Frank Soo

Frank Soo (real name Hong Ying Soo) (8 March 1914 – 25 January 1991), born in Buxton, Derbyshire, and brought up in Liverpool, was an English football player and manager of mixed Chinese and English parentage. His parents, Liverpool-based Chinese sailor father Our Quong Soo and English girl Beatrice Whittam, had married six years before his birth. [ [http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Soo,_Frank_-_Derbyshire's_Famous_'Chinaman' FRANK SOO - DERBYSHIRE'S FAMOUS CHINAMAN] ] His address at the time of his death was given as New Cheadle Hospital, Cheadle, Staffordshire near Stoke-on-Trent. [" Probate Records,London WC1 (1991)"]

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. During the war, he guested for Everton, Chelsea, 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 for a fee of £2000 in the 1948-1949 season. [ [http://www.claretsonline.com/History.htm Chelmsford City Football CLub History ] accessed 29 AUg 2007]

Managerial career

Soo took over as manager of St Albans City early in the 1947-48 season, but left in 1948 to move to Italy Fact|date=December 2007. In AprilFact|date=December 20071950 he was appointed as manager of Padova, a post he held until July 1952. (he is quoted as being an FA coach in October 1950 when he seems to have had sufficient time to address the Littleport Town FC in Littleport, Cambridgeshire) [ [http://www.btinternet.com/~strawson.online/almanack/interest51.htm Littleport and District Directory] accessed 23 Dec 2007] Another source says Soo became manager at Padova at the end of the 1950-51 season,which seems more realistic. [ [http://www.btinternet.com/~rfc1871/watn/biogs/franksoo.htm They played for Reading FC-The Ultimate Website] ] Later in 1952 he became coach of Swedish side IFK Eskilstuna, taking over at Örebro SK in 1953, Djurgårdens IF in 1954 and Oddevold in 1956.

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. He subsequently returned to Scandinavia, taking over as coach of IS Köping in 1962, IFK Stockholm in 1963 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.

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)

References

External links

* [http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/eng-warvic-intres.html Rec.sports.soccer Statistics Foundation - Wartime and Victory Internationals statistics]
* [http://www.scunthorpe-united.premiumtv.co.uk/page/Managers/0,,10442,00.html Scunthorpe United F.C. - The Managers]
* [http://www.furd.org/default.asp?intPageID=31 Football Unites Racism Divides-Frank Soo plus photo]
* [http://www.youandyesterday.co.uk/articles/Soo,_Frank_-_Derbyshire's_Famous_'Chinaman' Frank Soo-Derbyshire's famous Chinaman]
* [http://www.btinternet.com/~rfc1871/watn/biogs/franksoo.htm Frank Soo with Reading FC]