Frank Soo (1914-1991): England's forgotton player

[The_Steve]

I'll admit that I had not heard of him before, but this is a remarkable story:
 

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Frank Soo, whose father was Chinese, became the first and only player of Asian descent to represent England when he played against Wales in a wartime friendly back in 1942.

Now Google, working alongside the Frank Soo Foundation, have created a Doodle to honour his memory and celebrate the legacy he left for footballers in the generations since.

 

Soo, often known as England’s forgotten footballer, went on to make nine international appearances – although none were recognised as official caps during the Second World War - while at club level played alongside and captained Stanley Matthews at Stoke City

 

From Sky Sports:

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The catalyst for raising awareness about Soo came when Susan Gardiner began research for a book about his life, one that also saw him serve in the Royal Air Force during the war.

The hope now is that further recognition could allow his story to inspire many more.

"The Frank Soo Foundation came after Susan Gardiner's book," says Jacqui. "Ever since the book was launched in 2016 we have been hoping to have a lot more recognition of him.

"We have had a lot more involvement from the Chinese community because they were looking at ways of promoting sport within the Chinese youngsters.

"They play an annual tournament and one of the trophies is named after my uncle. We are trying really hard to get the Chinese youth playing sport.

"It is like anything, whether it is sport or politics, sometimes you have to see somebody that you recognise in any walk of life before you feel you can get involved.

"There was a lot of racism that he had to deal with back then. He was known as Chinaman Frank Soo. But once he began playing for England he was Frank Soo or the RAF's Frank Soo."

 

There's also a street named after him in Stoke.

[Hornso]

 

[rjw63]

Frank Soo (1914-1991): England's forgotton player

 

keenan'ed