‘Erect statue to trailblazer snubbed by England for being black in 1925’

FOOTBALL fans want to honour the man who was set to become England’s first black player 95 years ago – but was dropped when selectors found out his ethnicity.

A campaign has been launched to build a statue of Jack Leslie.

He was picked to play for England against Ireland in 1925, before being suddenly ditched.

The Jack Leslie Campaign says: “After his selection, his name mysteriously disappeared from the teamsheet, seemingly because FA officials had come to look at him in person and discovered that he was black.”

Viv Anderson became the first black player to represent England at senior level – 53 years later in 1978. Leslie, born in East London in 1901, had an English mum and Jamaican dad. The inside left scored 137 goals in 401 games in his 14-year professional career from 1921 to 1935 – all of it at Plymouth Argyle.

In 1925 the Argyle boss told Leslie he was in the England side. But when the papers published the team days later, he was named as a travelling reserve, and did not even go to Belfast for the game.

Granddaughter Lesley Hiscott said: “Someone came to watch him. They weren’t watching his football – they were looking at the colour of his skin.”

Campaigners hope to raise over £100,000 and want the statue to be erected at Argyle’s ground Home Park.

The group says: “Not only was Jack an incredible player, but his is also a story of great historical significance. It also sadly still resonates.”

Jack Leslie died in

1988 aged 87.