they develop their tennis skills, whether for fun, fitness or competitive play. They host holiday camps as well as providing extensive junior coaching programmes and adult coaching throughout the year.

The tennis centre is also home to Praxi, a new performance and wellbeing facility. They offer personal training, small group sessions and a space for external coaches to train clients. The facility includes the latest strength and conditioning equipment.

PUBLIC BENEFIT AN ELITE TRAINING VENUE

King’s House Sports Ground is proud of its commitment to community involvement and public benefit initiatives. Over the last decade, this has included a variety of events including hosting charity sports matches and fundraising events. Free and discounted function room and sports facility hire is offered throughout the year to partner state schools and charities.

The site is home to Grenfell Athletic FC. The club was founded by Rupert Taylor in the aftermath of the Grenfell Fire in 2017 to help young men in the local community come together after the tragedy. Grenfell Athletic joined the Middlesex County Football League in September 2017. In 2022, a ladies’ team was also formed.

The Sports Ground has hosted many different youth groups that work within the local community. Most recently, this has included the Achieving for Children Youth Centre, a social enterprise that provides bespoke children’s social care and education support services to other local authorities, schools and partners in the education, health, social care and criminal justice sectors. King’s House Sports Ground regularly funds and hosts holiday activities for the Riana Development Network (RDN), a charity that promotes programmes within the BAME community for children and young people aged 5-18 years. Other local initiatives for the wider W4 community are also regularly supported at the grounds.

King’s House Sports Ground is delighted to be home to and host a variety of elite clubs and professionals.

The England Senior Men’s Rugby squad held a two-day training camp at the ground in May 2022. The camp included a one-day closed session and an open training session which was watched by over 500 students from eight local schools. Pupils from King’s House and Hammersmith Academy then enjoyed a coaching session led by Eddie Jones and his coaching staff.

Rugby 7s national teams trained at the grounds in the lead up to the London Sevens in 2022. The site is an elite athlete pre-season training venue, and Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) and Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) players also train at King’s Tennis Centre.

GET IN TOUCH

We’d love to hear from you! To get in touch about bookings, pitch hire, events, hospitality and much more contact us via the details below:

020 8948 0358 enquiries@khsenterprises.co.uk kingshousesportsground.co.uk

King’s House School Sports Ground is easily accessible via public transport: the grounds are a short walk from Barnes Bridge Station.

Many buses run from the surrounding areas, including the 190, 533, 419, 209 and 378. Hammersmith, Richmond and Chiswick stations are a short journey away.