Rous Cup
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The Rous Cup was a short-lived football competition in the late-1980s, contested between England, Scotland and, in later years, a guest team from South America.
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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. The competition was played in the early summer, normally just after the domestic season had finished.
After two years under this format, it was decided to invite a different South American team to compete each year to spice things up a bit and to fulfil England and Scotland's desire to regularly play 'stronger' teams (which was one of their reasons for leaving the British Home Championship). 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 (total goals scored minus total goals conceded) 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 America team would play both their games away.
The Cup was discontinued, after just five years, in 1989.
Results and winners
1985
Scotland 1-0 England
Winners: Scotland
1986
England 2-1 Scotland
Winners: England
1987
Brazil were guests
| England | 1-0 | Brazil |
| Scotland | 0-0 | England |
| Scotland | 0-2 | Brazil |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| Brazil | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| England | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Scotland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
Winners: Brazil
1988
Colombia were guests
| Scotland | 0-0 | Colombia |
| England | 1-0 | Scotland |
| England | 1-1 | Colombia |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| England | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | +1 | 3 |
| Colombia | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Scotland | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | -1 | 1 |
Winners: England
1989
Chile were guests
| England | 0-0 | Chile |
| Scotland | 0-2 | England |
| Scotland | 2-0 | Chile |
| Team | P | W | D | L | F | A | GD | Pts |
| England | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | +2 | 3 |
| Scotland | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Chile | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | -2 | 1 |
Winners: England