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

THE TICKING TIME BOMBS In all of the debates and arguments over the formation of a BAF, the most controversial had been the composition of the management; this was a bare knuckled power struggle. Turner had proposed a fairly simple four way split between England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, with votes to reflect their relative sizes, plus a federation chairman and six chairmen of committees that would represent functional areas of responsibility (finance, coaching, promotions, international affairs, domestic affairs and general purposes). This had been rejected immediately by the AAA that preferred direct representation from the English areas. The Evans committee, however, reverted to the English only formula and this was followed when McAllister attempted to complete the work that Evans had started. McAllister was then overturned at the “Southern Counties EGM”. And so the ultimate formula written into the BAF constitution was that there would be a managing Council consisting of the following: President 1 vote Chairman 1 vote Vice-Chairman 1 vote Honorary Secretary 1 vote Honorary Treasurer 1 vote Representatives of the AAA of England 5 votes Representatives of Scottish Athletics* 5 votes Representatives of Welsh Athletics* 3 votes Representatives of Northern Ireland Athletics* 3 votes Representatives of Northern Counties Athletics* 5 votes Representatives of Midland Counties* 5 votes Representatives of Southern Counties* 5 votes Track & Field Commission – chairman 1 vote Track & Field Commission – hon. Secretary 1 vote Cross Country Commission – chairman 1 vote Cross Country Commission – hon. Secretary 1 vote Road Running Commission – chairman 1 vote Road Running Commission – hon. Secretary 1 vote 51