Frank Soo: England's forgotten footballer

Son of a Chinese immigrant became the first player of non-European descent to wear the Three Lions jersey

The England squad at this year’s soccer World Cup shows us that much has changed since 1978, when Viv Anderson became the first black player to represent his country.

England made history in its match against Tunisia on Monday night by fielding its most ethnically diverse team ever at an international competition.

Eleven players out of the 23-man squad in Russia this year are black or of mixed ethnicity - one more player than at the last European Championship and four more than at the last World Cup.

Anderson’s status as a pioneer for black players is firmly established. But the story of British Chinese midfielder Frank Soo - another trailblazer for non-white English footballers - is much less well known.

Labelled “England and China’s forgotten footballer” by biographer Susan Gardiner, Soo was one of the best players of his generation. He captained Stoke City during the 1930s in English soccer’s top division and was named in former England manager Joe Mercer’s all-time 11.

And on May 9, 1942, Soo became the first player of non-European descent to represent England.

Soo played nine fixtures in a Three Lions jersey, though they were all wartime internationals so he never earned an official cap.

“During his lifetime he was as famous as all the great footballers like Stanley Matthews, Joe Mercer and Tommy Lawton,” said Gardiner, author of The Wanderer: The Story of Frank Soo. “It’s very strange that out of all of them he is the one to have disappeared from the narrative.”