Frank Soo

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Frank Soo can be seen as the first non-white man to play for England, representing them in unofficial Internationals during World War II.

Soo was born in Buxton, Derbyshire in 1914 to a Chinese father and an English mother. He became the first player of Chinese origin to play in the Football league.

He made 173 league appearances for Stoke City from 1933 to 1945 and would probably have played at international level for England had World War II not intervened. He made 81 wartime appearances and had to be content with 9 wartime and Victory caps.

From Stoke City, Soo moved on to join Leicester City for £4,600 and then went on to play for Luton Town and Chelmsford City.

After his playing career, he became manager for Scunthorpe United and Israel and gained extensive further managerial experience in Scandinavia and Italy.

Frankie Soo died in Cheadle, North Staffordshire in January 1991.