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

129 EPILOGUE I decided to write this account some 13 years after I had given up the Honorary Treasurership of the BAF, having subsequently spent 12 years as an elected member of the Council of the European Athletic Association. Within the EAA I quickly found myself doing much the same work (TV and sponsor negotiations and event organisation) as in the AAA- BAAB/BAF and have wondered why I found this period so enjoyable and fulfilling whereas my time in Britain was so arduous and, at times, unpleasant. There are a few key reasons. Firstly, the EAA is a stable and respected organisation within the sport in Europe and the rest of the world. Its primary role is to organise championship events which themselves have great credibility; the European Championships were for long the most important athletic event apart from the Olympic Games and, even now, are second only to the World Athletic Championships. The Officers and Council members are elected for four year periods which give them the stability and confidence to make sometimes difficult decisions without constantly looking over their shoulders to next year’s elections. As a result of these stabilising factors, the atmosphere and relationships between the individuals is friendly and supportive. This is not to say that mistakes or criticisms are never made but one does not find the animosity which was the hallmark of athletics in Britain. In contrast, athletics in Britain has rarely been comfortable in its own skin and there has hardly been a time when there was not one ginger or lobby group or another. British athletics has always needed to be dragged kicking and screaming from the past into the future, usually with a three party war between those who want to maintain the status quo at all costs, those who promote a plan for what they see as progress and a third group that agrees basically with the aims of the second group but knows better. A system that demanded all senior positions to be elected annually meant that there was little stability or real continuity, with an annual opportunity for the malcontents to wreak their damage. In addition, the programme of televised events that provided the financial bedrock of the sport for so long was itself controversial as many in