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Manic Monday marks Paul Wilson’s 109th trip to The Championships since 1986, when he came in the hope of seeing Boris Becker and become hooked on the Wimbledon experience.
Apart from 1990 and 1991, when he was recovering from a broken back, Paul ─ who lives four miles from the All England Club ─ has returned three or four times every year. “It’s so friendly and accessible,” he says. “There’s always the chance you’ll bump into a major tennis player walking around and they’re so friendly. We have photos with lots of them, including Rafa Nadal.”
Rafa features in Paul’s extensive catalogue of highlights. “The Spanish and South American players used to moan about the grass, but I remember when Rafa played Bobby Kendrick in the second round in 2006. He lost the first two sets, but you could see he was determined to fight and find a way on grass.
The crowd loved that and he went on to win and, ultimately, reach the final.” Monday marked Visit No.109 and counting. “I’ve not yet met Martina Navratilova,” he says with a look that suggests unfinished business.
Paul and his son Stewart, who has himself racked up 20 trips, have their visits down to a well-honed drill. “The alarm goes at 3am. We’ve packed lunch the night before – rolls, salad, olives, chicken satay. It’s shower, kettle on to make lots of cups of coffee to pour into the flask, and then we set off,” he says. “It’s like the morning routine scene from Wallace and Gromit.”
The alarm goes at 3am... It's like the morning routine scene from Wallace and Gromit
While Paul is happy to dispense advice to fellow Queuers, he is understandably more cagey about broadcasting his tactics in so successfully acquiring cut-price Centre Court re-sale tickets, but here is the gist of it: “At 4am we arrive in Wimbledon, park on the road outside The Queue, take in our camping chairs and picnic rugs, and join the line. If we get a number below 2,000, we know we’ll have a good day.
When the Stewards give the 6am call, I re-park in Car Park 10. It costs £30, which is more than the £25 we pay for a ground pass! At about 9am, our spot in The Queue moves past Car Park 10 so we put our chairs and rugs back in, and gain entry to the grounds by 9.30am.”
As soon as the rope drops to signal ‘Gates Open’, Paul and Stewart walk briskly to the Re-sale Kiosk north of Court 18 where they wait again in anticipation of 3pm, when the Kiosk opens and holders of ground passes can buy returned Centre Court tickets for £10, and reserved seats elsewhere for £5. “We are always pretty much front of the queue and, typically, should be in Centre Court seats by 3.30pm,” Paul says, clutching his gold-dust tickets for Gangway 314, seats 298 and 299. “We’d like to thank all the people that have their tickets scanned for Re-sale when they leave Centre Court. We get their seats but we never get to meet them.”
Stewart became hooked when he was nine years old. In 1999, Paul forsook the Re-sale Kiosk to take his son to Court 13 where they found front row seats to watch Goran Ivanisevic play Sandon Stolle. “It was before the scoreboards went electric, and every time Goran served from the advantage court, the ball rattled the metal scoring plates, which made him giggle. It seemed like Goran saw that and started doing it on purpose,” he recalls. "It became a bit of a thing."
The highlight last year involved superlative tennis and boiled sweets fit for VIPs. Sitting on Centre Court, they benefitted from a court switch when the all-French tussle between Gilles Simon and Gael Monfils was moved from No.1 Court in a bid to finish it and also from camaraderie extending from the Royal Box. “We were sitting in 212, Row A, right next to the Royal Box, so I was close to [then England rugby coach] Stuart Lancaster, who was a guest of the Club. I was passing out Jelly Babies to the Service Steward and others around me, and I thought I’d offer one to Stuart Lancaster and his wife. In return, his wife handed over the dish containing the sweets they have in the Royal Box. That was funny.”
It is a good 12-hour stretch from the 3am alarm call to the 3.30pm ticket acquisition, but the Wilsons say it is worth every minute for the memories.
