Henri Delaunay was a French football administrator.

After playing for the Paris team Étoile des Deux Lacs, he became a referee. He retired following an incident during a match between AF Garenne-Doves and ES Benevolence, when he swallowed his whistle and broke two teeth on being struck full face by the ball.

He started his career as administrator in 1906 when he became president of Étoile des Deux Lacs, then secretary-general of the Comité français interfédéral (CFI), the ancestor of the French Football Federation

French Football Federation

The French Football Federation is the governing body of association football in France, as well as the overseas departments and territories . It was formed in 1919 and is based in the capital Paris...

. When the CFI became the French Football Federation in 1919, he remained as secretary-general.

As a member of FIFA

FIFA

The Fédération Internationale de Football Association , commonly known by the acronym FIFA , is the international governing body of :association football, futsal and beach football. Its headquarters are located in Zurich, Switzerland, and its president is Sepp Blatter, who is in his fourth...

, he sat on its board as deputy from 1924 until 1928. Along with Jules Rimet

Jules Rimet

Jules Rimet was a French football administrator who was the 3rd President of FIFA, serving from 1921 to 1954. He was FIFA's longest serving president, having served for 33 years. He also served as the president of the French Football Federation from 1919 to 1946...

, he was an early architect of the FIFA World Cup

FIFA World Cup

The FIFA World Cup, often simply the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of Fédération Internationale de Football Association , the sport's global governing body...

. He was also a very early proponent of the European Champions Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

, as early as the 1920s.

He was largely responsible for the creation of the European Football Championship

UEFA European Football Championship

The UEFA European Football Championship is the main football competition of the men's national football teams governed by UEFA . Held every four years since 1960, in the even-numbered year between World Cup tournaments, it was originally called the UEFA European Nations Cup, changing to the current...

, the trophy of which is named after him, having first proposed it in 1927. The first tournament took place in 1960.

He was General Secretary of UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 from its foundation on 15 June 1954 until his death. When he died in 1955, he was succeeded as head of UEFA by his son Pierre Delaunay

Pierre Delaunay

Pierre Delauney was the second General Secretary of UEFA. He succeeded his father Henri Delaunay in the post, on an interim basis from his father's death on 9 November 1955 and then officially from 8 June 1956.-References:*...

.