Alfred Valentine Rouse (14 February 1897 – 1961) was an English

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for

Crewe Alexandra Crewe Alexandra Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crewe, Cheshire, England. Its first team competes in League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Railwaymen' ...

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in , the third tier of the English football league system. Vale are named after the valley of ports on the Trent and Mersey Canal ...

Stoke Stoke may refer to: Places Canada * Stoke, Quebec New Zealand * Stoke, New Zealand United Kingdom Berkshire * Stoke Row Bristol * Stoke Bishop * Stoke Gifford * Bradley Stoke * Little Stoke * Harry Stoke * Stoke Lodge Bucking ...

, Swansea Town and

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

and was described as a 'gentleman' player.

Career

Rouse was born in

Hoddesdon Hoddesdon () is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, lying entirely within the London Metropolitan Area and Greater London Urban Area. The area is on the River Lea and the Lee Navigation along with the New River. Hoddesdon ...

and played for Welsh sides

Llanelly Llanelly () is a village, Community (Wales), community, and parish in the county of Monmouthshire, South East Wales. It formerly existed in the historic county of Brecknockshire. The population of the community and ward at the 2011 United Kin ...

and

Pontypridd Pontypridd ( , ), Colloquialism, colloquially referred to as ''Ponty'', is a town and a Community (Wales), community in Rhondda Cynon Taf, South Wales, approximately 10 miles north west of Cardiff city centre. Geography Pontypridd comprises the ...

before joining

in 1921. He played five

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

games for "Wolves" in the 1921–22 campaign, before joining

First Division 1st Division or First Division may refer to: Military Airborne divisions *1st Parachute Division (Germany) *1st Airborne Division (United Kingdom) * 1st Airmobile Division (Ukraine) * 1st Guards Airborne Division Armoured divisions *1st Armoure ...

club

in August 1922. He played in 38 matches in 1922–23 as Stoke suffered

relegation Promotion and relegation is used by sports leagues as a process where teams can move up and down among divisions in a league system, based on their performance over a season. Leagues that use promotion and relegation systems are sometimes call ...

back to the Second Division.

Manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

Tom Mather Thomas Mather (1888–1957), was an English football manager who managed in the Football League for Bolton Wanderers, Leicester City, Newcastle United, Stoke City and Southend United. Career Mather was assistant secretary of both Manche ...

kept faith with Rouse at left-half in 1923–24, and made him

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

for the 1924–25 campaign. He scored his first senior goal in a 1–1 draw with

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

at the

Victoria Ground The Victoria Ground was the home ground of Stoke City from 1878 until 1997, when the club relocated to the Britannia Stadium after 119 years. At the time of its demolition it was the oldest operational ground in the Football League. Histor ...

on 1 November 1924. Despite possessing a strong squad, overall performances on the pitch were below standard, and the team went 12 matches without a win (1 January 1925 to 21 March 1925) and was almost relegated. Four wins and three draws in their last eight matches ensured survival by the narrowest of margins, a single point. Rouse was sold to Swansea Town but featured just four times for the "Swans" in 1925–26. He left

Vetch Field The Vetch Field was a football stadium in Swansea, Wales, and was the home ground of Swansea City A.F.C. from the club’s founding until 2005. Following its closure, the club relocated to a newly constructed stadium, originally named the Libert ...

and joined

in June 1926. He played 29 Second Division matches in the 1926–27 season and then 39 league games in the 1927–28 season, as Vale posted top ten finishes. However, he lost his first-team place at the

Old Recreation Ground The Old Recreation Ground was a football stadium located in Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, England, and home to Port Vale F.C. from 1913 to 1950. It was the sixth ground the club used. Structure and facilities The stadium was in rather bad conditi ...

in February 1929 and was given a free transfer in May 1929. He spent the 1929–30 and 1930–31 seasons in the

Third Division North The Third Division North of the Football League was a tier in the English football league system from 1921 to 1958. It ran in parallel with the Third Division South with clubs elected to the League or relegated from a higher division allocated to ...

with

, before joining Connah's Quay & Shotton.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse, Vic 1897 births 1961 deaths People from Hoddesdon Footballers from Hertfordshire English men's footballers Men's association football wing halves Llanelli Town A.F.C. players Pontypridd F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Port Vale F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Connah's Quay & Shotton F.C. players English Football League players 20th-century English sportsmen