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

39 Bring back Evans could vote but this was not conclusive. The intention when Farrell (pictured) had been appointed was that, even though a paid official, he would be a bona fide member of the general committee with a vote and this much was clear but the wording of the constitutional changes made at the time had left an uncertainty and the advice was that it would be safer if Farrell did not vote. The first item of real business at the first meeting after every AGM was to appoint a chairman of the General Committee for the succeeding year. Bill Ferguson, who had been chairman since January 1987, was duly nominated by the Midland Counties whereupon Bill Evans was nominated by the Southern Counties and was elected by the narrowest of margins; 13 votes to 12. The significance of the Farrell challenge was revealed as he would certainly have voted for Ferguson as the incumbent and there would have been a tie. A further curiosity of the constitution was that, in the event of a tie, the incumbent chairman (in this case Ferguson, even if he were not chairing the meeting) would have had a casting vote although whether it would have been proper to have used it in his own favour is another matter. It seemed to me that the Southern Counties had taken this step (which some saw as sharp practice) as they saw Bill Evans as more sympathetic to their cause than Bill Ferguson. Ferguson had also probably paid a price for not exercising his casting vote as chairman at the previous meeting, in October, when the committee had split equally with 13 votes to 13 on the issue of the Southern proposals. Bill Evans’ election as chairman, and the manner of it, attracted criticism and Eric Shirley (former Olympic athlete and a Life Vice President of the AAA) stated his opinion that “ in his position as chairman of the [BAF] working party as well as of the General Committee, he (Bill Evans) would oversee the destruction of the AAA ”. This was an extreme view but not unique. After the bloodletting, it appeared that matters settled down a little and Bill Evans, now working closely with Derek Johnson and Arthur McAllister, did produce a draft constitution that, despite some reservations that it was a fudge and would not stand the test of time, met with general