Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

A.A.A. JUBILEE OUVE IR Athletic Club. This historic foundation was of the greatest importance to Public School and even University athletics, for the nucleus of its mem– bership came from the Public Schools, and its influence upon both School and University athletes became particularly marked and beneficent in the new century. In I 866, when athletics had become generally popular, the A.A.C. was formed in London for "gentlemen amateurs," most of its members being old University men. It promptly instituted a Championship Meeting, but in its subsequent rivalry with the L.A.C., the senior Club proved the favourite, and apart from holding the University Sports and this Annual Championship Meeting on the following Monday at its headquarters at Lillie Bridge (opened I 868), the A.A.C. did not figure very prominently in the sport after it_s early years. Indeed, so much did it decline, and so unpopular was the date of the Championship Meeting among the majority of athletes, and particularly members of the L.A.C., that in I 879 the L.A.C. also promoted a Cham– pionship Meeting, but in the summer, and on their own ground at Stamford Bridge, to which they had removed from Lillie Bridge in I 876. In those days the Stamford Bridge Ground possessed a 2 50 yards straight, but was, as now, a quarter mile in circumference, in contradistinction to the A.A.C. track, which was a third of a mile round. The old Queen's Club was, and the two 'Varsity tracks are, also of this size. The existence of two Championship Meetings, however, constituted an impasse, and in order to determine this difficulty and if possible create a governing body which should control the sport throughout the country, a conference was held at Oxford on April 24th, I 880, at the instigation of several Oxford men, among whom were B. R. Wise, C. N. Jackson and M. Shearman. As a result the Amateur Athletic Association was founded and given jurisdiction over all British athletic sports. The first step was to confide the organisation of an Annual Championship Meeting to the new body, and it was decided that henceforth this meeting should take place in the summer. The effect of this change upon University athletics was marked. In the early days of the Championships the majority of the events were won by the University athletes, and for the first ten years the struggle was between the 'Varsity runners and the old Public School men. The University athletes now began to abstain from the Championships, and the period next to be reviewed was definitely one of domestic activity. PERIOD 4.-1880-1914. DOMESTIC ACTIVITY During this era, few men, except record makers like Lenox Tindall, champions like F. J. K. Cross, T . H. Just, G. R. Garnier and G. R. L. Anderson, and a few less successful giants like W . E. Lutyens, A. R. Churchill and P . J. Baker, competed in the Championships, but the standard of performance in the Universities was steadily rising. In I 888 88