The joke goes that the easiest way to become a member of the Wimbledon tennis club is to win the annual tournament itself.
While that may not be strictly true, there are several hoops potential members need to jump through before they can serve on the famous lawns of the All England Club.
Unbeknown to many, the All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club Limited is a functioning membership organisation for the 49 or so weeks per year when the tournament is not being held.
Club member Laura Robson, a former British number one, said in a promotional video: “People come here for brunch on Sundays, or maybe a game of doubles.
“I’ve been a member here since I was 18 and I love to come down to the club. It is generally a very chilled atmosphere.”
The All England Club has been functioning since 1868 and counts The Princess of Wales as its patron.
Membership consists of five categories: Full members, life members, honorary members, temporary members, and junior temporary members.
There can only be 565 full members, life members, and honorary members combined. The latter group include “past singles champions, other eminent lawn tennis players, benefactors of the club or the championships, and other persons who have rendered special service to lawn tennis”.
So unless you are Roger Federer, or a select few others, you are best looking at temporary membership.
The club says these are “elected from year to year and generally are active players who make regular use of the facilities and play in matches during their period of membership”.
Robson, who retired last year, said that the word “temporary” does not mean you are likely to get kicked out - unless you perhaps throw a John McEnroe-style strop.
She said: “There’s a joke going around the club that the easiest way to become a member is to actually win the tournament
“You get a temporary membership by getting four letters from four different members who have been members for at least five years. Technically, if you are temporary they can still kick you out but I have not heard of them doing that.”
But there are only 120 temporary members who are picked by the committee and their membership is renewed on an annual basis.
There is more to it and it gets morbid. Full members need to be temporary members for a certain number of years and you get in “when someone else dies,” according to Robson.
She added: “They basically just want you to use the curve to be social and an active member. As long as you are ticking all those boxes you are going to get in.”
It’s not quite MENSA membership, or the Stonecutters, but there are a few boxes to tick and even Tim Henman, whose parents are members, has said “the easy way to get in is to win it”.
There is then the annual fee, which Forbes describes as “about the same as a meal for four at a standard London restaurant”. And there is a waiting list of more than 1,000 people going back many years.
Once members do get in, very few leave. And if you want to stay - you had better adhere to their strict dress code of wearing white on court and not wearing jeans in the clubhouse.
But you do get privileges. Full members get dedicated seats on Centre Court and access to tickets as well as the use of club facilities such as the gym and lockers.
Professional players can also be seen strolling around the clubhouse while you get brunch - and you might even spot celebrity members Sir Cliff Richard and the Princess of Wales herself. Sir Cliff will not necessarily serenade members when it rains, however.
So, to summarise, you do not have to be the champion at Wimbledon to get a membership, but it helps!
