Frank Soo Street hopes to put England’s pioneering Asian footballer on the map on site of former Stoke City stadium
- Midfielder represented Three Lions in nine games during wartime and is still the only player of East Asian heritage to do so
- Pioneer went on to coach around the world but is best known for his time at the club where he made his debut in 1933
Frank Soo is not a name known to many but one English property developer is trying to change that.
Soo was the first non-white player to represent England at football and remains the only Asian to have played for the Three Lions.
The midfielder played for England during the second world war in several Wartime and Victory internationals.
His first appearance was in 1942, 36 years before Viv Anderson became the England senior side’s first black player in 1978.
Soo’s nine caps are all unofficial as the Football Association does not recognise games when the league was suspended for war. Injury prevented him from earning a full cap after the war.
“Our Victoria Park development is being delivered on the former Victoria Ground, which was Stoke City’s home for over a century,” said Gillian Sabin, sales and marketing director at property developer St. Modwen Homes.