Frank Soo, the forgotten British-Chinese footballing giant who was only player of Asian descent ever to play for England
- Frank Soo Street is the paltry recognition given to Soo in Stoke, the player having captained The Potters from 1933 to 1945
- He became an England international player in 1942, playing nine games for the team but the caps remain unrecognised
Season’s end, and football’s biggest and brightest baubles have all been presented. All but one. And that remaining one is more than just a trophy.
With racism seemingly rampant throughout the sport and inclusivity initiatives, however well intentioned, rarely sounding anything but hollow, could this silver chalice become more of a catalyst for reform than any governing-body campaign? Could England’s Chinese Community Challenge (CCC) Cup evolve into the holy grail of an authentic People’s Game?
On June 23, the CCC Cup, organised by the Frank Soo Foundation, sees the curtain lift on its 10th edition with a tournament in Birmingham. Its London counterpart, running alongside the Ladies’ Cup, takes place next Saturday, with the CCC Super Cup, featuring the men’s winners and semi-finalists from both cities, at stake in Birmingham on July 7. The ultimate trophy, it will be the reward, as the foundation puts it, for the “five-a-side Kings of Great Britain”.
The CCC powers that be have made no extravagant claim to possess a panacea for the societal ills poisoning football. But there is hope that, in uniting colours, creeds and nationalities in a competition open to all, understanding will at least be fostered. And that’s thanks partly to a Brylcreem’d superstar player with movie-star looks who would have been a social-media sensation today, but who, bizarrely, has been forgotten: Frank Soo, the first Chinese player to appear in the Football League and the only ethnic Asian ever to represent the England men’s team. Officially, goalkeeper Amanprit Dosanj was the first Asian to play international football for England at any level, appearing with the women’s under-16s in 1999, although she later declared for India. “Officially”, because Soo’s career was nothing if not unusual.
“The Frank Soo Foundation grew out of the tournament,” says foundation founder and director Alan Lau Zheng-phoon. “I’ve been a volunteer at the London Chinese Community Centre, just off Leicester Square, for about 10 years. I helped run the youth club and helped them set up a football team, then a fundraising five-a-side football tournament. That’s what the Chinese Community Challenge Cup was in 2010, a 16-team competition in London.
This year, London will have 32 teams and Birmingham eight, plus we have the women’s competition, with teams still registering.