John Charles
Kay
Male
England
1855-00-00
Lancashire, England
1929-01-00
Upper Warlingham, Surrey, England
Football Pioneer Dead/Ex-Official of Cheltenham Tennis Tournament
Mr John Charles Kay, of Oxton, Birkenhead, the originator of Association Football in the North of England and a pioneer of lawn tennis in this country, has died at Upper Warlingham, Surrey, in his 75th year.
Educated at Harrow, on leaving school he founded the Turton Football Club. An offshoot of this club became the Bolton Wanderers, whose first members went to the Turton Club in order to learn the game. John Charles Kay was thus the originator of Association Football in the North of England.
A Tennis Champion
He went to Leamington in 1877, where he played cricket for the county, and it was while staying there that he took up lawn tennis with his friends, Ernest and William Renshaw. He soon excelled at the game and originated the first important tournament ever held. He was honorary secretary of the Cheltenham Lawn Tennis tournament for several years, until he went to Liverpool.
He was captain of the Lancashire lawn tennis team for eleven consecutive years, and on one occasion captained a team for England against Ireland. He won the All England Mixed Doubles Championship in 1889, partnered by Miss Lottie Dod, and again in 1891, partnered by Miss Helen Jackson. He kept up his tennis to the end of his life, still playing a hard game in his 74th year.
1881 - 1894
2
64
32
1893 - Waterloo (Amateur)
1885 - Worcester (Amateur)
Challenge Round
T.J. Walmsley 1 *
John Charles Kay
?
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
James Allan Macfie
8-6
6-4
7-5
Semifinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
Walter Carey
6-3
8-6
2-6
8-6
Final
John Charles Kay 1 *
Jacob Gaitskell Brown
6-3
3-6
6-4
6-4
Challenge Round
John Charles Kay 1 *
Andrew Laurie Macfie
10-8
3-6
6-3
4-6
6-2
Round 1
Norman Melland 1 *
John Charles Kay
7-5
6-1
6-1
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
Harold King
6-3
10-8
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
Finlay Dun
3-6
6-1
6-2
Quarterfinals
T.G. Hill 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-2
6-2
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
Henry Samuel Bourne-Harvey
6-1
6-3
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
H. Gardner
w.o.
Quarterfinals
T.G. Hill 1 *
John Charles Kay
7-5
6-2
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
Sir William John Ferguson Davie
6-0
6-5
Quarterfinals
Patrick Bowes-Lyon 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-1
4-6
7-5
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
Charles Stananought
6-1
1-6
6-4
2-6
6-3
Quarterfinals
William Parkfield Wethered 1 *
John Charles Kay
3-6
6-5
4-6
6-1
6-4
Quarterfinals
Mark Anthony Hartnell 1 *
John Charles Kay
3-6
6-3
6-4
8-6
Round 1
Ernest de Sylly Hamilton Browne 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-2
6-1
Quarterfinals
Herbert Chipp 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-4
6-1
6-0
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
A.H. Robinson
6-1
7-5
6-0
Semifinals
Henry Edwin Hunter Kent 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
6-1
6-1
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
John Redfern Deykin
4-6
6-5
6-4
Quarterfinals
Ernest Wool Lewis 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-1
6-0
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
Booth Hodgetts Lynes
6-2
7-9
6-4
Semifinals
Charles Lacy Sweet 1 *
John Charles Kay
7-5
6-1
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
George Arnulph Montgomerie
7-5
6-1
6-8
6-8
9-7
Round 2
George Bloomfield Garvey 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-1
3-6
6-2
7-5
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
W. Browett
6-3
6-3
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
A.E.H. Clarke
6-2
6-5
Semifinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
W.J. Sarjant
6-2
6-0
Final
Hamilton A. Emmons 1 *
John Charles Kay
w.o.
Round 1
Hamilton A. Emmons 1 *
John Charles Kay
4-6
6-1
6-2
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
Conway John Morgan
3-6
6-1
6-0
Semifinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
Dr Walter William Chamberlain
6-3
6-0
Final
John Charles Kay 1 *
Frederick William Knox
6-2
6-3
Round 1
Joshua Schoolcroft Burton 1 *
John Charles Kay
7-9
6-3
6-3
Round 1
Charles Lacy Sweet 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
6-3
Round 1
Herbert Knox McKay 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
2-6
6-1
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
G.V. Law
6-2
6-1
Round 2
Donald Charles Stewart 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
ret.
Round 1
William John Bush-Salmon 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-5
6-2
6-1
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
A.H. Griffiths
w.o.
Quarterfinals
Dr Walter William Chamberlain 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-1
6-3
Round 2
Erskine Gerald Watson 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
1-6
6-3
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
J.H. Mitchell
6-4
6-2
Quarterfinals
Philip Grove 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-1
4-6
6-5
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
E.J.D. Simpson
6-2
6-1
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
E. Sykes
6-1
2-0
ret.
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
H.H. Clay
6-1
6-3
Semifinals
George E. Newby 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-5
6-5
Round 1
Charles Yeatman Petgrave 1 *
John Charles Kay
3
sets
to
2
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
J.A. Jackson
6-4
6-3
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
J.H. Mitchell
6-0
6-2
Semifinals
James Powell 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-1
6-1
Round 1
Donald Charles Stewart 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
ret.
Round 1
Donald Charles Stewart 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
6-4
Round 1
Erskine Gerald Watson 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
6-2
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
H.P. Williams
6-5
6-2
Quarterfinals
William Henry Rawlinson 1 *
John Charles Kay
6-3
6-3
Round 1
Henry Blane Porter 1 *
John Charles Kay
?
Round 1
John Charles Kay 1 *
Charles John Cole
6-4
5-6
6-4
Round 2
John Charles Kay 1 *
G.V. Law
6-4
6-1
Quarterfinals
John Charles Kay 1 *
H.S. Jenkins
6-1
6-1
Final
Pelham George Von Donop 1 *
John Charles Kay
5-6
6-5
6-3