England's first ever player of Asian descent and Stoke City legend Frank Soo is set to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame.
England's first ever men's national team player of Asian descent and Stoke City legend, Frank Soo, is set to be inducted into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame later this year. The National Football Museum Hall of Fame aims to celebrate and highlight the achievements of those who have made an outstanding contribution to English football.
The Hall of Fame also acknowledges and champions the careers of those that go beyond just impact on the pitch.
Soo is to be inducted for his pioneering achievement in the English game and beyond these shores. To this day, England are still yet to have another international of East or South-East Asian heritage.
The Frank Soo Foundation was founded in 2017 to advance the public's knowledge of the story and legacy of Frank Soo, and to carry on his life passion of supporting the next generation of young footballers.
The Frank Soo Foundation has three long term goals it wishes to achieve: promote Frank's story, support the local East and South-East Asian community, and guide East and South-East Asians in their aspirations in football.
Alan Lau of the Frank Soo foundation said: "It is wonderful to see Frank Soo honoured with induction into the National Football Museum Hall of Fame. It means a lot to us, our communities and also the Soo family.
This highlights the positive effect that people from ESEA and Pan-Asian communities have had on football and we hope this will inspire the next generations of boys and girls to aspire to be the nextFrankSoo"
Tim Desmond, CEO of The National Football Museum said: "At the National Football Museum, we are delighted to induct Frank Soo into our Hall of Fame celebrating not only his achievements on the pitch but also his role as a pioneer for being England's first-ever player of Asian descent.
The National Football Museum is proud to be representative of football in all its diversity and Frank must have overcome a lot of social barriers to achieve at the highest level in the game. His story is incredibly inspiring and we hope this induction contributes to his legacy."
The announcement comes during East and South-East Asian Heritage Month (ESEA Month) in which the aim is to celebrate and honour people of ESEA (East and Southeast Asian) heritage, their culture, history and everything in between. Soo was born in Derbyshire, and later raised in Liverpool to a Chinese father and an English mother. His football career began at the age of 18 at Prescot Cables FC.
He was renowned for his perfectly placed passing and freekicks.
He had a successful club football career, most notably at Stoke City, playing for many years alongside Stanley Matthews. He would amass over 170 caps for the Potters including a prolonged spell as club captain and would be the club that left the biggest mark on his career.
After the war, he played for Leicester City, Luton Town and Chelmsford City.
On 9th May 1942 against Wales at Ninian Park, Frank was the first non-white person to play for the England national football team and still is the only player of an Asian background to reach that level for the England men's team.
Due to the ongoing war in Europe, all of Frank's games for England were never counted as caps, as these games were all unofficial matches and the Frank Soo foundation are campaigning for an honorary England cap to be awarded.
To find out more about the Frank Soo foundation, follow the link below: https://www.thefranksoofoundation.org.uk