At Soho Farmhouse, padel follows the Soho House playbook

A competition built into club life

The second Soho Padel Club Cup took place on Friday 25 September at Soho Farmhouse in Oxfordshire. Held in support of Prostate Cancer Research, the programme combined a tournament, hospitality throughout the day and an evening dinner.

BBC Sport presenters Jeanette Kwakye and Qasa Alom hosted proceedings, with Alom also providing courtside commentary. House DJs handled the gaps between matches, while Ridgeview served its English sparkling wine to guests.

The format is straightforward: a genuine competition placed within the familiar rhythm of Soho House. Play gives the day its structure without pushing aside the music, conversations between members or the meal that follows it.

Music, television, film and football on court

The guest list drew from several strands of British public life. Jordan Stephens, Kano, Richard Gadd, Roman Kemp, Mo Gilligan and Aitch took part, alongside former England international Jill Scott.

Soho House also named padel players Frankie Langan, George Weller and Jasmine Dedakia among those involved. Their presence gives the tournament some sporting substance and prevents the court from operating solely as a backdrop for a celebrity gathering.

Finalists wore Vuori and the prizes were supplied by the brand. The relationship between guests, players and partners remains clear: each has a place in the programme, without the event being framed as a product launch.

From the court to the Glasshouse

The awards were presented at sunset before the evening moved to the Glasshouse. The three-course dinner offers another way to understand the day. Soho House is not trying to reproduce the protocol of a professional tournament; it is placing padel inside its own style of hosting.

Soho Farmhouse matters as much as the bill. Its courts, rural setting, dining spaces and membership network already form a coherent whole. The tournament fits into that setting without excessive staging or a lengthy explanation of why these people have gathered.

An event supporting earlier diagnosis

The charity element went beyond a line in the programme. During dinner, prostate cancer patient Maurice Blake spoke with Jeanette Kwakye about his experience and the importance of early diagnosis.

According to Prostate Cancer Research, one in eight men in the UK will be diagnosed in their lifetime. The organisation also reports that Black men are twice as likely to develop the disease and two and a half times more likely to die from it. Soho House stated that proceeds from the tournament and dinner supported the charity.

That conversation gives the gathering a clear function. Those present are not only invited to watch or play: the house’s network also helps carry a health message that directly concerns some of its members and guests.

A second edition finding its shape

The Soho Padel Club Cup is now in its second year. That continuity matters more than the scale of the field: it shows that the format can return, retain its identity and welcome new guests without being rebuilt from scratch.

The official post focuses on the encounters, the courtside atmosphere and the cause. That is also the clearest reading of this edition. Padel gives people from music, television, comedy, football and the Soho House network a shared programme; the hospitality does the rest.