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'Sir Stanley Ford Rous'^[1] (born April 25, 1895 in Mutford, Suffolk; died July 18, 1986^[2][3]) was an English football referee and administrator.

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Career

References

Print

Internet

Career

Originally a sports teacher at Watford Boys Grammar School (ironically being responsible for the school changing its main sport from association football to rugby union), Rous played football at amateur level as goalkeeper, as well as becoming a FIFA referee, officiating in a total of 36 international matches.
He began refereeing Football League matches in 1927, consisting mainly of appointments to Second Division matches, and games in the Third Division North and South which operated at the time.
The first International match he was put in charge of was Belgium against Holland in the Bosuilstadion, Antwerp, on March 13 1927. The home side won this friendly tie 2-0.^[4]
He was appointed to referee the 1934 FA Cup Final on April 28 at Wembley, where Manchester City defeated Portsmouth by 2 goals to 1.^[5] The following day, after travelling to Belgium to control an International match, Stanley Rous retired from refereeing.
He then moved into the sphere of football administration. He served as of the Football Association from 1934 to 1962, and president of FIFA from 1961 to 1974. Upon his retirement as president, on June 11, 1974, he was nominated Honorary President of FIFA.^[6]
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.^[7] According to Belgian referee John Langenus, who had been in charge of the 1930 World Cup Final, he had seen referees from his country making a similar attempt at scientific positioning on the field of play.^[8]
The short-lived Rous Cup was named after him, as was the Rous Stand at Watford FC's Vicarage Road ground. He was life president of QPR.
Sir Stanley died in 1986, at the age of 91.²

References

Print

★ ''Football Worlds: A Lifetime in Sport'', Stanley Rous (Faber & Faber 1978), ISBN 0571111947.

Internet

1. Full name: ''Oxford Biography Index'' entry.
2. Confirming date of death, July 18 1986: PDF version of AAFLA "Olympic Review 1986" obituary.
3. Alternative source for date of death: ''BrainyHistory.com'' website.
4. Belgium v. Holland, 1927, result: ''R Da Silva'' personal website.
5. 1934 FA Cup Final: at soccerbase.com website.
6. Honorary President of FIFA, 1974: FIFA.com website.
7. Rewriting the Laws, also mention of the diagonal system of control for referees: FIFA.com website.
8. Diagonal system of control: ''Footballreferee.org'' website.


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