CROQUET: History of WCF World Championship

The first championship.

The first WCF World Championship was held in 1989 at the Hurlingham Club, London, in conjunction with that year's British Open Championship. 80 players competed, of whom 46 were from England. Other countries represented were Canada (1 player), Japan (1), Australia (4), New Zealand (6), Wales (4), Scotland (8), USA (5), and Ireland (5). New Zealand and Australia were represented by many of their Test players, whilst Toru Takano became the first Japanese player to play competitive croquet in England.

Two French delegates from La Rochelle were present for the whole week to study the action, and the Italian CA donated the first of their many "Fun" Cups to be awarded to the "personality" of the tournament - the person who gave most enjoyment to others. The event was sponsored by Continental Airlines, and the WCF was thus able to make contributions to the travel expenses of overseas players.

After a week of solid croquet, including not only the Championship but also a plate event and the British Open Doubles Championship, Joe Hogan of New Zealand ran out the winner to become the first ever croquet world champion at the age of 31. He had won the British Open Championship in 1986, and in 1988, when he won the New Zealand Open Singles title, he was considered by his peers to be the world's best player. His world title confirmed their opinion. At the time he won the world championship he had given up a career as a qualified carpenter and was training for the priesthood. Joe became the first winner of the Wimbledon Cup, generously presented by the All-England Club for the event.

The first championship was run as a knockout, with each match, including the final, being the best-of-three games. The "retrospective report" records that "there is far more work involved in organising a world championship than many of us had realised" and that "without any doubt, the holding of the championship has increased the game's prestige with the media and potential sponsors." Colin Pickering (Australia), who had played in the championship, put forward some ideas afterwards on how the organising committee should be structured for future events. Over the years, ideas gleaned from many sources and the experience gained from each championship have been recorded in the WCF booklet "Hosting a WCF Event", which acts as a guideline for event organisers.

The first sponsor.

The Continental Airlines sponsorship was repeated in 1990, following their review of press coverage the previous year. This time it was held as a separate event with 28 players, and the championship began with four preliminary blocks to decide which players went into the knockout for the last 16. This time, Robert Fulford (age 20 at the time) achieved the first of his championship wins, having been beaten in the previous year by New Zealand's John Prince in the fourth round of the knockout. His opponent in the 1990 final was 19-year old Mark Saurin, who won a contract to model clothing during the course of the tournament! France made its first appearance in the 1990 championship and 10 countries were represented. Five of the 28 places were allocated to winners of qualifying tournaments held prior to the championship itself.

In 1991, the championship was expanded to allow 32 players to take part. There were four preliminary blocks, followed by a knockout. For the first time, an official "Ground Manager" was appointed for the championship, responsible for "dressing" the ground each day to maintain the quality of presentation, spectator facilities, and so on. Social events for the players and officials included an evening visit to the Wimbledon Tennis Museum. Continental Airlines, who were to have sponsored the championship, had to withdraw at the last minute due to financial difficulties, and the event went ahead through the generosity of the All-England Lawn Tennis Club, who provided a substantial donation to ensure its success. Corporate hospitality facilities were provided at the championship for the first time. John Walters was a most unexpected winner of this championship, having had to win through a qualifying competition to be there at all, as he was not one of England's four nominated players. The two former world champions, Fulford and Hogan, met in the quarter-finals, with Fulford coming out on top only to be beaten by Walters in the semi-final. The other finalist, David Openshaw, England's team captain for a number of years, was a most experienced international player, but found Walters unstoppable.

The first championship in the U.S.A.The first three championships had been held in England because of the Continental Airlines sponsorship, but the intention had always been that the championship should rotate around the world to help publicise the game in all the WCF member countries. Thus in 1993, Foxy Carter, USCA President and a member of the WCF's Management Committee, negotiated arrangements to stage the 4th world championship at the Casino, in Newport, Rhode Island, home of the "Tennis Hall of Fame". The grass tennis courts at the Casino were converted into seven croquet courts, and four other courts were set up at a nearby country club. 32 players took part in four preliminary blocks to decide the four to go forward from each block to the knockout stage. The event was deservedly won by Robert Fulford, who had played well throughout the tournament, although reigning champion John Walters had his chances to clinch the final after a very poor start in the blocks. Jaguar Cars (US) provided sponsorship, and the success of the event was due in no small way to the abundant generosity and hospitality of the USCA's local supporters in Rhode Island.

Back in England at Carden Park.

The next year the championship came back to England, where it was staged at a brand new leisure complex at Carden Park, near Chester. It was played on a perfectly flat area, specially laid for croquet, which was large enough to accommodate 7 courts and two small-size lawns for corporate hospitality. Forty players took part, and all 15 WCF member countries were represented. The format was 8 blocks of 5 players, with four players from each block going forward to the knockout stage. The block matches were all single game, with best-of-three game matches in the knockout, except for the semi-finals and the final, which were best-of-five.. Media interest was very high, including a marvellous 10-minute radio interview given on the national network by Mark Kobelt (Australia) who had the misfortune to pull a back muscle in one of his games, requiring a helper to place the balls thereafter. Fulford completed a quadruple peel in the fourth game of his semi-final, and went on to record his third championship win. The Wimbledon Cup was presented to him by Lady Dinah Tollemache, a distant relative of the Lord Tollemache who dominated English croquet circles in the 1920' and 1930's.

The croquet players were virtually the first users of the luxury hotel accommodation, and for the first time the championship was held at a venue freely accessible to the general public. Banner advertising was used to provide additional income to supplement a grant from the English Sports Council, and a championship "shop" was set up to promote sales of equipment and other croquet items. In addition, display facilities could be hired by mallet manufacturers to demonstrate their goods. Carden Park provided a 300-seat spectator stand opposite the two main lawns, with tented accommodation elsewhere and flag poles for every country taking part. Favre, a French company producing children's toys and croquet equipment, provided additional sponsorship for the event. In return, players displayed the Favre logo on the side of their mallet heads. Social activities included a visit to Lord Tollemache's former home, Peckforton Castle, and a boat trip down the River Dee.

The first championship in mainland Europe.

The following year, 1995, saw the championship move to Fontenay-le-Comte in France. Antoine Ravez had announced France's intention to bid for this championship at the 1990 WCF Council meeting, and he had used this as a lever to obtain government grants to build 6 perfect croquet courts at Fontenay-le-Comte in preparation for the event. By the time of the event, Antoine had obtained an amazing amount of local support and sponsorship which was used to promote croquet as a popular sport and build Fontenay's reputation as France's "City of Sport". As an example of the publicity coverage, every bus shelter within 50km of Fontenay had posted on it a 4ft by 3 ft poster advertising the croquet championship.

The event also broke new ground by inviting top referees from overseas to officiate at the championship, with supported travel costs, and by combining the event with Fontenay's week-long agricultural "Fair". Conceptually the ideas were first-class, but the plans were upset by two major external events. The hotel due to accommodate the players and officials had to cease trading just before the event, due to lack of funds, and the government decided to hold its regional elections on the weekends at the start and end of the championship. This meant that alternative hotel accommodation was not easy to find for everyone, and alternative arrangements had to rely on local supporters and their friends. Nevertheless, the event took place, and everyone was eventually housed.

As with the 1912 Olympics, the idea of holding a sporting event in conjunction with another activity does not always work for the best. In practice, some players found the musical activities of the Fair off-putting, and the performance of the band of horn players was particularly unnerving, as no-one knew when the next blast was coming. Nonetheless, it was an experiment worth making. Social activities included a visit to the Son et Lumiere at Puy de Fou. The championship entry was again 40 players, with 8 blocks and a knockout. The "plate" event this time was a 14-point association croquet competition.

The first championship in the Southern Hemisphere.

After a 2 year gap, the championship moved to the Southern hemisphere for the first time. The Australian CA had invited bids from clubs who wished to host the championship, and award the event to Moorabinda Croquet Club at Bunbury, Western Australia. The major sponsor for the championship was Westralian Sands Ltd, who were the lynch pin of the whole financial structure, but in fact the Organising Committee under Tom Spencer found over 100 additional sponsors and supporters for the event, including one local sponsor who provided a brick-built extension to the club pavillion to provide a manager's office and communications facilities. Innovations included holding a major croquet event just before the championship for players of any ability, so they could stay over to see some of the championship for themselves, and the formation of a championship supporters' club, members of which were entitled to discounts from local suppliers.

The title was won for the fifth time by Robert Fulford, who completed 8 triple peels during his knockout matches. Once again, there were 40 players, with 8 blocks of 5 followed by a 16-player knockout. Players from Belgium, Egypt and Spain made their first appearance. The next World Association Croquet Championship will be held in England in 2001.