Wonga

The world of Wonga is a colourful one. We owe a great deal to the World Wonga Association for signing the deal with The Big Breakfast back in 1999 to have exclusive rights to screening the game. Back then there was a crisis. The game was dieing out & only being played in a handful of men's clubs in Leicester. Now I get letters everyday from new players interested in Wonga. Demand is so high that The Big Breakfast even accommodated Junior Wonga thanks to its special tournament in Easter 2001.

But where did Wonga begin?

Imagine a world without the towering golden blocks and you'll be in Greece 247AD. Everyday fishermen used to return to their harbours and unload the daily catch to waiting merchants. The more fish they got onto their boats the higher their profits would be. Slowly one trader Sowon Garricus realised that cleverly packing the fish in a tower meant you could fit more profits into less deckspace. He constructed his towers in lines of 4 fish. The first row would run bow to stern, the next row port to starboard. His money making idea soon led to problems. There were so many fish in the tower that the merchants couldn't sell them all and the fish at the bottom would soon rot. Soon buyers were prompted into removing the fish from the bottom first. This lead to a startling discovery. The tower would remain upright.

Sowon Garricus became the most popular fish trader in Greece. People flocked to his corner of the market to try pulling fish out of the tower. Profits were up but there was still one worry. Some customers weren't actually buying his fish, they just wanted to see how many fish they could pull without the tower toppling. Instead of purchasing the fish they would be placed on the top of the tower. When the tower did topple people would cry out Sowon's name with delight. The chant was soon shortened to 'Won Garricus!' and Sowon changed his tactics. He charged people to play with, rather than buy, the fish.

This was a fatal mistake. People refused to pay, instead they started getting their own towers of fish and playing along the streets of Athens. This was expensive. It the hot climate fish rotted quickly and new sets had to be bought. A carpenter by the name of Julio Adams created the first wooden set in 251AD. In 256AD the first recorded 3x3 tower was constructed. Unlike fish the wooden blocks were more stable and uniform. When the old 4x4 games started lasting up to 5 days players knew things had to be sorted out. (Right: Picture of The Ancient Greek Won Garricus stadium at Dodoni)

Flash forward to 1046AD and English merchants sailing to Cyprus & other Greek Islands were intrigued by this strange game now know as Wongar. Slowly sets began to be taken back to Britain. It made quite an impact and became the game to play after a long day tending to your land. It was regarded as a novelty by the nobles of Britain until Edward IV began playing it to lower the stress of constant clashes between the Lancastrians and Yorkists. In fact it is said that Richard III banished the 2 young princes to the Tower Of London after losing a game of Wongar.

In 1588 Francis Drake refused to take on the Spanish Armada not because of a game of bowls but Wongar, it's said he was embarrassed to be found playing a peasants game and had historians rewrite the books for a more noble sport. Then in 1666 a baker, so engrossed in a game of Wongar with his son and daughter he left a french stick (which he used instead of wooden blocks) in the oven. This lead to the great fire of London and the end of Wongar in Britain. It was banned, and illegal Wongar Rings began cropping up over the land.

This continued for the next 100 years or so and slowly Wongar began to return to taverns across England this continued until Victorian times when Wonga was frowned upon by the prudish attitudes - far too phallic. Perhaps it would have remained this way if it wasn't for the Irish who loved the sport. Next to cock fighting Wongar (or Wonga as it was known there thanks to the Irish accent.) it was the most popular past time. During the World War One Wonga became the number one game in the trenches thanks to Irish soldiers bringing sets hand crafted by loved ones.

After WW1 its popularity spread once more through pubs & clubs not just in England but worldwide. Today it is played in 53 countires but still banned in France after Woodrow Wilson was furious at losing a game during the Versailles Treaty of 1919. This incident led to the formation of The World Wonga Accociation as an off-shoot of the League Of Nations to prevent international incidents caused by Wonga.

The 1990's saw a decline in Wonga's popularity - largely thanks to the increase of Video Games. (EA Sports tried to launch Wonga onto the Sega Megadrive but the tension of a real game just couldn't be reproduced.) That is until 1999 and a furious bidding war between British Eurosport and Channel 4 for the WWA World Series. Channel 4 won and as part of the deal got to broadcast a special prize edition open to the general public as part of The Big Breakfast's millennium celebrations. Wonga was being hailed as the game of the new millennium. Home sets were available in the shops at the price of £299.99. These exclusive sets were hand crafted at the WWA HQ in Geneva, one block taking up to 13 days to make!

The Future Of Wonga

Sadly though Wonga's revival was short lived. In September 2001 a major event spelt doom for the WWA. Scenes of the World Trade Center's collapse on 11th September deeply effected the then world champion Brad Syslack. In an interview with Sports Illustrated in December 2001 he announced his early retirement from the sport. His reason? Seeing Wonga towers falling every day was disturbingly reminiscent of September 11th. Soon others began finding the toppling towers of Wonga too distressing and the 2002 US WWA Championships were called off. Meanwhile in Britain the 2002 axing of The Big Breakfast means there is no longer a UK forum for broadcasting Wonga games.

Wonga though is an ancient game. Like Tic Tac Toe and Marbles there will always be someone, somewhere pulling bricks from a tower of power. Perhaps Wonga's national glory days are over but visit your local men's club and Wonga will still be being played!

Many thanks to Jenny Garr for letting us this material from her book "Wonga: A Brick Too Far"

• There are 3 streets in the world named Wonga. 2 In Brisbane Australia & 1 in Leicester.

• Zoologists are currently training a group of evolved chimps to play Wonga.

• The WWA Bricks are hand crafted by pygmies, each taking 13 days to perfect.

• NASA Banned Wonga from space missions as the bricks kept floating around and bumping into sensitive shuttle equipment.

• A rare Japanese Ivory wonga set was found aboard the Titanic's wreck.

• Some experts claim that Stonehenge is the leftovers of a giant game of Wonga.

• In 1942 glow in the dark editions of Wonga were marketed for use in the blackout.

• In 2009 there was a failed bid to introduce Wonga to the 2012 Olympics.

• Lady Gaga's stage name is inspired by her love of the game. However her manager insisted she shorten her desired name Lady Wongaga.