Amateur Athletic Association of England

The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Britain (until 2005) and Ireland (until 1923). Its role changed to support regional athletic clubs within England alone. This role was effectively taken over by England Athletics in 2005 and the Amateur Athletic Association of England was absorbed into that organisation. It is now concerned with the development of young athletes and has taken on the role of safeguarding the history of the sport and still awards trophies to elite athletes.

The championships of the Association were effectively the British national championships in the sport until the creation of the first iteration of the UK Athletics Championships by the new national federation. Even with this challenge, the AAA events continued to be held, and broadly recognised by athletes and media as national championships, and often more prestigious than the events organised by the governing federation itself until 1999, and the founding of the successor to the defunct British Athletics Federation (BAF), UK Athletics (UKA). By 2007, the new federation's championships had achieved primacy as the AAA evolved to more community ends.