How to queue for Wimbledon

If you can’t afford to buy a Debenture Ticket, your other option is to queue. Wimbledon is unique amongst the world’s greatest sporting events in issuing tickets on the day to the first-comers. It’s a great tradition and has led to an event in itself: the famous Wimbledon queue.

1. If you want to see a full day’s play (which usually starts at 11am or 12pm), you will need to start queuing from about 8am. The queue is very orderly and civilised. You will be issued on arrival with a numbered queue ticket so that you can leave the queue for short periods and return. You will find plenty of facilities including toilets, refreshments, etc.

2. Arriving in the morning is fine if you just want a ground pass, which will get you onto the outside courts. But if you want guaranteed tickets to one of the show courts, you will usually need to queue overnight. In previous years that meant camping on the streets of SW19 but now overnighters are allowed to camp in the leafy surroundings of Wimbledon Park. You will get your own patch and there are storage facilities where you can leave your camping equipment when you enter the grounds. It’s great fun, but wrap up warm!

3. Another option is to queue later in the day. One most days of the Championships (but NOT on finals days), a second batch of tickets is released at 5pm. These cost £14 and are great value as you can often see tennis played until 9.30pm. Some people start queuing at about 3pm for these tickets though you might be lucky arriving at 5pm or even 6pm. We’ve walked straight in before at 6pm.

4. Once you get into the grounds, you can queue for tickets to all the show courts. When ticket holders leave for the day they are asked to have their tickets scanned. Their seats are then released for resale, with the money going to charity. Late in the day the queues move surprisingly quickly and this is a great way to get onto Centre Court or Number One Court.