I was delighted to be one of the guests today when a Historic England blue plaque was unveiled for groundbreaking footballer Frank Soo. Soo was the first player of Chinese heritage to play for England and he was born in Buxton. HIs dad was from China, his mum was from Manchester. The unveiling today took place in the town and members of the Soo family were present today. HIstorian Martin Polley, representing Historic England, made a great speech about the player and other speeches were made by family members, local historians and blue plaque campaigners. Guests included Max Portman, representing the British Society of Sports History. Stoke City sent a message too. Here are a few images from the day.
You can find out more about Frank Soo (who was a teammate of Joe Mercer’s for England) and the campaign to erect a blue plaque to him here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c74yg20g378o
You can find out about other footballing blue plaques mentioned on my site by searching on ‘plaque’ below. Here you can read about the blue plaque campaign on the Manchester Corinthian Ladies FC:
Frank Soo and Joe Mercer remained friends throughout their lives. Frank, for example, attended Joe’s This Is Your Life.
Gary James' Football Archive 