Frank Soo: Difference between revisions
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Soo began his career with [[Prescot Cables F.C.|Prescot Cables]], moving to [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] in January 1933. By the time of the [[World War II|Second World War]], Soo had established himself as a crowd favourite at Stoke, playing alongside such celebrated players as Stanley Matthews and Freddie Steele. During the war, he guested for [[Everton F.C.|Everton]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], [[Reading F.C.|Reading]], [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]] and [[Brentford F.C.|Brentford]] and played nine times for the [[England national football team]] between 1942 and 1945 (in Wartime and [[Victory international]]s), the first non-white person ever to play for the national team (albeit in semi-official matches only) and the only person of East Asian descent to date. He also played for several [[The Football Association|FA]] representative teams not officially described as "England". |
Soo began his career with [[Prescot Cables F.C.|Prescot Cables]], moving to [[Stoke City F.C.|Stoke City]] in January 1933. By the time of the [[World War II|Second World War]], Soo had established himself as a crowd favourite at Stoke, playing alongside such celebrated players as Stanley Matthews and Freddie Steele. During the war, he guested for [[Everton F.C.|Everton]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]], [[Reading F.C.|Reading]], [[Millwall F.C.|Millwall]] and [[Brentford F.C.|Brentford]] and played nine times for the [[England national football team]] between 1942 and 1945 (in Wartime and [[Victory international]]s), the first non-white person ever to play for the national team (albeit in semi-official matches only) and the only person of East Asian descent to date. He also played for several [[The Football Association|FA]] representative teams not officially described as "England". |
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In September 1945, after playing 173 league games for Stoke, Soo moved to [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] for a fee of £4,600, rejoining the manager who had signed him for Stoke, [[Tom Mather]]. He moved to [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]] in July 1946 for a fee of £5,000, playing a further 71 league games before joining non-league [[Chelmsford City F.C.|Chelmsford City]] directly from Luton for a reported fee of £2,500 in the 1948-1949 season for whom he made 82 first team appearances and scored 10 goals,mostly directly from free kicks.<ref>''The Secretary Asks- "Do You Recall?" L.G.Menhinick , Chelmsford City Football News (Monday 24 August 1964)''</ref> |
In September 1945, after playing 173 league games for Stoke, Soo moved to [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] for a fee of £4,600, rejoining the manager who had signed him for Stoke, [[Tom Mather]]. He moved to [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]] in July 1946 for a fee of £5,000, playing a further 71 league games before joining non-league [[Chelmsford City F.C.|Chelmsford City]] directly from Luton for a reported fee of £2,500 in the 1948-1949 season for whom he made 82 first team appearances and scored 10 goals, mostly directly from free kicks.<ref>''The Secretary Asks- "Do You Recall?" L.G.Menhinick , Chelmsford City Football News (Monday 24 August 1964)''</ref> |
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==Managerial career== |
==Managerial career== |
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Revision as of 13:09, 22 October 2012
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Frank Soo | ||
| Position(s) | Inside forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Prescot Cables | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1933–1945 | Stoke City | 173 | (5) |
| → Everton (war guest) | |||
| → Chelsea (war guest) | |||
| → Millwall (war guest) | |||
| → Brentford (war guest) | |||
| → Reading (war guest)[1] | 3 | ||
| 1945–1946 | Leicester City | 0 | (0) |
| 1946–1949 | Luton Town | 71 | (4) |
| 1949–1952 | Chelmsford City | 82 | (10) |
| Total | 326 | (19) | |
| International career | |||
| 1942–1945 | England war team | 9 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 1951–1952 | Padova Calcio | ||
| 1952 | Norway | ||
| 1953 | IFK Eskilstuna | ||
| 1953–1954 | Örebro SK | ||
| 1954–1955 | Djurgårdens IF | ||
| 1956–1957 | IK Oddevold | ||
| 1958 | AIK | ||
| 1959–1960 | Scunthorpe United | ||
| 1960–196? | St Albans City | ||
| 1962 | Köpings IS | ||
| 1963 | IFK Stockholm | ||
| 1964 | Fredrikstad | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Frank Soo (12 March 1914 – 25 January 1991) was an English professional football player and manager of mixed Chinese and English parentage. Soo played as an inside forward.[2]
Personal life
Soo was born in Buxton, Derbyshire,[3][nb 1] and brought up in Liverpool. His parents, Liverpool-based Chinese sailor[citation needed] father Our Quong Soo (can also be transliterated as Ah Kwong Soo) and English mother Beatrice Whittam,[4] had married in Chorlton, Manchester in 1908.[5] Frank had a number of siblings; an elder brother Norman (born 1909 in Chorlton), and younger siblings: Phyllis, Ronald, Jack, Harold and finally Kenneth in 1931. By 1920 the family had settled in West Derby, Liverpool. His brother, Ronald, was killed on 14 January 1944 while serving as an air gunner in No. 166 Squadron. He is buried at Hanover Cemetery, Germany.[6]
Soo was one of the first ethnic minority footballers to play in the Football League.[1]
Having later lived in several countries, his address at the time of his death was given as New Cheadle Hospital, Cheadle, Staffordshire.[7]
Playing career
Soo began his career with Prescot Cables, moving to Stoke City in January 1933. By the time of the Second World War, Soo had established himself as a crowd favourite at Stoke, playing alongside such celebrated players as Stanley Matthews and Freddie Steele. During the war, he guested for Everton, Chelsea, Reading, Millwall and Brentford and played nine times for the England national football team between 1942 and 1945 (in Wartime and Victory internationals), the first non-white person ever to play for the national team (albeit in semi-official matches only) and the only person of East Asian descent to date. He also played for several FA representative teams not officially described as "England".
In September 1945, after playing 173 league games for Stoke, Soo moved to Leicester City for a fee of £4,600, rejoining the manager who had signed him for Stoke, Tom Mather. He moved to Luton Town in July 1946 for a fee of £5,000, playing a further 71 league games before joining non-league Chelmsford City directly from Luton for a reported fee of £2,500 in the 1948-1949 season for whom he made 82 first team appearances and scored 10 goals, mostly directly from free kicks.[8]
Managerial career
In April 1950 he was appointed as manager of Padova, a post he held until July 1952.
In October 1950 he gave a talk at Littleport Town FC in Littleport, Cambridgeshire,[9] when he was an FA Coach.
He was subsequently coach of Padova for the end of the 1950–51 season and the start of the 1951/52 season.[1]
Later in 1952 he became coach of the Norway national football team[10] and then Swedish side IFK Eskilstuna, taking over at Örebro SK in 1953, Djurgårdens IF in 1954, IK Oddevold in 1956 and AIK in 1958[1][11]
In June 1959 he was appointed as manager of Scunthorpe United, but left in May 1960 after his one season in charge had seen Scunthorpe finish a respectable 15th in Division Two. Afterwards he had a spell as manager of St Albans City.[12] He subsequently returned to Scandinavia, taking over as coach of IS Köping in 1962, IFK Stockholm in 1963, Fredrikstad in 1964[13] and AB Copenhagen in 1965. He later coached a number of teams in Copenhagen and Malmö before taking over as coach of Höganäs BK in 1972.
He also had a spell as manager of the Israel national team.[citation needed]
International games played
- 9 May 1942: Wales 1 - England 0 (Ninian Park, Cardiff, attendance 30,000)
- 25 September 1943: England 8 - Wales 3 (Wembley Stadium, London, attendance 80,000)
- 22 April 1944: Scotland 2 - England 3 (Hampden Park, Glasgow, attendance 133,000)
- 30 September 1944: France XI 0 - FA Services XI 5 (Parc des Princes, Paris, attendance 30,000)
- 1 October 1944: Belgium 0 - FA Services XI 3 (Stade du Daring Club, Brussels, attendance 28,000)
- 14 October 1944: England 6 - Scotland 2 (Wembley Stadium, London, attendance 90,000)
- 3 February 1945: England 3 - Scotland 2 (Villa Park, Birmingham, attendance 65,780)
- 14 April 1945: Scotland 1 - England 6 (Hampden Park, Glasgow, attendance 133,000)
- 26 May 1945: England 2 - France 2 (Wembley Stadium, London, attendance 65,000) ("Victory International")
- 21 July 1945: Switzerland 3 - England 1 (Neufeld Stadion, Bern, attendance 35,000) (Unofficial international - Swiss FA 50th anniversary)
- 15 September 1945: Ireland 0 - England 1 (Windsor Park, Belfast, attendance 45,061)
- 20 October 1945: England 0 - Wales 1 (The Hawthorns, Birmingham, attendance 54,611)
Career statistics
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Total | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Stoke City | 1933–34 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 16 | 3 |
| 1934–35 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | |
| 1935–36 | 35 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 40 | 0 | |
| 1936–37 | 31 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 1937–38 | 42 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 45 | 5 | |
| 1937–38 | 42 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 44 | 3 | |
| Total | 173 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 185 | 10 | |
| Luton Town | 1946–47 | ||||||
| 1947–48 | |||||||
| 1948–49 | |||||||
| Total | 71 | 4 | 71 | 4 | |||
| Career Total | 244 | 9 | 12 | 5 | 256 | 14 | |
Notes
- ^ Frank Soo is a different person than Hong Y.Soo - Register of Births 1914 (1) Liverpool district Vol 8b p 159
References
- ^ a b c They played for Reading FC-The Ultimate Website
- ^ FRANK SOO - DERBYSHIRE'S FAMOUS CHINAMAN
- ^ Register of Births 1914 (2) Chapel-en-le-Frith district Vol 7b p 1732
- ^ Register of Marriages 1908 (4) Chorlton district Vol 8c p 1106
- ^ Register of Marriages 1908 (4) Chorlton district Vol 8c p 1106
- ^ SOO, RONALD, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, cwgc.org. Retrieved 2 June 2010.
- ^ Probate Records, London WC1 (1991)
- ^ The Secretary Asks- "Do You Recall?" L.G.Menhinick , Chelmsford City Football News (Monday 24 August 1964)
- ^ Littleport and District Directory accessed 23 December 2007
- ^ http://www.fotballen.eu/artikler/landslaget/statistikk.html
- ^ http://lesrosbifs.net/?page_id=512
- ^ Why Delilah - Stoke City FC, The Potters
- ^ http://www.ffksupporter.net/artikler/historikk/1960-1969/den_siste_gullalder.php
External links
- Profile at Post War English & Scottish Football League A - Z Player's Database
- Rec.sports.soccer Statistics Foundation - Wartime and Victory Internationals statistics
- Football Unites Racism Divides-Frank Soo plus photo
- Frank Soo-Derbyshire's famous Chinaman
- Frank Soo with Reading FC
- Use dmy dates from September 2010
- 1914 births
- 1991 deaths
- AIK Fotboll managers
- Örebro SK managers
- English people of Chinese descent
- English footballers
- England wartime international footballers
- English football managers
- Leicester City F.C. players
- Luton Town F.C. players
- Calcio Padova managers
- Scunthorpe United F.C. managers
- Fredrikstad FK managers
- Stoke City F.C. players
- Chelsea F.C. wartime guest players
- Port Vale F.C. wartime guest players
- Millwall F.C. wartime guest players
- Brentford F.C. wartime guest players
- Everton F.C. wartime guest players
- Reading F.C. wartime guest players
- Chelmsford City F.C. players
- Sportspeople from Liverpool
- Djurgårdens IF Fotboll managers
- Norway national football team managers
- People from Buxton
- Prescot Cables F.C. players
- IK Oddevold managers