Arthur Drewry | |
|---|---|
 Drewry by the mid 1950s | |
| 5th President of FIFA | |
| In office 7 October 1955 – 25 March 1961 | |
| Preceded by | Rodolphe Seeldrayers |
| Succeeded by | Ernst Thommen (as acting) Stanley Rous (elected) |
| Member of theGrimsby Borough Council[clarification needed] | |
| In office ?–? | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1891-03-03)3 March 1891 Grimsby, England |
| Died | 25 March 1961(1961-03-25) (aged 70) |
| Spouse | Ida May (m. 1919) |
| Children | 2 |
| Occupation | Football administrator |
Arthur DrewryCBE (3 March 1891 – 25 March 1961) was an Englishfootball administrator who served as the fifthpresident of FIFA, the worldgoverning body of association football, from 1955 to 1961. Drewry held several football administration posts in his native England, serving as chairman ofThe Football Association and president ofThe Football League.
Drewry was born inGrimsby, Lincolnshire, and educated at the Grimsby Collegiate School.[1]
In 1911 Drewry joined the Lincolnshire Yeomanry and served in theFirst World War with the1/1st Lincolnshire Yeomanry in Palestine.[1] Drewry reached the rank ofquartermaster sergeant with his squadron in the Yeomanry.[1] After the war, in 1919, Drewry married the daughter of a Grimsby fish merchant, and Drewry would run his father-in-law's business until his retirement in 1953.[2][1] In theSecond World War Drewry served as North Lincolnshire's head warden and chief fire guard.[1] Drewry held several civic roles in his native Grimsby, serving both as a borough councillor[clarification needed] and aJustice of the Peace.[1]
Drewry's career in football administration began with his serving as a director ofGrimsby Town, the chairman of the club was Drewry's father-in-law, and Drewry himself would also become chairman of the club.[2] Drewry later served as President of theFootball League from 1949 to 1955.[1] Drewry served on the Football Association's International Selection Committee from 1944, and after his presidency of the Football League served as chairman ofThe Football Association (FA) from 1955 to 1961.[2] Drewry succeededAmos Brook Hirst as chairman of the FA; Hirst had resigned due to ill health.[3] As chair of the FA Drewry once proposed awarding a point to league teams for every goal scored to encourage offensive football.[4] Drewry's proposals were rejected by the teams.[5]
Drewry played a significant role in the1950 game between England and the United States in which the English lost 1–0 to the rank outsiders in the1950 FIFA World Cup inBelo Horizonte.[6] The English national coach,Walter Winterbottom, had wanted to rest some players for the next game against Spain, but was over-ruled by Drewry, acting as sole selector, who chose an unchanged team from their last game, a 2–0 win against Chile.[6]Stanley Rous, Drewry's secretary at the FA, visited him and urged him to includeStanley Matthews and make other changes to the team, but Drewry was adamant in his desire to keep an unchanged team.[7] After the loss against the United States, Drewry acquiesced to four changes to the team, but England lost their next game to Spain 1–0, and as a result were eliminated from the tournament.[7][8]
In1953 Coronation Honours, Drewry appointed aCommander of Order of the British Empire (CBE).[9]
Following theMunich air disaster on 6 February 1958 which claimed the lives of a number ofManchester United staff and personnel, Drewry was appointed chairman in March of the fundraising committee for dependents of those involved in the disaster.[10] The funds raised had reached£52,000 (equivalent to £1,530,000 in 2023) by the time of their disbursement in October 1958.[11][12]
In his capacity as chair of the FA, Drewry was one of six football officials sued by fiveSunderland players who were suspended in 1957 for refusing to answer questions about possible illegal payments.[13]Stanley Rous served as Drewry's secretary at the FA.[14] Drewry and Rous travelled to Switzerland in 1945, to the headquarters of FIFA to successfully negotiate for the re-admittance of the BritishHome Nations to FIFA.[2]
Drewry had been appointed the vice-president of FIFA byJules Rimet,[2] and served as the interim president for the six months following the death of Rimet's presidential successor, BelgianRodolphe William Seeldrayers.[15] At the 30thFIFA Congress in Lisbon, Portugal, Drewry defeated France's M. Larfarge by 38 votes to 16 for the presidency.[14] Drewry oversaw the1958 FIFA World Cup during his term in office, and ultimately served as president for five years before his death from a year-long illness in 1961.[14] Drewry was the third FIFA president to die in office.
