Over the years, the World Conker Championships has been run in numerous ways but, at it’s heart, it has always been a knockout competition. These days, due to the large number of competitors it’s broken down into multiple rounds where players pair off and battle in games where only the winner progresses to the next round to fight for a chance at a crown.
Through the earlier rounds, the competition is split into 5 groups for each colour of bib. Each colour is called in turn and this continues typically through the 1st and 2nd round. Therefore, be sure to stick within earshot of the commentator as he will announce which colour needs to queue up next as the competition progresses.
Should you win your game in a round, the match umpire will give you a wristband. This is your entry ticket to the next round of play and must be given to an umpire in order to play your next match. Each round will award a different coloured wristband that the winner will take to replace their previous one.
On the day of the competition, the venue is open to the public from 9:30 and player registration remains open until 11:00. If you have registered online, we recommend arriving by around 10:30 at the latest to ensure you can sign-in before the competition starts.
The Junior Championships opening ceremony will kick off at 10:30 and the Adult Championships ceremony will follow shortly after at 11:00. The competition will then run up until around 16:00, at which point the finals will be held and the new Conker King and Queen for 2025 will be crowned.
Players who have registered in advance online or looking to sign up on the day will need to make their way to the registration tent, which is located beside the main entrance gate. At this tent, registered players can sign in to receive their player bib and anyone looking to sign up on the day can claim any remaining places in the competition. These places are normally incredibly limited and are often all claimed by 10:00 on the day of the Championships. Therefore, we always recommend registering online to guarantee an opportunity to play.
Anyone who has registered in advance or registers on the day gets free entry into the event grounds as part of this. However, that entry doesn’t include family members and friends, who must pay through the main entrance gate.
Alongside the Adult Championships, we also run a separate competition for children and teenagers to ensure they can also get in on the action. To keep things fair, we split this into two groups based on age with the Junior format taking kids aged 6 – 10 and the Intermediate format covering ages 11 – 15. Should they wish to play, young adults aged 16 and up can compete with the adults if they have permission from a parent/guardian accompanying them on the day.
In its premise, the Junior Championships run in a very similar way to the Adult Championships. However, in keeping with the fun nature of the day, we open up the first round of play and allow children to enter as many times as they want. If they get a win, they can play in the next round, after which point, the competition proceeds using the standard winner stays in knockout system used for the adults.
The finalists for each format of the competition will then get to play their final match in the main arena for the adult competition and will benefit from a full crowd supporting them as they fight to become World Champions!
As you’d expect, the World Conker Championships have a detailed set of rules that all competitors must abide by. Be sure to read up on them!
In order to run the competition smoothly and, most importantly, fairly; we have a large team of officials who kindly volunteer their time in the ring.
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