The All England Club will give men and women equal prize-money at this year's Wimbledon Championships. It will be the first time in the tournament's history that there has been equal pay through all rounds for men and women, ending 123 years of inequality.

"Tennis is one of the few sports in which women and men compete in the same event at the same time," said, Tim Phillips, the All England Club chairman. "We believe our decision to offer equal prize-money provides a boost for the game as a whole and recognizes the enormous contribution that women players make to the game and to Wimbledon.

"In short, good for tennis, good for women players and good for Wimbledon."

It brings to a successful conclusion a concerted campaign by the Sony Ericsson WTA Tour to bring the prize-money into line with the US Open and the Australian Open, which pay the same to men and women through the event. The French Open gives equal prize-money only to the champions.

The decision has been welcomed by women players, none more so than Venus Williams, the three-time Wimbledon champion, who in an opinion piece for The Times during last year’s Championships said that the reasons against paying the same are no longer relevant.

"The greatest tennis tournament in the world has reached an even greater height today, " said Williams. "I applaud today's decision by Wimbledon, which recognises the value of women's tennis.

"The 2007 Championships will have even greater meaning and significance to me and my fellow players."

Maria Sharapova, another former Wimbledon champion, added: "Wimbledon has always been a leader in so many ways in the world of tennis. This decision will only strengthen the bond between women players and one of the world's great sporting events."

Billie-Jean King, one of Wimbledon's greatest champions who won a total of 20 titles in SW19 during her extraordinary career, had been calling for equal prize money at the tournament since 1973.

King said today: "This news has been a long time coming and I am thrilled Wimbledon has joined the club of grand-slam events offering equal prize money for men and women.

"Wimbledon is one of the most respected events in all sports and now with women and men paid on an equal scale, it demonstrates to the rest of the world that this is the right thing to do for the sport, the tournament and the world."

Larry Scott, the Sony-Ericsson WTA Tour chief executive, a supporter of the move, added: "This is an historic and defining moment for women in the sport of tennis, and a significant step forward for the equality of women in our society.

"We commend the leadership of Wimbledon for its decisive action in recognising the progress that women's tennis has made."

When women started competing at Wimbledon in 1884, the champion received a silver flower basket to the value of 20 guineas, while the men’s winner took home a gold prize worth 10 guineas more. In 1968, the first year of Open tennis, the men’s champion received £2,000; the women’s £750. There was not the same dissent in those days that has been raised in recent years as the All England Club closed the gap but refused to equate the respective prize-moneys. Last year, the difference was £30,000, with the men’s winner, Roger Federer, earning £655,000.

Phillips stated that the cost to the All England Club of bringing equality will be £600,000 and that the decision taken on Wednesday night was unanimous.

"We believe it will help Wimbledon's reputation. Every year we analyse in considerable detail the relevant factors, both social issues and market data, and then the committee makes a judgment which they believe is right for Wimbledon.

"We believed that since we wanted to make a further increase on prize money that it was so close (between the men and women amounts) that the time was right to equalise fully.

Last year Tony Blair, the Prime Minister, joined the Lawn Tennis Association, the governing body of British tennis, and the Women's Tennis Association, in calling for an end to the inequality.

However, Phillips said that he did not believe Wimbledon's previous position was morally indefensible.

"We think now is absolutely the right time to make this move. We have a reputation both for the championships and for the All England Club and we have to look after that.

"We always want the top players to enjoy coming here. It's been a problem in that we don't want them to feel bad about things. We looked at all the options and decided this was right for Wimbledon."