Merrifield Park Tennis Club was formed in 1959 and at that time was named the Methodist Tennis Club. The idea to form the club was bought about by some members of the Albany Methodist Church who had an interest in playing tennis on a regular basis. The land on which the club stands was sold to the club by a local real estate agent and fellow member of the Albany Methodist Church, Mr R.B.Merrifield, at a nominal price, for the express purpose of building a tennis club for the enjoyment of all. Club members worked extremely hard to fundraise money to fully pay back Mr Merrifield over an 8-year period. 

In 1959 the club started out with 2 courts that were built entirely by club members. With membership numbers growing in the mid 1960’s, a 3rd court was built and by the mid 1970’s a 4th court was added to accommodate a growing member base, resulting in the courts the club has used to this day.

In 1978, the Uniting Church of Australia was formed following a merger of the Methodist Church and the Presbyterian Church. At that time the club was informed that any reference to “Methodist" was no longer allowed so,  in honour of Mr Merrifield’s generosity in 1959, the club was renamed Merrifield Park Tennis Club.

The original weatherboard clubhouse was constructed by club members using salvaged timber from a demolished section of the Old Albany Court House. In 1978, cyclone Alby demolished this clubhouse and, once again, club members rallied together and constructed a very basic but functional club house. With the club growing, in 1989 it was decided to upgrade the clubrooms for a 3rd time using both the clubs’finances and funds raised from fundraising events.

With the exception of a few small monetary grants from local and state governments, over the life of the club all court extensions and resurfacing, as well as replacement clubhouses and any other repairs and general maintenance, have been carried out by members and financed by the club through fundraising events such as cake stalls, quiz nights and raffles. 

The club has always prided itself on having the enviable reputation of being the region’s most family friendly club. Our membership reflects this with players ranging from 7 to 88years of age.

The culture of our club has always been for members to play their tennis in a social atmosphere with the emphasis on having fun and enjoying each other’s company.

The historical work ethic of the Merrifield Park Tennis Club is clear, and with our club and Lawley Park Tennis Club recently merging to form the Albany Tennis Club, we believe that,with the move to the new Regional Tennis Centre, these values will continue to grow even stronger and will allow tennis in the greater Albany region to flourish and grow well into the future.

- Les Bairstow, Life Member of Merrifield Park Tennis Club.