Wimbledon ticket guide

Wimbledon. A British sporting institution.

Year after year, thousands of people queue up outside the All England Club in the hope of catching some Centre Court action during the two weeks of the championships.

But alas, Centre Court tickets are difficult to come by - think Charlie winning Willy Wonka's golden ticket.

But if you are determined to bag yourself some gold-dust, then here is a useful guide to help your cause.

PRE-ORDERING

2004 TICKET PRICES Centre Court: Mon & Tue £30, Wed & Thu £39, Fri & Sat £46 Second week: Mon & Tue £53, Wed £62 Thu-Sun n/a Court 1: Mon & Tue £28, Wed & Thu £37, Fri & Sat £42 Second week: Mon & Tue £48, Wed £56, Thu £39, Fri £25, Sat £23, Sun £21 Court 2: Mon & Tue £23, Wed & Thu £27, Fri & Sat £30 Second week: Mon £34, Tue £26, Wed £24, Thu-Sun n/a Ground to 5pm: Mon-Sat £15 Second week: Mon £15, Tue & Wed £13, Thu £12, Fri & Sat £11, Sun £6 Ground after 5pm: Mon-Sat £9 Second week: Mon £9, Tue-Thu £8, Fri & Sat £7, Sun £3

Any hopes of booking a ticket to watch the 2004 Championships have gone.

The All England Lawn Tennis Club has a ballot system - which has been running since 1924 - whereby the public apply for tickets.

Even that is no guarantee for success as demand always exceeds supply.

The ballot closed for Wimbledon 2004 on 31 December 2003 - so bad luck this time round if you missed the deadline.

You could lie and say your application got lost in the post, or beg, but neither is likely to get the All England Club to change its long-established rules.

You will be better off digging out the diary and making plans for 2005.

Next year's tournament runs from Monday 20 June to Sunday 3 July and for tickets you need to write to Ticket Manager, The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club, PO Box 98, Wimbledon, London SW19 5AE or go to the official website at:

www.wimbledon.org

The Lawn Tennis Association also has a ballot, and this one gives you an extra couple of months to enter.

Known as the LTA Advantage Members' Ballot, names are drawn out in March, which means you are too late for this one too, but you can find out more on their official website at:

www.lta.org.uk/advantage

QUEUING

The earlier you arrive, the better your chances of seeing some action

We have all seen the scenes on television.

Hordes of people running through the Wimbledon gates having queued for hours to earn the right to grab a prized piece of the action.

There are about 500 tickets available to the public for Centre Court and Court One for each day of the championships - all except the final four days.

In addition there are 500 tickets available for each day of action on Court Two.

Committed fans will start queuing before the sun comes up - some before it even goes down the previous day.

It's the only tournament where people sleep in tents to get tickets - that shows how special it is Mark Philippoussis

Those who value a good eight hours in their own bed rather than on the pavements of SW19 will find themselves hoping that two-and-a-half hours in the queue before the gates open at 10.30am will be enough to secure a decent spot.

The queues start at Gate 3, one running north, the other south. Each has an identical allocation.

There is the other option of coming after work to watch one of the late matches on the outside courts.

Hardly any queuing is involved and often you'll find a classic five-setter going on somewhere.