Did a badminton champion lead the way in popularising the wearing of shorts by men players of racquet sports?

It’s been more than 90 years since Bunny Austin shocked Wimbledon by giving up on the white cricket flannels traditionally worn by male tennis players on the grounds their weight slowed him down and reached the 1934 finals in shorts.

But by then Bristol-born Raymond ‘Bill’ White had been playing in shorts for at least three years while winning multiple tournaments on the international badminton circuit, including when reaching the men’s singles finals of the sport’s equivalent of Wimbledon in 1932, and winning the men’s doubles with Donald Hume.

White’s well-documented adoption of shorts and championship titles give him a place of honour in the Badminton Museum, Milton Keynes, where the photo records include one from a1931 England v Ireland international match he played in shorts in London against in Frank Devlin.

There is no evidence, alas, of another alleged wardrobe first by White – that is that he is still the only racquets sports star to report to a major tournament referee dressed in a dinner jacket.

From the mid-30s onwards more and more racquet sport players switched to shorts but long pants continued to be favoured at Wimbledon by France’s Yvon Petre, including when he won the 1946 men’s title. The last Wimbledon player seen in trousers was Trey Waltke, USA, who wore a pair held up by an old school tie for fun during his 2^nd round defeat in 1983 by that year’s eventual semi-finalist, Ivan Lendl…more

Pam Beddard

THE FIRST WOMAN’S SINGLES CHAMPION AT THE ALL-ENGLAND BADMINTON CHAMPIONSHIPS – ETHEL THOMSON.

Only three doubles events were played at the first All-England Badminton Championships in 1899. So, it was the next year, 1900, that the tournament was expanded to two days to include the men’s and women’s singles.

In 1900, at the age of 20, Ethel Thomson from Budleigh Salterton, Devon, England, became the first All-England woman’s singles champion. Ethel had to play fellow Devon player Muriel Lucas in the semi-final – they were considered the two best women players in the tournament. At that time, there was no seeding in the Championships; seeding was not introduced to the All-England Badminton Championships until 1932. In the final, Ethel beat Miss E. Mosley from Sutton Coldfield 17-15, 15-11. She also won the women’s singles title in 1901 and 1903, winning the trophy outright in 1904. Before 1979, if an All-England Champion won a trophy for three consecutive championships or four Championships in total, they were awarded the trophy outright. At the 1906 All-England Championships, she was the first woman player to complete the triple, winning the singles, women’s and mixed doubles titles.

At the very first All-England Championships in 1899, Ethel Thomson played women’s doubles with fellow Budleigh Salterton Badminton Club partner Jean Theobald, and they reached the final, only to be beaten by another pair from Devon, Muriel Lucas and Violet Graeme from the Teignmouth Badminton Club.

From 1902, Ethel would team up with Muriel Lucas in the women’s doubles, and they would share the first 11 women’s singles titles of the All-England from 1900 to 1910, with 5 in favour of Thomson and 6 in favour of Lucas. Together, they won 4 All-England women’s doubles titles. It was reported that they never lost a doubles match in tournament play. Ethel Thomson would win 3 All-England mixed titles with George Thomas. She retired from top-class Badminton in 1906 when she married Dudley Larcombe – Secretary of the Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club.

Ethel returned to badminton and tennis in 1911. Like many good badminton players of that time, Ethel Thompson was also a top-class tennis player, playing 70 matches at Wimbledon from 1902 to 1921. At the age of 33, she won the Wimbledon Women’s Singles Championships in 1912, and she also added the mixed doubles championship title partnering Cyril Parker from Ireland in 1914.

​Ethel Thomson and Sidney Smith, the first-ever All-England Badminton men’s singles champion in 1900, played tennis mixed doubles together, and they were the mixed doubles Wimbledon All-Comers tournament winners in 1903 and 1904.

Wimbledon, until 1922, had a system where players played in the All-Comers tournament, and then the winner played in the Challenge Round final against the holder of the title from the previous year; the winner of this final would be the Wimbledon champions.

A type of racket used in early All-England Championships and a Jaques ‘Association First Choice’ ‘barrel’ shuttlecock, so-called because its feathers shape closely resembles a barrel. The shuttlecocks were manufactured in France, and in the early days, with no specifications laid down; they suffered from a considerable variation in the length of flight, size, weight and uniform strength. This type of shuttlecock was used in the first 10 years of the All-England Championships.

For more information about the history of the All-England Badminton Championships – Click Here.

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2026 Yonex All-England Badminton Championships

Tuesday 3 March 2026 to Sunday 8 March 2026.

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Visit the Badminton Museum, National Badminton Centre, Bradwell Road, Loughton Lodge, MILTON KEYNES MK8 9LA.

Visitors are welcome to look around the Museum unescorted at any time – The National Badminton Centre is normally open 9am to 8pm every day.

Free Admission.

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Accessibility

The Badminton Museum is on the 1st floor with a lift. Disabled toilet facilities are available on the 1st floor. There is no wheelchair accessibility to the Museum office.

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There is a restaurant on the first floor serving breakfasts every day of the week and light lunches on weekdays.

Free parking at the National Badminton Centre.

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National Badminton Centre 

Lodge Hotel.

For more information and to book a room – Click Here.

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If you have any badminton memorabilia, archive material, or any other items and would like to donate them to the Badminton Museum please contact us at: –

 museum@badmintonengland.co.uk

Thank you to all the ‘Friends of the Museum’ and people who have made donations to the Badminton Museum, your support enables us to purchase extremely rare badminton artefacts for the National Collection as they become available.