Super-fan Geoff Hughes has spent two decades camping for the entire two weeks in the queue to attend Wimbledon
BySarah Hawley
Reporting fromAt Wimbledon
For many fans, Wimbledon is not simply a sporting event – it is a place where lifelong friendships are formed, traditions are passed down and memories are made year after year.
Geoff Hughes, who has made the annual pilgrimage to SW19 for three decades, says: “I wish I could bottle how I feel when I’m down there.
“The sights, the sounds and the smells of Wimbledon. Truly, there’s nothing like it.”
While Geoff is a devoted regular, many others are experiencing the wonder of Wimbledon for the first time.
Tennis is enjoying a surge in popularity, driven in part by a new generation of compelling young stars attracting fresh audiences to the sport.
That has been reflected in record crowds, with more than 548,000 people attending the Championships last year – the highest in Wimbledon’s history.
A record number of fans attended Wimbledon last year
For stalwarts like Geoff though, the Wimbledon appeal has been there from the start.
The 66-year-old, from Malpas in Cheshire, may be its most dedicated queue veteran. He has camped out there for the entire two weeks of the tournament for the past 20 years.
Rules of the queue are simple. The day before you want to watch a match, head to Wimbledon Park, go to the back of the line and receive a queue card, which marks your position. Those who join by mid-afternoon and camp overnight are usually in contention for a court ticket the following day.
“The best thing is just the atmosphere throughout the whole queue. Chatting to people, meeting new friends,” Geoff says.
Fans compare the traditional Wimbledon queue to “Glastonbury for tennis fans”
Geoff is also a member of fan group The Murraynators, and has numerous Wimbledon stories about British tennis player Andy Murray as well as a treasured selfie with his hero.
He remembers standing on Henman Hill in 2012 “in the pouring rain with a bin bag over my head” watching Murray lose to tennis legend and winner of 20 Grand Slams Roger Federer in the men’s final.
But “redemption followed” the next year when he was lucky enough to secure final tickets in the public ballot.
He watched Murray beat Novak Djokovic in that 2013 final. “I still can’t believe it to this day,” he says. “That was special.”
Geoff has bumped into numerous tennis stars at Wimbledon over the years, including his hero Andy Murray
Fellow Wimbledon regular Kev Cooper, from Cotgrave in Nottinghamshire, can go one better.
A last-minute ticket swap with a fellow spectator got him on to Centre Court for a Murray victory in 2015 – and he came away with an incredible souvenir.
“Murray threw his shirt into the crowd,” he says. “I’m quite big, an ex-goalie, and I put my arm up and just caught it. I was buzzing.”
Since 1997, the 59-year-old has spent the first week of the Championships camping in the queue, with his campervan parked nearby full of supplies.
Kev says: “You need to put in a bit of ground work but you get access to all the best tickets and it’s a great atmosphere.”
Kev Cooper managed to catch Murray’s shirt after swapping tickets with another Wimbledon spectator
Lucy Nixon, from Wymondham in Norfolk, says she first started camping in the queue in 2002 and gradually worked up to spending the entire two weeks at Wimbledon.
The 49-year-old says it has a “festival atmosphere”.
“It’s like Glastonbury for tennis fans,” she says. “It’s pretty unique and that’s one of the reasons why fans travel from all over the world to come.”
Lucy says the friendships fans make in the “camping community” of the queue is what makes it so special.
She says she has met “lifelong friends” there, including Richard Hess from California in the US.
“He’s been coming every year since ’78. We met in 2002 and we just hit it off straight away,” she says. “Wimbledon is our annual get-together.”
Richard even travelled to the UK to attend Lucy’s wedding and she has been to visit him to watch the US Open.
They plan to meet up again at the campsite this year, although Lucy now admits she does spend a couple of nights away from the tent.
“When I was younger… budget-wise I had no choice but to camp, I had to suck it up in the rain,” she says. “But now I need some days off with a proper bed thrown in.”
Wimbledon fan Lucy Nixon has made lifelong friends in the queue including Richard Hess from the US (centre) and Phil Nelson from the UK (left)
Wimbledon, and a mutual love of tennis player Boris Becker, also brought together Jacqueline Webb-Watson and Nicola Dawson, forging a 40-year friendship.
Jacqueline, from Loughton in Essex, says her “love affair” with SW19 began in 1977 through listening to matches on the radio before her first visit with family in 1984.
“We arrived at 11:30 and walked straight in – I’m still baffled by the lack of queues that day,” the 58-year-old recalls.
By then, she had connected with fellow Becker fan Nicola and the pair had “great adventures” camping at Wimbledon over the years.
But her “absolute highlight” is watching the 2013 men’s semi-finals – the year Andy Murray eventually claimed his first title.
“That day was pure magic. Hot, sunny, incredible matches from a prime seat on Centre Court, and the sheer joy of seeing a British man reach the final. I’ll admit, I definitely shed a tear when Andy finally won it,” Jacqueline says.
She said Wimbledon’s “distinct Britishness… the traditions, the immaculate grounds and the legendary organisation” of the queue made it the best tournament on the circuit.
“Having visited all four Grand Slams, I might be biased, but Wimbledon is truly in a league of its own,” Jacqueline adds.
Jacqueline at Wimbledon in 1988 with friend Nicola Dawson who she met through their mutual admiration of tennis player Boris Becker
Essex fan Nigel Warner recently completed a bucket list ambition of visiting all four Grand Slam tournaments and agrees Wimbledon is the best.
The 65-year-old, from Great Eastern, says: “It’s the history, it’s the fact that it’s the only grass court tournament, it’s the premier sporting event that I go to.
“There’s something about that place when you walk in, it has a special aura. It’s a really great day out.”
Nigel says he has been to Wimbledon almost every year since 1999.
“I was there in 2003 when Federer played. He was quite young then and no-one quite knew how good he was. But he had something about him even then,” he says.
His other highlight is seeing Spanish legend Rafael Nadal’s final Wimbledon appearance in 2022.
“You never appreciate the talent until you see the shots they pull off when you’re there in person. It’s just incredible,” he says.
Essex fan Nigel Warner (pictured with wife Caroline) says Wimbledon has a “special aura”
Sheryl Ward, from Basingstoke, has been attending Wimbledon with friend Marianne Asprey almost every year since 1996 and remembers “screaming herself hoarse” on the Hill – an area where fans gather in front of a big screen at the Championships. It has been affectionately named Murray Mound over the years or Henman Hill in tribute to Tim Henman who held British Wimbledon hopes in late ’90s and early ’00s.
“Wimbledon is special because it is one of the only major sporting events that you can still queue and get a reasonable priced ticket for,” she says.
“The queue is great, an experience in itself [with] a terrific atmosphere. Mostly talking non-stop tennis to every nationality imaginable that I have queued next to.”
Over the years, they have experienced everything the British summer can deliver.
“I’ve queued in rain, sun and once hail… at the age we are now it is always a joy to get tickets and not have to queue,” she says.
Sheryl Ward (left) and friend Marianne have “queued in rain, sun and once hail” to secure tickets to Wimbledon
Despite loving the Wimbledon queue experience, Geoff does admit the British climate can cause havoc.
“The worst thing about Wimbledon is the weather when it’s bad,” he says. “The next worst thing, if you like, is sleep. You don’t get any.”
But he says he likes to think of himself as “a true fan” and cheerfully accepts the lack of facilities for the full two-week stretch.
“You do have to rough it a bit. It’s a tough gig, but it’s just one of the best gigs in the world,” Geoff adds.
“It’s just one of the best gigs in the world,” says fan Geoff Hughes of the Wimbledon experience
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