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

2006 TICKET PRICES

• Centre Court: Mon & Tue £34, Wed & Thu £43, Fri & Sat £51
  Second week: Mon & Tue £59, Wed £69 Thu-Sun n/a

• Court 1: Mon & Tue £32, Wed & Thu £40, Fri & Sat £47
  Second week: Mon & Tue £54, Wed £62, Thu £42, Fri £28, Sat £26, Sun £23

• Court 2: Mon & Tue £25, Wed & Thu £30, Fri & Sat £35
  Second week: Mon £38, Tue £29, Wed £26, Thu-Sun n/a

• Ground before 1700 BST: Mon-Sat £17 Second week: Mon £17, Tue & Wed £15, Thu £14, Fri & Sat £13, Sun £8
  
• After 1700: Mon-Sat £11 Second week: Mon £11, Tue-Thu £10, Fri & Sat £9, Sun £5

Any hopes of booking a ticket to watch the 2006 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 2006 at the end of last year - 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 2007.

Next year's tournament runs from Monday 27 June to Sunday 8 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.

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:

QUEUING

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 1030 BST will be enough to secure a decent spot.

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