With its sofa full of holes, worn carpets and walls, seemingly last painted when Sir Roger Bannister was a student, you would guess few non-league football teams would tolerate such a shabby clubhouse.

But its members love this place and cherish every worn armchair and faded black and white photograph on the orange walls.

For this is one of the most loved corners of Oxford, a place where elite sportsmen have gathered since the reign of Queen Victoria.

Its membership has — as it still does today — included Olympians, Test cricket captains and rugby union internationals.

Then there are senior civil servants, cabinet ministers, leading industrialists, kings and enough Oxford Blues to fill the University Parks — all united by their passion for student sport, and their love of Vincent’s, the famous university club, spread over two upper floors, above the outfitters Shepherd & Woodward at 1a in King Edward Street, just off the High.

Those who have walked up the narrow staircase include the future King Edward VIII, who though he left the university after eight terms without any academic qualifications, still had time to join Vincent’s; the great imperialist Cecil Rhodes, a member before amassing a fortune in the diamond mines of South Africa; and the Beatles, who were entertained there as guests, between She Loves You and conquering America.

With such figures as Bannister, Colin Cowdrey, Prince Obolensky (the Russian émigré turned England rugby three-quarter) and great All Black captain David Kirk displayed on the walls, it is little surprise that members perhaps concern themselves less about the state of the worn armchairs, and more with just who may have previously sat there.

But things are soon to move forward at Vincent’s, which this summer is celebrating its 150th birthday with a whole series of garden parties, cricket matches and golf days, with dinners and receptions held in South Africa, Sydney, New York, Edinburgh and, of course, London, where a dinner will take place at Mansion House on Monday.

Events at Wimbledon and Twickenham will follow later in the year. Most significantly the anniversary will be marked with a major redevelopment, costing between £500,000 and £600,000, with the current President Marcus-Alexander Neil conceding that for all the love of tradition, “the fabric of the club has become very tired”.

In addition to a general refurbishment, there are plans to create a new conference room, to provide an important new source of income for the club, and also to increase the capacity of the dining room from 38 to 60. All this will be achieved by knocking in walls to utilise existing space.

To the relief of elderly members, a new lift is to be built from the ground to third floor — for one of the club’s principles is “once a member, always a member”. Work is expected to get under way in about a month’s time, with the club planning to reopen in early January.

Funding will come from the successful V150 appeal, which is also raising money for the club’s outreach programme, to encourage young sportsmen and women to apply to Oxford, a cause close to the heart of the club president.

Mr Neil captained the Dark Blue rugby league team to a record win in the 2011 Varsity Match, is an athletics half-Blue in shot and discus and now plays rugby union as well. He is committed to introducing the Vincent’s ethos to children in Oxfordshire state schools.

His mission is to build on successful summer camps and oversee the rolling out of Vincent’s scholarships of up to £20,000, open to all students who have secured a place at Oxford.

The awards will provide financial support for sporting development of individuals “with outstanding and academic talent, both able-bodied and disabled”. There will also be awards to cover coaching costs, equipment and tours.
The idea of promoting “scholar athletes” was at the heart of the club, founded in 1863 by Walter Bradford Woodgate, a larger-than-life Oxford figure, who would think nothing of stepping out of a London pub and walking non-stop to Oxford just to win a bet.

He also happened to be a leading oarsman of his age, winning a remarkable 11 Henley titles in the 1860s, and can even claim to have introduced the coxless four to this country, when he got his Brasenose cox to jump overboard at the Henley start in 1868.

Woodgate also happened to loathe the Oxford Union. The story goes that the idea of Vincent’s came into being when he was hailed by two Merton friends from the riverbank, who suggested meeting at the Union. “Hang the Union,” replied Woodgate. “I wouldn’t be seen there for a dog fight.”
Asked by his friends when he was going to give them “that select club of yours that you have talked so much about?”, he recalled his response in Reminiscences of an Old Sportsman: “My dander was up, I called back ‘this day week’.”
The club was established in a room above a small printer, J. H. Vincent, at 90 High Street and, for want of a better name, the printer was immortalised by the choice of his name for the club. In many ways the club was created very much in Woodgate’s own image. He had wanted an elite social club of “the picked 100 of the university, selected for all-round qualities; social, physical and intellectual”.
So what is the ethos that binds the members of this men-only club today?

“Vincent’s represents camaraderie, sporting excellence and leadership,” said the new president. “For me sport is a great leveller. You find out about yourself and other people through sport, regardless of school, college or what subject you read.”

Harold Macmillan, a PM not best known for his ability at games, was a member, to make the point that Vincent’s has never been about sporting excellence per se. At the same time, some distinguished Oxford Blues have not been invited to join the club, while less talented sportsmen have.

Membership remains restricted, with only about 150 students elected each year — and until recently it was not even worth applying until an undergraduate was in his second year. The one inviolable qualification is that you have to be a man.
Sporting female Oxonians have their equivalent of Vincent’s, Atlanta, and while women may visit as guests, for some this is not enough.

But there are signs that women membership may not be too far down the track.
The new president in his manifesto interestingly wrote that “protecting, challenging and re-defining the manifestation of what we stand for must be a subtle ongoing process”.

Feelings remain strong on both sides of the argument, with the club having debated the issue in recent years, but the president declined to speculate when women would finally be admitted
He is more comfortable to talk about his vision for Vincent’s outreach programme.

“I would like to see it span from child camps from the age of 10 right through to Vincent’s Scholars who will receive financial help for each year of study to support their sporting pursuits, along with mentoring, access to elite coaches and academic advice. The aim is to be at the heart of Oxfordshire sport to champion the spirit of Vincent’s.”

It will take more than a new sofa, carpets and plumbing — and, dare one say, women members — to change that.