Queuing for Tennis tickets at Wimbledon
Created | Updated May 6, 2008
<P>This is still a work in progress, so be gentle...</P>
<P>To say that demand for tickets to The Championships at Wimbledon would be an understatement, particulary for the second week of the competition. According to <A href="http://www.wimbledon.org">the official Wimbledon website</A> there are three ways to get tickets for the event, each of which is fraught with it's own difficulties:</P>
<UL>
<LI>The Public Ballot. Each year the Club throws open to chance about half of the Centre Court and No1 Court tickets. You can write to the address on <A href="http://www.wimbledon.org/valid2000.htm">this page</A> to apply but you can only win a pair of tickets and you can't choose the day. You also don't stand a very good chance of winning.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>The LTA Ballot. Another ballot similar to the above but only open to members of an Affiliated Tennis Club. Ooh, get you.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Queueing overnight in a field near the grounds. If done properly you have a fairly good chance of getting Centre or No1 tickets, but you have to sleep in a field.<BR/><BR/></LI>
</UL>
<P>Assuming you are going to go for the third option, this entry aims to make the experience as painless as possible, given that you are going to be kipping on cow dinner.</P>
<P>The general pattern for a night of queueing goes something like this:<P>
<UL>
<LI>Arrive at the queuing site sometime aroung 7:00pm on the evening before the day you want to watch tennis. What you do before then is your own business but there are some reasonable pubs about 10 minutes away towards the Tube Station. A glass or 3 or Pimms normally helps things get off to a good start and purchasing a supply of beer from the off-license on the way to the field is also recommended. Incidentally, it's a good idea for at least one person to drive, for reasons that become clear later. (Park on a sideroad by the pubs). <BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Join the end of the queue and pitch tents. You will be asked to pitch away from the fence that surrounds the field. If there is more that one tent in your group, set them up in a line toward the middle of the field to keep the queue length down.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Drink, kick a ball, throw a frisbee, whatever yanks your chain until about 1:00 am. Around this time the Official Queue Organisers will come round and distribute small booklets, one per person. You MUST be here when they arrive as the books have serial numbers and mark your place in the queue. The Organisers will not give out spares for people who haven't arrived (or who have nipped off to the toilets) so be warned.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Drink some more, or sleep, depending on your need.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>At about 6:30am the queue organisers will come round again to wake you up. Send a driver off to move their car into the field. It costs about £12 to park for the day but it saves walking all your stuff back to the car. You should make sure you've packed everything up by 7:00am as the queue will start to move. Tents are a lot bigger than people so once everyone is packed away there's loads of gaps to fill so if you don't finish packing in time, get a couple of people to grab what they can and move with the queue while you finish. When the driver returns, load the car up with everything.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>The gates don't open until about 10:30 so keep with the queue as it magically contracts during the next couple of hours. If anybody dodgy tries to sneak into the queue point them out to the Organisers who will then ask to see their booklet and the ones of the people around them to make sure they match.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>It's crunch time now as you need to be outside the field and within sight of the bottom of the main road to stand a chance of getting good tickets. There's normally some free stuff being handed out by companies to advertise their stuff so keep your eyes open.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Around 10:00 the Organisers will come round again and give out plastic bracelets coloured for the Centre Count, No1 and No2. If you bought a program or a newspaper when they came round you'll know the order of play so choose which one you want (assuming your first choice is still available). The number on this bracelet is a token that allows you to buy a ticket for that court when you get to the gates.<BR/><BR/></LI>
</UL>
<P>To say that demand for tickets to The Championships at Wimbledon would be an understatement, particulary for the second week of the competition. According to <A href="http://www.wimbledon.org">the official Wimbledon website</A> there are three ways to get tickets for the event, each of which is fraught with it's own difficulties:</P>
<UL>
<LI>The Public Ballot. Each year the Club throws open to chance about half of the Centre Court and No1 Court tickets. You can write to the address on <A href="http://www.wimbledon.org/valid2000.htm">this page</A> to apply but you can only win a pair of tickets and you can't choose the day. You also don't stand a very good chance of winning.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>The LTA Ballot. Another ballot similar to the above but only open to members of an Affiliated Tennis Club. Ooh, get you.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Queueing overnight in a field near the grounds. If done properly you have a fairly good chance of getting Centre or No1 tickets, but you have to sleep in a field.<BR/><BR/></LI>
</UL>
<P>Assuming you are going to go for the third option, this entry aims to make the experience as painless as possible, given that you are going to be kipping on cow dinner.</P>
<P>The general pattern for a night of queueing goes something like this:<P>
<UL>
<LI>Arrive at the queuing site sometime aroung 7:00pm on the evening before the day you want to watch tennis. What you do before then is your own business but there are some reasonable pubs about 10 minutes away towards the Tube Station. A glass or 3 or Pimms normally helps things get off to a good start and purchasing a supply of beer from the off-license on the way to the field is also recommended. Incidentally, it's a good idea for at least one person to drive, for reasons that become clear later. (Park on a sideroad by the pubs). <BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Join the end of the queue and pitch tents. You will be asked to pitch away from the fence that surrounds the field. If there is more that one tent in your group, set them up in a line toward the middle of the field to keep the queue length down.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Drink, kick a ball, throw a frisbee, whatever yanks your chain until about 1:00 am. Around this time the Official Queue Organisers will come round and distribute small booklets, one per person. You MUST be here when they arrive as the books have serial numbers and mark your place in the queue. The Organisers will not give out spares for people who haven't arrived (or who have nipped off to the toilets) so be warned.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Drink some more, or sleep, depending on your need.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>At about 6:30am the queue organisers will come round again to wake you up. Send a driver off to move their car into the field. It costs about £12 to park for the day but it saves walking all your stuff back to the car. You should make sure you've packed everything up by 7:00am as the queue will start to move. Tents are a lot bigger than people so once everyone is packed away there's loads of gaps to fill so if you don't finish packing in time, get a couple of people to grab what they can and move with the queue while you finish. When the driver returns, load the car up with everything.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>The gates don't open until about 10:30 so keep with the queue as it magically contracts during the next couple of hours. If anybody dodgy tries to sneak into the queue point them out to the Organisers who will then ask to see their booklet and the ones of the people around them to make sure they match.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>It's crunch time now as you need to be outside the field and within sight of the bottom of the main road to stand a chance of getting good tickets. There's normally some free stuff being handed out by companies to advertise their stuff so keep your eyes open.<BR/><BR/></LI>
<LI>Around 10:00 the Organisers will come round again and give out plastic bracelets coloured for the Centre Count, No1 and No2. If you bought a program or a newspaper when they came round you'll know the order of play so choose which one you want (assuming your first choice is still available). The number on this bracelet is a token that allows you to buy a ticket for that court when you get to the gates.<BR/><BR/></LI>
</UL>
