Three players who have played a huge part in Luton Town history were honoured with their legacy caps from the Football Association at the England v Wales friendly at Wembley last week.
The family of Frank Soo, along with our Littlewoods Cup winners Ricky Hill and Brian Stein, were presented with their caps at the national stadium ahead of Thomas Tuchel’s side’s 3-0 win over the Welsh.
It was a proud moment for all Hatters to see three players recognised for representing their country, with Mick Harford unfortunately unable to collect his due to a clash of dates with his fundraising golf day for Prostate Cancer UK. Mick will be presented with his cap at a future international.
Frank Soo was the first player of Asian descent to play for England, making his debut against Wales in 1942. He went on to play for England a further eight times and captained the RAF team during the Second World War.
Owing to the fact that wartime matches aren’t internationally recognised by FIFA as official fixtures, the presentation of a posthumous honorary cap allows The FA the opportunity to acknowledge Frank as a trailblazer in English football.
Born in Derbyshire, and later raised in Liverpool, to a Chinese father and an English mother, Frank Soo had a successful club football career, including with Stoke City, where he was captain, Leicester City and the Town, making 78 appearances and scoring five goals for the Hatters between 1946-48, before taking up managerial posts in England, Sweden, Italy and Denmark, as well as coaching the Norwegian national team.
The first of London-born Ricky’s three caps came in a European Championship qualifier against Denmark on 22nd September 1982 at the age of 23.
The midfielder, who made 508 appearances and scored 65 goals to write his name into Luton Town folklore, won his second cap against West Germany a month later, but had to wait almost three-and-a-half years for his third, which came in a 4-0 friendly win over Egypt in January 1986.
Ricky’s FA Legacy Number is 958.
Born in Cape Town, South Africa, Brian won his only cap for England in 1984 against France, and like Ricky, he had manager Sir Bobby Robson to thank for selecting him.
The then 26-year-old started up front in the Parc Des Princes alongside his Hatters team-mate Paul Walsh, but was taken off in the second half as the Three Lions went down 2-0 to the hosts.
Brian, who made 496 appearances for the Town, finding the net on 154 occasions, has FA Legacy Number 975.
Congratulations to the family of Frank and the Frank Soo Foundation, to Ricky and to Brian on receiving their caps and recognition of their achievements in representing their country.
