Sunday Mirror (Northern Ireland)
Picked for England, but then dropped by the FA ...because he was black
THE young winger had been summoned to the manager’s office that Tuesday morning.
The boss Bob Jack put an arm around his star forward’s shoulder and said: “I’ve got great news for you – you’ve been picked for England.”
The 24-year-old, who admitted he was “knocked sideways” at the news, was named in the England team to face Ireland in three weeks’ time.
Word soon got around and “the town was full of it”.
The club were only awaiting official confirmation of his England place when, days later, joy turned to misery as he read in a newspaper that he was no longer in the team. Why?
Because the FA had found out he was black.
The original selection of Jack Leslie was reported in newspapers, with some calling him – in language totally unacceptable today – a “darkie forward”, a “dark, fuzzyhaired schemer” and the suchlike.
His demotion from that England team gradually followed.
Leslie’s name had appeared listed in the England team, as published in the national and local press on October 6 – but they had him as a travelling reserve, not in the first XI.
There was no England manager in those days and the team was picked by an International Selection Committee normally comprised of 14 administrators chosen by the FA.
The Athletic News revealed that, in 11 seasons after the First World War, 145 players were chosen to play for England, but only 66 of them were to earn a second cap.
There appeared to be a scattergun method of selection, but Leslie had earned his place on merit, thanks to his remarkable scoring ability.
He had become a star at lowly Third Division Plymouth, playing at inside-left. His reputation preceded him, as did his scoring prowess – but, clearly, not his colour.
Just a fortnight before the Ireland game, Huddersfield Town’s left-back Sam Wadsworth dislocated his elbow and would be unable to represent England in the match.
The Western Daily Press reported that “it is not unlikely that Leslie, the darkie forward of Plymouth Argyle, will fill the vacancy”.
Leslie was described as “a versatile player, who often provided cover at centre-half or indeed any other position which was required”.
But he was then dropped from the squad entirely – no reason given.
His place was taken by West Ham’s Stan Earle – a forward, like Leslie – who was one of the travelling reserves on the day of the match, but had not been announced in the original squad of 13 players.
Pressure was applied so that even local Plymouth newspapers were restricted from discussing the matter. One reporter wrote: “Unfortunately, my pen is under a ban in this matter: but I may say that a mistake was made in London and transmitted to me.” The Ireland match on October 24, 1925 ended a drab 0-0 draw on the same afternoon Plymouth thrashed Bournemouth and Boscombe Athletic 7-2, with Leslie scoring two of the goals.
Four days later, the Daily Herald quoted a letter sent by a ‘London reader’, which had asked why Leslie had been announced in the squad, but Earle travelled instead.
The Herald took up the matter with the FA, who DENIED Leslie had ever been picked at all.
The Herald then contacted the Press Association, who, if the
FA were telling the truth, had misreported his selection. But the Press
Association were adamant that the FA had announced Leslie as a travelling reserve.
In an interview, Leslie said: “All them days ago it was quite a thing for a little club like Plymouth to have a man called up for England. I was proud – but then I was proud just to be a paid footballer.
“No one ever told me officially, but that had to be the reason – they found out I was a darkie. I suppose that was like finding out I was foreign.” Jack Leslie’s story will appear in Football’s Black Pioneers, which will be published in October – and available now for pre-order at ConkerEditions.co.uk
Born in Canning Town, East London in 1901 to a Jamaican father, John, and London-based mum Anne, Leslie played for Barking Town, then turned professional at Plymouth and became an “inspiring captain”, according to the club president, playing 401 times and scoring 137 goals.
He retired from the game in 1934. But in the 1960s, West Ham boss Ron Greenwood offered Leslie a chance to become part of his backroom staff – cleaning boots for England captain Bobby Moore, Martin Peters and Trevor Brooking.
Plymouth have since honoured Leslie, who died in 1988, by naming the boardroom in their Mayflower Grandstand after him in 2019.
And there is a concerted effort to build a statue to commemorate this favourite son of Home Park. The Jack Leslie Campaign is “raising funds to honour the footballer denied an England cap in 1925, just because he was black”. They intend to raise £100,000 through a Crowdfunder campaign, though plans have been affected by the pandemic.
It took 37 years before a black player did finally represent England – West Ham’s John Charles at Under-18 level against Israel.
But it was 53 years before Greenwood – then England manager in 1978 – selected Viv Anderson, the first black player at senior level, to play against Czechoslovakia.
As a Plymouth spokesman said: “Jack Leslie was a pioneer for the generations of BAME footballers that now grace the English game.”