"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." Charles Campisi Journal of Sport History, Volume 49 "Tomlinson's very useful biography of Rous is a fascinating interpretation of a complex sports administrator who was clearly more than a 'Lawman'. [.] This will allow a new generation of researchers and scholars to interpret and 'find' Sir Stanley Rous and his contribution to football in England and across the world in different ways." Chris Bolsmann Sports History, Volume 40 "[This] biography is scholarly, balanced and well-written and could usefully be read by anyone who seeks to understand the development of sport in the twentieth century. The author uses a wide variety of sources: I was rather taken, for instance, by the implicit connections between the young Rous's essays on medieval history at St Luke's and his later political outlook." Lincoln Allison The Critic.