Imagine the scenes on Sunday night. England have just defeated Spain on penalties to win Euro 2024 — a first major tournament victory since the 1966 World Cup — and the BBC’s television director decides to cut to live footage of the rapturous celebrations around the country. Boxpark in London is first, followed by Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool and then back to London to the All England Club.
Thousands of Wimbledon ticket-holders had gathered on Henman Hill to watch the action from Berlin on the big screen and are now waving flags and jumping for joy as the overhead camera sweeps across the site. This cheerful sight at an iconic sporting venue sums up the national mood and goes on to become one of the abiding pieces of fan footage from this famous night.
As it stands, this is pure fantasy. When the match kicks off at 8pm on Sunday, those at Wimbledon will not be able to find a single screen showing the football in public view. In line with “health and safety” protocol throughout this fortnight, even the window blinds of the media centre will be pulled down to stop people from peering through.
Wimbledon organisers have long refused to show football inside these hallowed grounds, insisting this is a tennis tournament that stands on its own two feet without the need to cater for those interested in viewing other sports. It is admittedly understandable that they do not wish to distract from the action on the court if the football is taking place at the same time.
This Sunday is different, though. By the time the Euro 2024 final starts, the Wimbledon men’s singles final will almost certainly be finished having started at 2pm. A five-set grass-court match that goes right down to the wire generally does not last longer than five hours.
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The spanner in the works is the delayed mixed doubles final. Because of the rain interruptions throughout this fortnight first-round matches were only completed on Wednesday and the final has been moved back from Thursday to Sunday. It is due to follow the completion of the men’s singles final on Centre Court.
This obviously runs the risk of clashing with the football, which is an unsatisfactory scenario for almost every stakeholder. It is not ideal for the players involved to be contesting a final in a half-empty stadium that is barely registering in the television ratings. Spare a thought too for the ball kids and staff.
Wimbledon officials have previously suggested that spectators on site can watch the football on their smartphones through the on-site public Wi-Fi, but this creates two separate issues. There is likely to be disruption to the tennis, as there was during Novak Djokovic’s third-round match when spectators cried out in celebration as England defeated Switzerland on penalties. The delays inherent to internet streaming also mean the potential winning moment will not be seen by everyone at the same time.
There are two possible solutions that would prevent a clash. The first is to start the mixed doubles final at 11.30am on Centre Court. No match in the mixed draw so far has lasted longer than two hours, meaning that it will almost certainly be over in time for the men’s singles final at 2pm. While the grass inside the sheltered stadium court does take longer to burn off the morning dew, it should be sufficiently dry for a match in which players are generally only covering half the court anyway.
The second option is to move the mixed final to No 1 Court. While it would be a shame for the championship match not to take place on the main court here, one suspects that the players would rather not be waiting all afternoon for a potential five-set singles final to finish. There is also recent precedence for a switch as the 2019 mixed final took place on No 1 Court.
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No doubt the All England Club have become more open to making changes to long-held protocols in recent years, but occasionally this institution still needs a little push now and again. Wednesday’s television viewing figures, in which a peak audience of 20.3million for England’s semi-final vastly outperformed the 2.4million peak recorded at Wimbledon, should act as a timely reminder that football rules the roost.
There was also a video from Silverstone last weekend that demonstrated the benefit of showing football. After a day of watching qualifying for the British Grand Prix, thousands of Formula 1 spectators stood behind Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to watch England triumph on penalties against Switzerland. Not only was this a nice moment, but it was great PR with millions of views on social media.
Now here is a chance for Wimbledon to get involved. When the tennis is done on Sunday, Henman Hill should become the place to watch potentially one of this nation’s great sporting moments. It is time for the All England Club to swallow its pride, break with tradition and embrace this unique opportunity.
