Fight for statue of star scorned for being black
SOCCER legend Gary Lineker is backing a drive to erect a statue for a footballer picked for England – then dropped because he was black.
Jack Leslie was playing for Plymouth Argyle when he was chosen for the national team in 1925.
But he never landed his cap after the game’s bosses realised his ethnic background and dropped him from the squad.
Now the Jack Leslie Campaign is seeking to raise £100,000 to build a monument to the forgotten star, who ended his working days as an elderly boot boy atWest Ham in the 1960s.
The campaign aims to put the statue outside Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park ground.
Robbed
It has been supported by a host of celebrities, politicians and figures in the media.
Match Of The Day host Gary, who played for England 80 times, wrote: “This is an extraordinary story. He never got his England cap but let’s get him a statue.”
Jack, born in London in 1901 to a Jamaican father, is believed to have been one of only two black players in England when he reveived a call-up.
If he had taken to the pitch against Ireland he would have become the country’s first black international – a full 53 years before Viv Anderson of Nottingham Forest in 1978.
He stayed with Plymouth Argyle until 1935, a 14-year stint which saw him make 384 appearances and score 133 league goals. He died in 1988. Comedy star Dawn French, who is also backing the statue idea, wrote on social media: “Let’s make this happen! The Green Army Argyle are well up for it #jacklesliewasrobbed.”
Other support came from Radio 2 news presenter Tina Daheley and Plymouth MP Luke Pollard.
A spokesman for the campaign, which has raised just under £20,000 so far, said: “Nearly 100 years ago Jack should have been making history but he was denied because of his race. It’s time to right that wrong.”