Fifty Years of Progress 1880-1930

A REVIEW OF THE FINANCIAL SIDE OF THE A.A.A. BY W. M. BARNARD Life /Tice-President and Hon. Treasurer AT the formation of the Amateur Athletic Association at the Randolph Hotel, Oxford, on April 24th, I 880, many well-known athletes of the day were present. Among them was C. N. Jackson, a great hurdler, ever in the forefront ofAthletics and, as the late Lord Alverstone said ofhim," The mainstay ofAthletics at Oxford University, a staunch and true friend and wise adviser." Such was the man who was elected the first Hon. Treasurer of the Association, an office he continued to hold until 1910, when ill– health compelled him to relinquish the duties. At that time the" keeping of the accounts" and the watching of the financial side of the Association fell upon me, after having for some years previously acted as Hon. Auditor. C. N. Jackson was a staunch and true friend, and undoubtedly a wise adviser. Those of us who are able to remember the delightful way he presented the Annual Accounts (on one occasion the year's working resulted in a profit of 6d. and the Hon. Treasurer was anxious to present this to the Hon. Secretary, C. Herbert, to wear on his watch chain as a lucky sixpence), and the fatherly way he tendered his advice on any point where he thought there was room for improvement, must feel that our first Hon. Treasurer did good service to the Association in the way he handled the financial side. It was often a difficult problem, more so probably than in recent years. The spirit of co-operation in the objects for which the Association was founded is well illustrated by the fact that finance did not loom largely in the discussion at the first Meeting, and the only resolution that was passed on this point was as follows: "That each Club pay to the expenses of the Association a sum proportionate to the number of its representatives, such sum not to exceed £2 for each representative." This rule still remains in a somewhat modified form, but it is doubtful whether the many Clubs and Associations which are now members fully recognise this, and in many cases it would probably be difficult to enforce. Such, however, was the basis upon which the general expenditure of the Association was to be met. Evidently it was expected that the Championships would produce the necessary surplus with which the work of the Association could be carried on, but finance does not appear to have seriously troubled the minds of the legislators at that time.