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 (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
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 title ...
.
Early life
Rous was born in
Mutford 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 parishes in England, civil parish in the East Suffolk District, East Suffolk district, in the county of Suffolk, England.OS Explorer Map OL40: The Broads: (1:25 000) : . The town is located along the A145 r ...
.
He was the eldest son of a provision master. He trained as a teacher in Beccles before serving in
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
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 was created as a distinct arm of the Royal Regiment of Artillery on 1 July 1899, serving alongside the other two arms of the regiment, the ...
(East Anglian) in France, Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon.
After the war Rous attended St Luke's College in
Exeter
Exeter ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and the county town of Devon in South West England. It is situated on the River Exe, approximately northeast of Plymouth and southwest of Bristol.
In Roman Britain, Exeter w ...
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, autodidacticism, self-taught, user-generated, do it yourself, DI ...
level as a
goalkeeper
In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), 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 i ...
for clubs including
Kirkley
Kirkley is an area of the town of Lowestoft in the East Suffolk district of the English county of Suffolk. It is located south of the centre of Lowestoft and the town's harbour and Lake Lothing. Kirkley was originally an independent village b ...
and
Lowestoft Town, but was forced to retire from playing after breaking a wrist. He developed an interest in refereeing whilst watching
Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...
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 title ...
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, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
against the
Netherlands
, Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...
, 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, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
, where
Manchester City
Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...
defeated
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...
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, 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 assistant, executive assistant, personal secretary, or other similar titles is an individual whose work consists of supporting management, including executives, using a variety of project management, program evalu ...
of
the Football Association
The Football Association (the FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest footb ...
from 1934 to 1962. At
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; ; ) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs football, futsal and beach soccer, beach football in Europe and the List of transcontinental countries#A ...
, Rous joined the Executive Committee in 1958, becoming vice-president in March 1960, before leaving to become
FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
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:
Arts and entertainment Film and television
*'' Præsident ...
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](_blank)
1974: FIFA
The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...
.com website.
Rous supported the
apartheid
Apartheid ( , especially South African English: , ; , ) was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. It was characterised by an ...
-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 Footbal ...
. 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 (CAF) is the administrative and controlling body for association football, beach soccer, and futsal in Africa. It was established on 8 February 1957 at the ''Grand Hotel'' in Khartoum, Sudan. At the FIFA Co ...
(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.
In 1973 Rous insisted the
USSR team play
a World Cup qualifier against
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
in the aftermath of
General Pinochet's
military coup, at a time when thousands of political prisoners were being held in the
Estadio Nacional Julio Martínez Prádanos sports stadium. The USSR however refused to do so and
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...
qualified automatically for the
1974 World Cup
The 1974 FIFA World Cup was the 10th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial Association football, football tournament for men's senior national teams, and was played in West Germany (and West Berlin) between 13 June and 7 July. The tournament marked the ...
, where they failed to advance from a group containing both
West
West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...
and
East Germany
East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from Foundation of East Germany, its formation on 7 October 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on ...
and
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
.
Rous stood for re-election as president in 1974, but was defeated by the vigorous canvassing of
João Havelange
Jean-Marie Faustin Godefroid "João" de Havelange (, ; 8 May 1916 – 16 August 2016) was a Brazilian lawyer, businessman, and athlete who was the seventh president of FIFA from 1974 to 1998. His tenure as president is the second longest in ...
, 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 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 2025
* January 2 – Luis ...
.
He was a friend of one of the founding members of FIFA,
Ivo Schricker (1877–1962). Rous was a
freemason
Freemasonry (sometimes spelled Free-Masonry) consists of fraternal groups that trace their origins to the medieval guilds of stonemasons. Freemasonry is the oldest secular fraternity in the world and among the oldest still-existing organizati ...
attending Exonian Lodge No. 3415 in London.
[
]
Death
Rous died in
Paddington
Paddington is an area in the City of Westminster, in central London, England. A medieval parish then a metropolitan borough of the County of London, it was integrated with Westminster and Greater London in 1965. Paddington station, designed b ...
,
London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, of
leukaemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia; pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and produce 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 Anglican church in the City of Westminster, London, England. Since 1066, it has been the location of the coronations of 40 English and British m ...
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 north-east of Worcester and south-west of Birmingham city centre. It had a population of 34,755 in at the 2021 census. It gives its name to the wider Bromsgrove District, of which it is ...
and
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...
.
References
Further reading
* Rous, Stanley (1978). ''Football Worlds: A Lifetime in Sport''.
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, commonly known as Faber & Faber or simply 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, C. S. Lewis, Margaret S ...
. .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rous, Stanley
1895 births
1986 deaths
Military personnel from Suffolk
People from Waveney District
English men's footballers
Men's 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 leukemia in England
Soccer and apartheid
Freemasons of the United Grand Lodge of England
English knights
Territorial Force soldiers
20th-century English sportsmen