Athletics in the UK: The Rise and Fall of the BAF

102 Athletics and television Despite the need for confidentiality, details of the proposed deal soon leaked out. Les Jones, a member of the JSC and bound by its confidentiality, would admit that, in an attempt to salvage something for Northern Ireland, he had lobbied both the Southern Counties AA and his friend Brendan Foster, thinking that the latter could open a door to the BBC. David Bedford, at a JSC meeting on 10 th October 1989, went so far as to accuse the negotiators of deliberately manipulating the discussions so as to exclude Northern Ireland, Cross Country and the IAC. It looked as if the painfully won deal might unravel and the public bickering was extremely dangerous as the sport risked ITV changing its mind and walking away. Had this happened the sport would have been left swinging in the wind as the likelihood of a rival offer from the BBC was remote and the malcontents would have had to accept a heavy responsibility. Fortunately, wiser heads prevailed and the proposed contract was accepted at a joint meeting of the AAA General Committee and the BAAB Council on 21 October 1989 after a long explanation of the negotiations by Andy Norman and me. Approaches to Channel 4 to take some of the events rejected by ITV did, however, prove successful and Channel 4 agreed to cover the UK Championships and the Belfast Games. ITV had negotiated separately with the IAC and reached a parallel agreement. Television income had thus been secured until March 1994 and these were to be John Bromley’s parting gifts to athletics as he resigned from ITV soon after. But the seas ahead would remain rough.