London Chinese Community Centre to host book launch of The Story of Frank Soo

The London Chinese Community Centre will be hosting the Book Launch of “The Wanderer: The Story of Frank Soo”.

It is an opportunity to meet the author, Susan Gardiner of this much anticipated book.

The author will be speaking about researching and writing the biography and the event will be attended by several members of the Soo family. Susan will be happy to answer questions afterwards and speak to the media. She will also be signing copies of her book.

Frank Soo is in many ways the forgotten man of twentieth century football. In his time he was a household name in Britain and he was highly regarded all over the world. Born in Derbyshire in 1914, the son of a Chinese immigrant from Guangzhou and an English mother, Frank Soo had a very successful football career, playing for many years alongside the world-famous Stanley Matthews.

Soo played for the England national side nine times and was Captain of the Royal Air Force team. He spent most of his playing career at Stoke City, appeared as a guest player during the Second World War for Everton, Newcastle United and Chelsea, and later played for Leicester City and Luton Town. His career as a football manager, mainly in Scandinavia, included spells as the national coach of both Norway and Sweden and he took Djurgårdens IF to the top of the Allsvenskan, the highest football league in Sweden.

A pioneer in many ways, Frank Soo was the first person from a Chinese or Asian background to play for England and remains the only one to this day.