All England Club pan their own official film

THE 10th anniversary of equal prize money at Wimbledon was far from represented in the official film of last year’s tournament.

Distributed to all TV networks covering The Championships and available to buy on DVD or download, it is remarkably slanted towards the men’s action despite the pride shown at the All England Club this week over giving equal status to both sexes for a decade.

The 55-minute film commissioned by the All England Club and produced by their long-time agents IMG devotes 9min 17sec to the men’s quarter-finals but a measly 43sec to the women’s last-eight stage. The men’s semi-finals cover 9min 30sec, while the women’s get 1min 6sec.

The All England Club’s annoyance can be seen in the comment from an official spokeswoman, especially when the private members’ club prefer to remain tight-lipped on most issues.

She said: ‘The club is committed to ensuring a balanced view of the sport. This has not been reflected in last year’s film the way we would like it and we will ensure we improve on this.’

EXCITABLE tennis broadcaster Annabel Croft (right) was on a personal publicity drive at Wimbledon yesterday, walking around the grounds carrying a wicker bag with ‘Annabel’ stitched on to it.

MEMBERS of Wimbledon Park Golf Club are looking for considerably more than the £25million landowners All England Club offered in 2015 to forfeit their lease, which runs until 2041.

The rejected offer, which would have given a £50,000 windfall to golf members of 10 years or more, was for the AEC to take over its 73 acres in 2020. The golf club weren’t impressed considering they already receive more than £1m-a-year from Wimbledon car parking on their course.

Richard Lewis, AEC chief executive, said the club had yet to decide if they will bid again. But it will need to be at least double the previous offer to have any chance of changing the views of a wealthy 800-strong golf membership.

WIMBLEDON’S promotional campaign — In Pursuit Of Greatness — includes claims that 1,000 suggestions for improvements are collated by tournament director Sarah Clarke. One major improvement from 2016 is that a picture of your Sports Agenda columnist doesn’t adorn security files for the corporate hospitality areas.