Rous Cup

Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Refimprove Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition hosted in the second half of the 1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America. It was named after Sir Stanley Rous, an English football administrator.

Overview

The Rous Cup arose from the ashes of the British Home Championship, which had been discontinued in 1984. Initially, the competition (which was named after Sir Stanley Rous, a former secretary of The Football Association and president of FIFA) was merely a replacement for the annual England v Scotland match that had been lost due to the end of the British Home Championship. Thus, the competition consisted of just one game between England and Scotland (with home advantage alternating annually) with the winner claiming the Cup (a format identical to the Calcutta Cup in rugby union).

After two years under this format, it was decided to invite a different South American team to compete each year to create more excitement and to fulfil England and Scotland's desire to regularly play stronger teams, which had been one of their reasons for leaving the British Home Championship in the first place. As there were now three teams competing, a league system, just like the one used in the British Home Championship, was introduced. Each team would play the other two once, receiving two points for a win, one for a draw and none for a loss, with goal difference being used to differentiate between teams level on points. England and Scotland continued to play each other home and away in alternating years, but the guest South American team would play both their games away.

Though large numbers of travelling Scots to London had been a feature of England-Scotland games for many years, travelling English support to Glasgow was negligible in comparison until 1987 when minor scuffles broke out on the Hampden Park terracing. In 1989, major disturbances across Glasgow were reported as significant numbers of English hooligans appeared at this fixture for the first time. With English club sides banned from European football at the time, the FA were anxious not to see the national side banned too and the Scotland-England match was a high-profile game that brought interest from across the world. This was a major factor in the demise of the fixture.

The cup was discontinued, after five years, in 1989. The annual England vs Scotland fixture was also abandoned at this point. For many years since then, the oldest rivalry in world football was only renewed when the two nations were drawn together in the Euro 96 group stage and in a two-match qualification play-off for Euro 2000. In the 21st century, the teams have only played each other in three friendly matches (August 2013, November 2014, and September 2023), in two 2018 World Cup qualifying group matches, and in the group stage of the UEFA Euro 2020 finals tournament.

In 1986, the England vs Scotland match was played in April, restoring it to the time of the year when it had generally been played in the post-war years before the Home Internationals were concentrated in May from 1969. In every other year, the Rous Cup was played in May. This usually fell just after the domestic seasons in each country had finished. In 1989, it coincided with the end of the English domestic season, which had been extended after fixtures were postponed following the Hillsborough disaster.

Results

Ed.	Year	Template:Gold1 Winner	Score	Template:Silver2 Runner-up	Template:Bronze3 Third
1	1985	File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland	1–0	File:Flag of England.svg England	–Template:Refn
2	1986	File:Flag of England.svg England	2–1	File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland	–Template:Refn
3	1987	File:Flag of Brazil (1968–1992).svg Brazil	–Template:Refn	File:Flag of England.svg England	File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
4	1988	File:Flag of England.svg England	–Template:Refn	File:Flag of Colombia.svg Colombia	File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland
5	1989	File:Flag of England.svg England	–Template:Refn	File:Flag of Scotland.svg Scotland	File:Flag of Chile.svg Chile

Notes

All-time table

Team	T	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	%
{{ Template:Yesno	alias = England	flag alias = Flag of England.svg	flag alias-naval = English White Ensign 1620.svg	link alias-naval = Royal Navy	flag alias-navy = English White Ensign 1620.svg	link alias-navy = Royal Navy	link alias-cricket = England cricket team	empty = England Saxons	size =	name =	variant =	altlink = national football team	altvar = football }}	5	8	3	4	1	7	4	+3	10	62.50%
{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Scotland	flag alias = Flag of Scotland.svg	flag alias-1542 = Flag of Scotland (traditional).svg	link alias-football = Scotland men's national football team	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	5	8	2	2	4	4	7	−3	6	37.50%
{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Brazil	flag alias-1692 = Flag of the Princes of Brazil.svg	flag alias-1816 = Flag of the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves.svg	flag alias-1822 = Flag of Brazil (1822-1853).svg	flag alias-1870 = Flag of Brazil (1853-1889).svg	flag alias = Flag of Brazil.svg	flag alias-1889 = Flag of Brazil (1889–1960).svg	flag alias-1960 = Flag of Brazil (1960–1968).svg	flag alias-1968 = Flag of Brazil (1968–1992).svg	flag alias-army = Flag of the Brazilian Army.svg	link alias-army = Brazilian Army	flag alias-air force = Flag of the Brazilian Air Force Command.svg	link alias-air force = Brazilian Air Force	link alias-naval = Brazilian Navy	flag alias-marines=Flag of the Brazilian Marine Corps.svg	link alias-marines=Brazilian Marine Corps	link alias-military = Brazilian Armed Forces	link alias-navy = Brazilian Navy	flag alias-navy = Flag of the Brazilian Navy.svg	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = 1968 }}	1	2	1	1	0	3	1	+2	3	75.00%
{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Colombia	flag alias = Flag of Colombia.svg	flag alias-1861 = Flag of Colombia (WFB 2013).gif	flag alias-2004 = Flag of Colombia (2004 World Factbook).gif	flag alias-civil = Civil Ensign of Colombia.svg	flag alias-naval = Naval Ensign of Colombia.svg	link alias-naval = Colombian National Navy	flag alias-army = Flag of the Colombian Army.svg	link alias-army = Colombian National Army	flag alias-air force = Flag of the Colombian Air Force.svg	link alias-air force = Colombian Aerospace Force	flag alias-marines=Flag of the Colombian Naval Infantry.svg	link alias-marines=Colombian Naval Infantry	link alias-navy = Colombian National Navy	flag alias-navy = Flag of the Colombian Navy.svg	flag alias-military = Military flag of Colombia.svg	link alias-military = Military Forces of Colombia	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	1	2	0	2	0	1	1	0	2	50.00%
{{ Template:Yesno	alias = Chile	flag alias = Flag of Chile.svg	flag alias-mapuche = Ancient mapuche flag.svg	flag alias-lautaro = Lautaro flag.svg	flag alias-spain = Flag of Cross of Burgundy.svg	flag alias-spain1 = Flag of Spain (1785–1873, 1875–1931).svg	flag alias-1812 = Flag of Chile (1812-1814).svg	flag alias-1812a = Flag of Chile (1812-1814, alternative).svg	flag alias-andes = Bandera de la Provincia de Mendoza.svg	flag alias-1817 = Flag of Chile of the transition (1817).svg	flag alias-1817_proposal = Flag of Chile (1817-1818, 2nd).svg	flag alias-1818 = Flag of Chile (1818).svg	flag alias-1818a = Flag of Chile (1818-1854).svg	flag alias-1819 = State Ensign of Chile (1819-1834).svg	flag alias-expedition = Flag of the Liberating Expedition of Peru.svg	flag alias-1826 = Flag of Chile (Civil Use, 1826-1854).svg	flag alias-ap = Flag of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia.svg	flag alias-easter1 = Easter Island flag 1876 to 1888.svg	flag alias-easter = Flag of Rapa Nui, Chile.svg	flag alias-president = Bandera del presidente de Chile.svg	flag alias-naval = Naval Jack of Chile.svg	link alias-naval = Chilean Navy	flag alias-air force = Flag of the Chilean Air Force.svg	link alias-air force =Chilean Air Force	flag alias-army = Flag of the Chilean Army.svg	link alias-army = Chilean Army	flag alias-navy = Flag of Chile.svg	link alias-navy = Chilean Navy	size =	name =	altlink = national football team	variant = }}	1	2	0	1	1	0	2	−2	1	25.00%

Note: Two points for win, one for a draw

Records

• Most appearances: Chris Waddle, Roy Aitken and Alex McLeish (8 appearances)
• Most goals: Gary Lineker (2 goals)
• Highest attendance: 92,000 (England vs Brazil, 1987)
• Lowest attendance: 9,006 (Scotland vs Chile, 1989)