Aroundtown Magazine March/April 2022 edition

SPORT
at Horbury. When it first opened, there were
around 200 workers who made everything from
crash helmets to shuttlecocks and hockey sticks.
At Horbury, they made all the leather sporting
equipment such as boxing gloves and the
footballs used in the 1966 World Cup final.
Down the line, Barnsley operations would shift
so they focused primarily on tennis balls, with
another 600 staff enlisted to cope with demand of
the unique Wimbledon contact.
Forget the Bryan brother, Williams sisters, or
The Woodies; Slazenger and Wimbledon are
tennis’ most iconic double act. The partnership
‘‘Barnsley employees
made all the balls for the
Wimbledon tournament,
which was often more than
50,000 balls for the twoweek
duration – and the
company did it all for free’’
is the longest running in sporting history, with
Slazenger supplying the tennis balls to the
tournament since 1902. Barnsley employees
made all the balls for the Wimbledon tournament,
which was often more than 50,000 balls for the
two-week duration – and the company did it all
for free. Slazenger’s directors knew having their
brand name at the world’s most prestigious tennis
tournament was the best marketing tool they could
deploy and riding on Wimbledon’s coattails fuelled
worldwide sales.
Due to the high level of output, workers at the
Barnsley Slazenger factory were mainly employed
on piece work contracts, where staff would be paid
a fixed rate per unit they made. This attracted lots
of women to the job as they found they could earn
more than the standard hourly rate for women at
that time, which was substantially less than their
male counterparts, giving them the freedom to
earn enough to support themselves if they worked
hard or fast enough. One woman was noted to
have produced enough tennis balls to earn the
equivalent of £10 per hour, or around £30 an hour
at today’s rate.
Work was hard and physical, with cuts, scuffs
and blisters the norm, especially before the 1970s
when every aspect was done by hand, from rolling
the rubber, felting the ball, gluing on the white lines
and cutting off the excess. The Slazenger panther
was a hallmark of quality and their products
were praised for their superiority; unlike other
manufacturers, Slazenger used moulds to create
a perfectly round ball and filled them with nitrogen
gas so they’d last ten-times longer.
When Wimbledon’s Open Era started in
1968 and professional players were allowed
to participate, tennis became a much more
mainstream sport. The big hitters got bigger and
the balls took greater punishment, meaning they
had to withstand the improved quality of play.
The factory made tens of thousands of
tennis balls every day, and each one had to be
perfect. The factory employed teams of testers
whose job was to bounce each ball and record
the measurements for the utmost accuracy.
If just one ball was defective, it would cause
serious problems for the brand. Some workers
can remember the day when hordes of people
swarmed the factory after a ball used by John
McEnroe burst on court, with the big bosses
coming to learn from the expertise of the Barnsley
factory workers to find out what had gone wrong.
But despite the high workload and pressure of
perfection, conditions weren’t tough or sweatshoplike.
Most workers loved their time at Slazenger
because of the camaraderie. The workforce
became like a big family and workers often spent
more time with their colleagues than with their own
families at home. If anyone had a problem, they all
rallied round.
The company also gave a lot back to its
community. Management put on presentations
and awards every year, paid for pensioners’
parties at holidays like Easter and Christmas, gave
equipment to schools, and donated to raffles and
charities. And they always had the biggest float at
the Mayor’s Parade.
Each year, staff were chosen to go on an all
expenses paid trip to Wimbledon and given £30
spending money. Employees also had real routes
for progression throughout the company via
college courses. A worker could go from a ball
tester to head engineer or works’ manager if they
stayed with the company, which is why a lot of
employees worked at Slazenger for decades.
Sadly, globalisation and not reacting quick
enough to technological advancements led to
the downfall of Slazenger’s UK operations. The
Horbury site closed in the late ‘80s, with the
company shutting the doors to its Doncaster Road
factory in 2002 when it was bought by Sports
Direct. All production moved to a state-of-the-art
factory in the Bataan region in the Philippines
where labour was cheaper and the rubber
plantations closer.
While the Barnsley Serves the World exhibition
focuses on the strong industrial heritage of
Slazenger, it also gives a nod to the Filipino
culture of its present. The team at Experience
Barnsley have reached out to the current factory
management to highlight the pride in their
shared heritage. They have sent gifts including a
photobook, letter from the Mayor of Barnsley and
a poem written by Ian McMillan which have both
been translated into Tagalog. Ian’s sonnet, called
Over the Net and Over the Sea, has been inspired
by the rhythm and sounds of his time spent
working as a dipper at Slazenger and includes
some Filipino slang.
The poem and letter will also be on display
at the exhibition in Barnsley where a host of ace
activities are planned, such as juggling tennis
balls, making musical instruments out of tennis
equipment, and attempting to set some tennisthemed
world records.
At the launch day on Saturday 9th April, the
Experience Barnsley team will be serving up
some Wimbledon-inspired refreshments such
as Pimm’s and lemonade and strawberries and
cream. Ian McMillan will be giving a performance
of his poem, and you may spot a few tennis star
lookalikes walking round the museum. You cannot
be serious?
On Thursday 28th April, there will be a poetry
workshop called Talking Balls with Ian McMillan
where the Bard of Barnsley invites the public to
make a racquet and bounce words around to
make poems up about their memories of the
Slazenger factory. The event is free but you need
to book your place via Eventbrite.
Barnsley Serves the World is a free,
family-friendly exhibition that runs from
Saturday 9 April to Saturday 8 October at
Experience Barnsley Museum, based in the
town hall. For more information, visit
www.experience-barnsley.com
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