Sir Stanley Rous and the Growth of World Football: An Englishman Abroad

Abstract

When the growth of a sport is discussed, it is often addressed in the context of seminal games and/or players that helped elevate said sport to its current status in the national or international collectiveness. In Sir Stanley Rous and the Growth of World Football: An Englishman Abroad, sport historian Alan Tomlinson tells the story of a man who rose from modest roots to climb football's governing ladder and become the president of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), where he helped launch the World Cup from a notable quadrennial event to the global phenomenon it is today. Tomlinson notes, “This book is about much more than Rous himself, as all individuals are both made by and makers of places and times” (xii) and proceeds to outline the myriad of ways time and circumstance serendipitously conspired with Rous's political savvy.Tomlinson divides the book into four parts: “The Rules of the Game,” “Running the Show,” “Going Global,” and “Back Home: Rous's Legacy Home and Away.” The first part explores Rous's birth in Mutford, England, the beginnings of his fascination with the game of football as a youth, his time and struggles in World War I, his time as a schoolmaster, and his burgeoning refereeing career. Using Rous's own words, essays, and musings, Part 1 illuminates the foundational experiences that shaped Rous and his development as a leader while also noting the impact a modernizing postwar society had on the upward mobility of a generation of men.The second part examines Rous's time as the secretary at the Football Association (FA), where he was engaged with the Central Council of Physical Recreation, chairing the FA's War Emergency Committee, developing programs for coaching leaders and working to re-establish the FA's FIFA affiliation. Here Tomlinson begins to delve into the growing internationalization of both football and Rous's career, noting his involvement with the 1944/1948 Olympic Games, which generated a knighthood; the FA's International Selection Committee; the birth of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA); various FIFA committees; and his ascension to president of FIFA in 1961.In the third part, “Going Global,” FIFA expands its control over international football during Rous's tenure. During this time, Rous presided over several important developments: the integration of the Confederation of North, Central America, and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) region, which was formed days prior to his presidential term; the decision to readmit South Africa to FIFA; the 1966 World Cup in England, which included a boycott by the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the inclusion of North Korea; and the 1970 World Cup in Mexico, which was the first World Cup staged in North America, the first held outside Europe and South America, and the first to be broadcast live, in color, around the world. In this part Rous is truly tested, and while he is successful in many areas, he is left wanting in many others. The lifting of the suspension of the South African Football Association in the midst of apartheid and his poor handling of negotiations with CAF were blunders that would eventually cost Rous his presidency.As the game grew globally, Tomlinson notes that, for all of Rous's cunning and past ability to see around corners, “What Rous did not foresee was the power games that would consume . . . confederations on the basis of geo-political agendas and under the influences of technological and economic trends that would create the global football commodity” (156). Additionally, Rous's South African decision firmly marks him as “a man of his time,” and, in this instance, that is not a compliment.While the last chapter in the third part details the denouement of Rous's career as the president of FIFA and the football sphere, the fourth part delves into Rous's achievements outside FA and FIFA and includes a reflection on his impact on football and sport governance.Tomlinson conveys the story of Rous in a largely nonjudgmental manner. Where many authors would have pilloried Rous for his missteps with South Africa and CAF, Tomlinson clearly examines the missteps and successes of Rous pulling no punches but taking no cheap shots either. While the exploration of Rous's youth could have been more direct, the book accelerates once Rous begins his role as the secretary of FA. In the end, Sir Stanley Rous and the Growth of World Football: An Englishman Abroad is an astute work examining the last president of FIFA born in the nineteenth century and how he helped impact and was impacted by the parallel growth of “The World's Game” and international business and politics.