Thought about 2036? – Wimbledon has ...

Lawn tennis, 1887. 

A print from the Library of Congress, Washington

Whoever would have thought that a patch of manicured green grass would evoke great minds to inspire the game of lawn tennis?  Those men of passion with their imagination gave rise to ideas where that creativity could flourish into the brand that we know today as Wimbledon.

Two centuries ago when the English were getting everywhere – and frankly I can say thank goodness for their intrepidness ... because we all speak English - exported our culture and entertainment too ... yes as time has gone on we’ve sat back and let everyone else beat us at our own games – oh well we enjoy the participation and hope!

Walter Clopton Wingfield on a

Hungarian stamp (credited

as the co-inventor of lawn tennis)

Times were changing in the late 1800s – people were becoming richer and could thus try new things, they could experiment and see where their talents lay, or just enjoy a little more entertainment.  Finally too the young people of both sexes could mix freely on the tennis courts without fear of scandal.

Marketing played a part – the game was first introduced to the public through the use of a complete kit – a box containing a net, racquets and a small rubber ball ...promoted by Slazengers, the present day ball suppliers.

The early adopters of the game realised that London was the place to hold the first championships, so in 1875 these were held in West London at what would become the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, before the move up the road in 1922 to the new bigger premises, today known simply as “Wimbledon”.

In 1884 the Ladies’ Singles was inaugurated, as was the Gentlemen’s Doubles ... overseas champions started to pepper the Winners’ Cups from 1905 ... the site continued to expand to meet the ever growing public demand.

Susanne Lenglen (1899 - 1938)

The Championships were hugely successful and became part of ‘The Season’ with Royalty participating or in attendance ...  the Committee in those early days had a vision having seen how popular the game had become ...  decided some regulations were needed for the Championships.

Early on Wimbledon was to be a grass court championship, with the contestants wearing white clothing (today this is to be predominantly white) – how that clothing has changed from long trousers, ankle covering dresses ... to the short shorts of the 1980s ... to today’s more comfortable shorts, with a designer coat or two thrown in.

In 1909 the Club colours initially were blue, yellow, red and green too similar to those of the Royal Marines .. and so were changed to purple and dark green – now immediately recognisable as Wimbledon colours.

Aorangi Hill when Wimbledon is in full swing
 - commonly known as Murray Mount 2011
courtesy The Writing Nut

The new site’s stadium accommodated 14,000 (what foresight) – King George V opened the modern premises, he was an ardent tennis player, as is his great, great grandson, Prince William, and the Duke’s new wife, Catherine.

Wimbledon continued to thrive with champions coming from all corners of the globe and in 1932 two hundred thousand spectators came through the turnstiles.  Today the attendance is ‘only’ 450,000 – probably due to seating being introduced, and Health and Safety capacity requirements.

After all these years when those first organisers revelled in what they had created ... I think they would be pleased that their vision has been maintained for what is now the premier tennis tournament in the world ...  the period 1877 – 1939 laid the foundations for that future.

During the War sportsmen in North America carried on with their tournaments, whereas here everyone was drafted in to the War effort ... the Championships were curtailed until 1946, and they were lucky to be able to resume as a ‘stick’ of (five) 500 lb bombs dropped on Centre court taking out 1,200 seats.

Aerial view of Shannon

The Club remained opened, but was requisitioned for a variety of civil defence and military functions ... troops stationed nearby used the main concourse for drilling.  At the ground was a small farmyard with pigs, hens, geese, rabbits etc with allotments scattered around.

After the war all hands were on deck to clear the damage and in 1946 the Championships resumed.  The overseas players returned ... the Americans dropping down at Shannon Airport in Ireland to refuel ... where the players picked up butter, cheese and necessary luxuries – on ration to the rest of Britain.

Rare Rump Steak

Jack Kramer (1921 – 2009) brought with him ... two steaks for each day of the two tournaments ... Queens and Wimbledon!  He said they helped him keep physically strong and mentally fit – he won that year.

In 1967 another 11 acres of land was purchased, which was leased to the New Zealand Sports and Social Club ... becoming known as Aorangi Park (Aorangi means ‘Cloud Piercer’ ... cloud in the sky, after the Maori part of Mount Cook), with the only proviso that during the championships the park would be used for car parking facilities.

Mount Cook - Aorangi

Another innovation occurred in 1967, with Richard Attenborough at the helm of BBC2, when a trial tournament was put on which was broadcast in colour – commencing the popularity of colour television to the viewing public. 

Jack Kramer and Dan Maskell were commentators for the BBC at the time.  BBC tv had started broadcasting Wimbledon in 1937 and has the rights until 2014; this year 3D coverage was broadcast for the first time.

In 1981 the New Zealand lease was terminated and the Club, over time, developed the area for its own purposes ... which we see today: Centre Court with its retractable roof (put to good use this year), Court One and new show courts, plenty of tournament and practice courts ...

New Press Centre 2011
c/o The Writing Nut

... to complete this picture the new Millennium building and subsequent developments this century have given the players, spectators, officials and media a better experience ... and have almost imperceptibly fitted seemlessly into the old ...

What does the future hold for what is the premier tennis tournament in the world, the one most coveted by the players to win ... the personalities come and go, and return to sit and watch, to commentate and provide us with the back story ...

... the vision of the brand has been maintained ... a quiet exclusivity – that continues on  ... to remain unique and maintain the intimacy and dignity that is Wimbledon – there are no mascots, cheerleaders or peripheral distractions ... this is solely a tennis championship: there is no need for mass commercial activity, no sponsorship logos ...

... minimal, almost subliminal branding, is allowed ... Rolex official timekeeper since 1978; Slazenger ball suppliers since 1902; Robinson’s barley water – the official still soft drink since 1934 ...

... a Robinson’s representative was present, realised the players desperately needed a drink while they were competing as it was very hot, he obtained glasses, jugs of water, some Robinson’s lemon barley water ... a brand was born.

Branding is important to Wimbledon ... and each label is selected for its exclusivity, elegance, uniqueness, tradition and/or innovation ...

IBM became the official supplier of information technology in 1990 – developing the website for 1996, the real-time immediacy of broadcast relays around the world .... news and multimedia .. blog, video, photos ...

Follow live scores, real-time statistics and comprehensive analytical match play analysis of The Championships, Wimbledon with IBM PointStream – a new way to enhance your Wimbledon on-line experience.

1908 Olympics - Tennis Championships

Next year the Olympics will be held after the tournament at Wimbledon – the 1908 Olympics were held at the Club, before tennis was dropped from the Olympics in 1924 ... to be reinstated in 1988.

Great Britain wasn’t scheduled to put on the Olympics in 1908 – it was due to be held in Naples, Italy – but Mount Vesuvius erupted on 7^th April 1906 devastating the city.

"Wimbledon Futures"

Have you ever thought about life in 2036 – so what does the future hold?  Wimbledon have a piece on this: ‘Wimbledon Futures’ ...  what changes will occur for the players, will virtual environments be used as training grounds, what will clothing be made of ... how will it look ... what about the racquets ... and what will our experience be sitting in our armchairs – I hope I’m around and hope my memory holds ... to remember ‘when I wrote about that’!

The Spirit of Wimbledon is its simplicity, elegance, adapting to the times, while maintaining that uniqueness and is remembered for the magic of the Grand Slam fortnight: royal visitors, champions of all sports to be honoured by Wimbledon, memorable days, charities supported ...

View across the grounds
c/o The Writing Nut

.... spectators and ‘The Queue’, players, officials, the ball boys, the groundsmen who maintain and hoover those impeccable courts each night – the whole that is the Wimbledon Championship experience seems secure for the next 25 years.

Tradition in the 21^st century needs to be maintained, however there remains an awareness that each year this quintessential English tradition needs to be enhanced and improved, without losing its tradition or history.

Wimbledon Visit with 'The Writing Nut'
"Wimbledon Futures" from the official site

Wimbledon "The Queue" - exhibition
Previous Wimbledon posts:  Do you hit the roof?
         A century of Aces; Afghanistan to Zimbabwe
           
Dear Mr Postman – we’ve had a quiet week with my mother.

Hilary Melton-Butcher

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