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Sir Stanley Ford Rous (25 April 1895 – 18 July 1986) was an English football referee and the 6th President of FIFA, serving from 1961 to 1974. He also served as secretary of
the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
from 1934 to 1962 and was an international
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
.


Early life

Rous was born in
Mutford Mutford is a village and civil parish in the East Suffolk District of the English county of Suffolk. The village is south-west of Lowestoft and south-east of Beccles in a rural area. The parish borders Barnby, Carlton Colville, Gisleham, Ru ...
near
Lowestoft Lowestoft ( ) is a coastal town and civil parish in the East Suffolk (district), East Suffolk district of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . As the List of extreme points of the United Kingdom, most easterly UK se ...
in East Suffolk and attended Sir John Leman School in
Beccles Beccles ( ) is a market town and civil parish in the English county of Suffolk.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is shown on the milestone as from London via the A145 and A12 roads, north-east of London as the crow fl ...
.Pawson.A (2004) 'Rous, Sir Stanley Ford (1895–1986)’, ''rev. Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press
online
. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
'ROUS, Sir Stanley (Ford)’, ''Who Was Who'', A & C Black, online edn, Oxford University Press, Dec 2007
online
. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
He was the eldest son of a provision master but trained as a teacher in Beccles before serving in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
as a non-commissioned officer in the 272nd brigade of the
Royal Field Artillery The Royal Field Artillery (RFA) of the British Army provided close artillery support for the infantry. It came into being when created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of ...
(East Anglian) in France, Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon. After the war Rous attended St Luke's College in
Exeter Exeter () is a city in Devon, South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol. In Roman Britain, Exeter was established as the base of Legio II Augusta under the personal comm ...
and then became a sports teacher at Watford Boys Grammar School.


Referee

Rous played football at
amateur An amateur () is generally considered a person who pursues an avocation independent from their source of income. Amateurs and their pursuits are also described as popular, informal, self-taught, user-generated, DIY, and hobbyist. History ...
level as a
goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting ...
for clubs including Kirkley and
Lowestoft Town Lowestoft Town Football Club is a semi-professional football club from Lowestoft, Suffolk, England. They are currently members of the and play at Crown Meadow. History The club was established in 1887 as Lowestoft F.C. by a merger of East Suf ...
, but was forced to retire from playing after breaking a wrist. He developed an interest in refereeing whilst watching Norwich City and later qualified as a
referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other tit ...
while studying at St Luke's and became a football league referee in 1927. He officiated in his first international match, a 2–0 friendly win for
Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...
against the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
, in the Bosuilstadion, Antwerp, on 13 March in the same year. He eventually officiated in a total of 34 international matches. He rose to the top tier of the game when he was appointed to referee the 1934 FA Cup Final at
Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...
, where
Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
defeated
Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most d ...
by 2 goals to 1. The following day, after travelling to Belgium to control an international match, Rous retired from refereeing. Rous made a major contribution to the game by rewriting the Laws of the Game in 1938, making them simpler and easier to understand. He was also the first to employ the diagonal system of control for referees as a standard practice. According to Belgian referee
John Langenus John Langenus (9 December 1891, in Antwerp, BelgiumP ...
, who had been in charge of the 1930 FIFA World Cup Final, he had seen referees from his country making a similar attempt at scientific positioning on the field of play.


Administrator

Rous moved on to the sphere of football administration. He served as
secretary A secretary, administrative professional, administrative assistant, executive assistant, administrative officer, administrative support specialist, clerk, military assistant, management assistant, office secretary, or personal assistant is a ...
of
the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world a ...
from 1934 to 1962. At
UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...
, Rous joined the Executive Committee in 1958, becoming vice-president in March 1960, before leaving to become
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
president President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...
the following year. During his time as FIFA president from 1961 to 1974, Rous witnessed the crowning of England as champions of the world in 1966.Honorary President of FIFA
1974:
FIFA FIFA (; stands for ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (French), meaning International Association Football Federation ) is the international governing body of association football, beach football and futsal. It was found ...
.com website.
Rous supported the
apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...
-era
South African Football Association The South African Football Association (colloquially known as SAFA) is the national administrative governing body that controls the sport of football in the Republic of South Africa (RSA) and is a member of the Confederation of African Footb ...
. South Africa had been admitted to FIFA in 1954, but were expelled from their local federation, the
Confederation of African Football The Confederation of African Football, or CAF for short (french: link=yes, Confédération Africaine de Football, ar, link=yes, الاتحاد الأفريقي لكرة القدم, al-Ittiḥād al-Afrīqī li-Kurat al-Qadam), is the administ ...
(CAF), in 1958, and were suspended from FIFA in 1961 after failing to fulfill an ultimatum regarding anti-discrimination rules. In 1963, they were readmitted to FIFA after Rous travelled to the country to "investigate" football in the country, concluding that the game could disappear in the country if they were not readmitted, while the South African Football Association proposed playing an all-white team for the 1966 finals and an all-black team in 1970. It turned out to be short-lived. At FIFA's next annual congress, held in Tokyo just after the Olympic Games, a greater turnout of African and Asian representatives led to South Africa being suspended again, and they were ultimately expelled from FIFA in 1976. Rous, however, continued to press for them to be readmitted, to the point that he was prepared to establish a Southern African confederation so that South Africa and Rhodesia (who were themselves expelled in 1970) could compete, but he was forced to back down after CAF members made it clear that they would withdraw en masse from FIFA at the 1966 FIFA congress in London. Rous stood for re-election as president in 1974, but was defeated by the vigorous canvassing of João Havelange, and in the context of discontent of other nations at European domination of FIFA, as well as opposition by African and Asian countries due to the pro-South African stance of Rous.Sugden, John and Tomlinson, Alan (1997) "Global power struggles in world football: FIFA and UEFA, 1954–74, and their legacy", ''International Journal of the History of Sport'' 14(2) pp. 1–25. Upon his retirement as president, on 11 June 1974, he was nominated Honorary President of FIFA. The short-lived Rous Cup was named after him, as was the Rous Stand at Watford F.C.'s
Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
ground, until being renamed the Graham Taylor Stand in 2014. He wrote ''A History of the Laws of Association Football'', published in 1974.


Personal life

Stanley Rous was married to Adrienne Gacon in 1924. He was appointed CBE in 1943 and knighted in
1949 Events January * January 1 – A United Nations-sponsored ceasefire brings an end to the Indo-Pakistani War of 1947. The war results in a stalemate and the division of Kashmir, which still continues as of 2022. * January 2 – Luis ...
. He was a lifelong friend of one of the founding members of FIFA, Dr. Ivo Schricker (1877–1962). Rous was an active
freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
attending Exonian Lodge No. 3415 in London.


Death

Rous died in
Paddington Paddington is an area within the City of Westminster, in Central London. First a medieval parish then a metropolitan borough, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Three important landmarks of the district are Padd ...
,
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, of
leukaemia Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
in 1986, at the age of 91. A service in his memory was held at
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the United ...
in the September of the same year. He is buried with his wife Lady Rous in the Holy Trinity Church in the Lickey Hills, close to both
Bromsgrove Bromsgrove is a town in Worcestershire, England, about northeast of Worcester and southwest of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 29,237 in 2001 (39,644 in the wider Bromsgrove/Catshill urban area). Bromsgrove is the main town in th ...
and
Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
.


References


Further reading

*''Football Worlds: A Lifetime in Sport'', Stanley Rous (
Faber and Faber Faber and Faber Limited, usually abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in London. Published authors and poets include T. S. Eliot (an early Faber editor and director), W. H. Auden, Margaret Storey, William Golding, Samuel ...
1978), . {{DEFAULTSORT:Rous, Stanley 1895 births 1986 deaths Military personnel from Suffolk Burials in West Midlands (region) People from Waveney District English footballers Association football goalkeepers Kirkley & Pakefield F.C. players Lowestoft Town F.C. players FA Cup Final referees Presidents of FIFA Association football people awarded knighthoods Knights Bachelor Watford F.C. directors Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Royal Field Artillery soldiers British Army personnel of World War I Members of Paddington Metropolitan Borough Council Deaths from cancer in England Deaths from leukemia Soccer and apartheid Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England