A club is an association of people united by a common interest or goal. A service club , for example, exists for voluntary or charitable activities. There are clubs devoted to hobbies and sports, social activities clubs, political and religious clubs, and so forth.
41-559: The Bombay Gymkhana , established in 1875, is a premier private members' club in the city of Mumbai , India . It is located at the triangular end of Azad Maidan in the Fort area of South Mumbai and is in close proximity of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus . It was originally built as a British-only gentlemen's club , designed by English architect, Claude Batley . The club grounds offers various sporting facilities for rugby, football, cricket, swimming, tennis, badminton, squash and
82-600: A tavern." Of early clubs the most famous, latterly, was the Bread Street or Friday Street Club that met at the Mermaid Tavern on the first Friday of each month. John Selden , John Donne , John Fletcher and Francis Beaumont were among the members (although it is often asserted that William Shakespeare and Sir Walter Raleigh were members of this club, there is no documented evidence to support this claim). Another such club, founded by Ben Jonson , met at
123-479: A club for jockeys , but rather exists to regulate the sport of horseracing ; the Marylebone Cricket Club was until recently the regulatory body of cricket ; and so on. Sports club should not be confused with gyms and health clubs, which also can be for members only. Fraternities and sororities are social clubs of secondary or higher education students. Membership in these organizations
164-770: A club of board game enthusiasts might have a library of games for members), or act as a buyers' club. These organizations are partly social, partly professional in nature and provide professionals with opportunities for advanced education, presentations on current research, business contacts, public advocacy for the profession and other advantages. Examples of these groups include medical associations , scientific societies , autograph club and bar associations . Professional societies frequently have layers of organization, with regional, national and international levels. The local chapters generally meet more often and often include advanced students unable to attend national meetings. These are activities performed by students that fall outside
205-536: A customer is induced to enroll in a free trial of a buyer's club membership, and then unexpectedly billed when the trial ends. There are two types of athletic and sports clubs: those organized for sporting participants (which include athletic clubs and country clubs), and those primarily for spectator fans of a team. Athletic and country clubs offer one or more recreational sports facilities to their members. Such clubs may also offer social activities and facilities, and some members may join primarily to take advantage of
246-416: A fitness centre for its members. The club regularly conducts sporting events and tournaments for its members and admission to the club is reserved by membership. Bombay Gymkhana Rugby Club ( rugby union ) is a tenant. A long building which serves as the lobby, table tennis area, badminton court, restaurant and lounge connects the two roads. The region between the building and the lane is a large ground. It
287-513: A fitness centre. Originally, only men could gain membership of the club. Women were able to join from the early 2000s. In 2016, the BMC ( Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation ) wanted to widen the adjacent Hazarimal Somani Marg from 50 feet (15 m) to 80 feet (24 m) and required about 5,809 square metres (62,530 sq ft) of land from the Bombay Gymkhana. The gymkhana contested
328-454: A for-profit basis, but more frequently owned by the members who delegate to a committee the management of its affairs, first reached its highest development in London, where the district of St. James's has long been known as "Clubland". Current London proprietary clubs include Soho House , which commenced business in 1995, and Soho 's Groucho Club , which opened in 1985 as "the antidote to
369-471: A membership fee for access and use. Most are owned and controlled by their members even to this day. Some were originally gentlemen's clubs to which members first had to be elected; others are more modern commercial establishments with no class or gender bar, typically offering food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and business facilities, in return for members paying subscription or membership fees. The first gentlemen's clubs, mostly established in
410-432: A permanent institution with a fixed clubhouse . The London coffeehouse clubs in increasing their members absorbed the whole accommodation of the coffeehouse or tavern where they held their meetings, and this became the clubhouse, often retaining the name of the original innkeeper, e.g. White's , Brooks's , Arthur's , and Boodle's . These still exist today as the famous gentlemen's clubs . The peripatetic lifestyle of
451-691: A practice match at the ground ahead of the IPL Season . Later in the year, Canada played a match against a Bombay Gymkhana team to prepare for the 2011 Cricket World Cup . The ground also hosts a national rugby competition, and has hosted matches against Sri Lanka and other South Asian teams as a part of the HSBC Sevens Asia circuit. It has also hosted national and international squash tournaments. Bombay Gymkhana houses three badminton courts, five squash courts, six tennis courts, six tables for billiards and snooker, one swimming pool and
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#1732776808079492-402: A public presence. A service club is a type of voluntary organization where members meet regularly for social outings and to perform charitable works either by direct hands-on efforts or by raising money for other organizations. Social activities clubs are a modern combination of several other types of clubs and reflect today's more eclectic and varied society. These clubs are centered around
533-401: A team can be sports amateurs—groups who meet to practice a sport, as for example in most cycling clubs —or professionals; football clubs consist of well-paid team members and thousands of supporters. A sports club can thus comprise participants (not necessarily competitors) or spectator fans, or both. Some organizations exist with a mismatch between name and function. The Jockey Club is not
574-416: Is generally by invitation only. Hobbies are practiced for interest and enjoyment, rather than financial reward. Examples include science fiction clubs , ham radio , model railroading , collecting , creative and artistic pursuits, making, tinkering, sports, and adult education. Participants may form an organization to coordinate gatherings of hobbyists, provide services related to the activity (for example,
615-412: Is very difficult to get membership into this exclusive club. Cricket is played here in the winter months, and rugby and football in the monsoon months. This used to be major centre for the erstwhile Bombay Pentangular cricket matches. The ground had the distinction of hosting India's first Test cricket match starting on 15 December 1933, captained by CK Nayudu . Temporary stands were put up at
656-1022: The Friendly Societies Act . The institution of the gentleman's club has spread all over the English-speaking world . Many of those who energised the Scottish Enlightenment were members of the Poker Club in Edinburgh . In the United States clubs were first established after the War of Independence . One of the first was the Hoboken Turtle Club (1797), which still survived as of 1911. In former British Empire colonies like India and Pakistan they are known as Gymkhana . The earliest clubs on
697-513: The Green Ribbon Club (1675). The characteristics of all these clubs were: These coffee-house clubs soon became hotbeds of political scandal-mongering and intriguing, and in 1675 King Charles II issued a proclamation which ran: “His Majesty hath thought fit and necessary that coffee houses be (for the future) put down and suppressed,” because “in such houses divers false, malitious and scandalous reports are devised and spread abroad to
738-847: The Groucho Club (established in 1985), Soho House (1995) and Home House (1998); similar clubs operate in other cities and countries: for example, the CORE Club was established in New York City in 2005. These typically offer memberships by subscription and are owned and run as commercial concerns. They offer similar facilities such as food, drink, comfortable surroundings, venue hire and in many cases accommodation. Mobile working (using phone and email) had put pressure on traditional London clubs, some of which discouraged use of mobiles and laptops, or discussion of business matters. By contrast, business-oriented private members' clubs combine
779-662: The West End of London from the late 17th century onwards, were highly exclusive, offering aristocratic and wealthy men a refuge from work and family. The eligibility of potential members depended on their class and gender, with women banned from joining any of them. Early clubs also provided an environment for gambling, illegal outside of members-only establishments. Individuals needed to be formally proposed for membership, and candidates were subject to election by committees which scrutinised individuals' character and suitability. Several private members' clubs for women were established in
820-526: The 18th and 19th century middle classes also drove the development of more residential clubs, which had bedrooms and other facilities. Military and naval officers, lawyers, judges, members of Parliament and government officials tended to have an irregular presence in the major cities of the Empire , particularly London, spending perhaps a few months there before moving on for a prolonged period and then returning. Especially when this presence did not coincide with
861-475: The 1940s, 1950s and 1960s social clubs were the precursor name of gangs like the infamous Hamburgs of Chicago. Latino immigrant adult and youth groups organized themselves as social clubs like: Black Eagles, Flaming Arrows, Paragons and Young Lords. Those made up of the elite are best known as gentlemen's clubs (not to be confused with strip clubs ) and country clubs (though these also have an athletic function, see above ). Membership to gentlemen's clubs require
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#1732776808079902-574: The Defamation of his Majesty’s Government and to the Disturbance of Peace and Quiet of the Realm.” So unpopular was this proclamation that it was almost instantly found necessary to withdraw it, and by Anne ’s reign the coffee-house club was a feature of England’s social life. See English coffeehouses in the 17th and 18th centuries . The idea of the club developed in two directions. One was of
943-577: The Devil Tavern near Temple Bar , also in London . The word “club,” in the sense of an association to promote good-fellowship and social intercourse, became common in England at the time of Tatler and The Spectator (1709–1712). With the introduction of coffee-drinking in the middle of the 17th century, clubs entered on a more permanent phase. The coffee houses of the later Stuart period are
984-751: The European continent were of a political nature. These in 1848 were repressed in Austria and Germany, and later clubs of Berlin and Vienna were mere replicas of their English prototypes. In France, where the term cercle is most usual, the Club de l'Entresol (1724-1731) was followed by the Club Politique (1782), and during the French Revolution such associations proved important political forces (see Jacobins , Feuillants , Cordeliers ). Of
1025-643: The Season , a permanent establishment in the city (i.e., a house owned or rented, with the requisite staff), or the opening of a townhouse (generally shuttered outside the Season) was inconvenient or uneconomic, while hotels were rare and socially déclassé . Clubbing with a number of like-minded friends to secure a large shared house with a manager was therefore a convenient solution. The other sort of club meets occasionally or periodically and often has no clubhouse, but exists primarily for some specific object. Such are
1066-436: The ability to pay large fees as well as an invitation by existing members who seek new recruits who meet personal criteria such as lifestyle, moral base, etc. Less elitist, but still in some cases exclusive, are working men's clubs . Clubs restricted to either officers or enlisted men exist on military bases . The modern Gentlemen's club is occasionally proprietary, i.e. owned by an individual or private syndicate and run on
1107-412: The activities available to the club members in the city or area in which the club is located. Because the purpose of these clubs is split between general social interaction and taking part in the events themselves, clubs tend to have more single members than married ones; some clubs restrict their membership to one of the other, and some are for gay and lesbian patrons. Membership can be limited or open to
1148-506: The distinction of hosting the first international test cricket match played by the disabled, on 10 December 2002 between India and England. The one-day match was won by India. The Australia national cricket team used the grounds to practice prior to their clash with India at the 1996 Cricket World Cup . In 2004, the India women's team played a One Day International versus Australia at Bombay Gymkhana. In March 2010, Mumbai Indians played
1189-504: The expenses of their gatherings. The oldest English clubs were merely informal periodic gatherings of friends for the purpose of dining or drinking with one another. Thomas Occleve (in the time of Henry IV ) mentions such a club called La Court de Bonne Compagnie (the Court of Good Company), of which he was a member. In 1659 John Aubrey wrote, "We now use the word clubbe for a sodality [a society, association, or fraternity of any kind] in
1230-569: The general public, as can the events. Most clubs have a limited membership based upon specific criteria, and limit the events to members to increase the security of the members, thus creating an increased sense of camaraderie and belonging. Social activities clubs can be for profit or not for profit, and some are a mix of the two (a for-profit club with a non-profit charitable arm, for instance). Some social clubs are organized around competitive games, such as chess or bridge . Other clubs are designed to encourage membership of certain social classes. In
1271-634: The ground to accommodate a record crowd of 50,000 people, with tickets selling at five times their usual price. The match is remembered for Lala Amarnath 's century, noted to be one of the best innings played in Indian cricket. The ground has not hosted any senior matches since the Brabourne Stadium took its place in 1937, replacing the ground as the venue for the Bombay Pentangular as well as international matches. The ground also has
Bombay Gymkhana - Misplaced Pages Continue
1312-787: The late 19th century; among them the Alexandra Club , the Ladies' Institute, the Ladies' Athenaeum and the University Women's Club . Many of the traditional gentlemen's clubs now allow women as members, though a few, including - until May 2024 - the Garrick Club in London's Covent Garden , still refuse women membership. More modern but otherwise similar private members' clubs have since been established. Most of these, however, are for-profit commercial enterprises neither owned nor controlled by members. London examples include
1353-516: The many purely athletic, sports and pastimes clubs, the Alpine, chess, yacht and motor clubs. Also there are literary clubs (see writing circle and book club ), musical and art clubs, publishing clubs. The name of “club” has been annexed by a large group of associations which fall between the club proper and friendly societies , of a purely periodic and temporary nature, such as slate, goose and Christmas clubs , which do not need to be registered under
1394-660: The proposal stating its heritage status. The Gymkhana has also been allegedly charged for illegally constructing additional buildings including a CEO's bungalow and a wine shop. This is the list of centuries scored in Test matches at Bombay Gymkhana, Mumbai Two five-wicket hauls in Test matches have been taken at the venue. 18°56′14.75″N 72°49′52.36″E / 18.9374306°N 72.8312111°E / 18.9374306; 72.8312111 Private members%27 club Private members' clubs are organisations which provide social and other facilities to members who typically pay
1435-836: The purely social clubs in Paris the most notable were the Jockey-Club de Paris (1833), the Cercle de l'Union, the Traveller's and the Cercle Interallié. Buyer's clubs or buying clubs are clubs organized to pool members' collective buying power, enabling them to make purchases at lower prices per individual item than are generally available, or purchase goods that might otherwise be difficult to obtain. There are many legitimate buying clubs – for example, food buying clubs – but many are unauthorized credit card billing scams, in which
1476-545: The real originals of the modern clubhouse. The clubs of the late 17th and early 18th century type resembled their Tudor forerunners in being oftenest associations solely for conviviality or literary coteries. But many were confessedly political, e.g. The Rota, or Coffee Club (1659), a debating society for the spread of republican ideas, broken up at the Restoration in 1660, the Calves Head Club (c.1693) and
1517-637: The realm of classes. Such clubs may fall outside the normal curriculum of school or university education or, as in the case of subject matter clubs (e.g. student chapters of professional societies ), may supplement the curriculum through informal meetings and professional mentoring. A secret society is a club or an organization whose activities, events, inner functioning, or membership are concealed. The society may or may not attempt to conceal its existence. The term usually excludes covert groups, such as intelligence agencies or guerrilla warfare insurgencies, that hide their activities and memberships but maintain
1558-674: The social opportunities. Country clubs offer a variety of recreational sports facilities to their members and are usually located in suburban or rural areas. Most country clubs have golf facilities. Swimming pools , tennis courts , polo grounds and exercise facilities are also common. Country clubs usually provide dining facilities to their members and guests, and frequently host special events like weddings. Similar clubs in urban areas are often called "athletic clubs". These clubs often feature indoor sports, such as indoor tennis, squash , futsal , basketball , volleyball , boxing , and exercise facilities. Members of sports clubs that support
1599-463: The style, food and drink of a contemporary private members' club with the business facilities of a serviced office or coworking space. Notable examples of private members' clubs include: This organization-related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Club (organization) Historically, clubs occurred in all ancient states of which exists detailed knowledge. Once people started living together in larger groups, there
1640-452: The traditional club." In this spirit, the club was named for Groucho Marx because of his famous remark that he would not wish to join any club that would have him as a member. A political club is a group of people who share a political ideology, or supporters of a particular political party , of which it may function as a local element. For example, a Constituency Labour Party is an association of British Labour Party members who live in
1681-465: Was need for people with a common interest to be able to associate despite having no ties of kinship. Organizations of the sort have existed for many years, as evidenced by Ancient Greek clubs and associations ( collegia ) in Ancient Rome . It is uncertain whether the use of the word "club" originated in its meaning of a knot of people, or from the fact that the members "clubbed" together to pay