The Friends of Buxton Station have helped ensure the only man of Chinese heritage to ever play football for England has been commemorated by Historic England and High Peak Borough Council.

Born at 11 Lightwood Road, Buxton on 8 March 1914, Frank Soo was the first, and remarkably still the only Chinese-heritage footballer to play for England. He made his debut against Wales in 1942 and went on to play for England a further eight times and captained the RAF team during World War II.

In October 2025, the Football Association awarded Frank an honorary posthumous England cap, following campaigning by the Frank Soo Foundation in London and by Buxton community groups, especially Friends of Buxton Station (FoBS), who featured Frank in their ‘Unhailed Trail’ leaflet, which takes visitors on a guided tour of the town, calling at the homes and workplaces of relatively unknown yet influential people associated with Buxton.

In the first commemoration ceremony on Friday 10 July, history-maker Frank was recognised by Historic England for his remarkable footballing legacy, with Buxton’s first-ever Blue Plaque being placed on the house where he was born.

In the second commemoration, Councillor Chris Payne of High Peak Borough Council officially named a small park on Fairfield Road, near to where Frank was born, as ‘Frank Soo Park’. The small grassy oasis now includes an information panel which details Frank’s incredible life’s work.

Guest of honour at both events was Frank’s great niece Jacqui Soo, who said: “How wonderful that Frank’s life in football has been so famously recognised in the town of his birth – what a great honour for him and a joy for our proud family.”

Dave Carlisle, chair of the Friends of Buxton Station, said: “Local historian Julian Cohen wrote a 2023 book called, ‘Surely not in Buxton’, that showed how Frank’s great achievements had been largely ignored. This inspired us to take up Frank’s case.

“Frank Soo was never given an England cap, despite playing nine times for our country during the Second World War. We felt that this was an injustice, and we wanted his unique footballing legacy to be recognised here in his hometown.

“Blue plaques are not given out easily, so we had to work very hard to convince Historic England of how deserving Frank’s case was. We are thrilled that Frank has finally been properly and truly recognised!”

Author Julian Cohen said: “I am a football fan, and I had lived in Buxton for over 20 years before I discovered that an England footballer had been born a few hundred yards from where I lived.

“Frank not only went on to play for England, but captained Stoke City, and coached and managed teams in Scandinavia and Italy, something that is still today a rare thing for an Englishman to do.

“I am so heartened that, at last, Frank Soo is getting the credit he deserved.”

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