JACK LESLIE

Full Name: John Francis Leslie

Born: 17 August 1901

Came from: Barking Town   Went to: Retired

First game: 19 November 1921   Last game: 29 December 1934

Appearances: 400 (400/0)   Goals: 137

Born in Canning Town in East London in 1901, to a father from Hope Bay, Jamaica and a mother from Islington, Leslie played for Barking Town and helped them win the Essex Senior Cup in 1920 and the London League Premier Division title in 1921. Scouted by Bob Jack, he joined Argyle later that year, along with teammates Alf Rowe and Frank Richardson. Leslie became the only black player in professional football in England during his time at Argyle.

He struggled to break into the first team in his first two seasons, but a move from the wing to inside-left transformed him. The arrival of Sammy Black did him no harm either; the two became one of the most feared left-flank combinations. Leslie played alongside Black 326 times, with the duo scoring 319 goals between them, with Leslie contributing 137.

A versatile player, he often provided cover at centre-half. In 1930, The Herald described him as "known throughout England for his skill and complexion" amidst rumours that top clubs were circling, but a move never materialised and he spent his entire League career in green.

For many years, it was merely reported that he was selected for England and that formal confirmation of his call-up was never received. People often found this 'story' barely credible and hard to believe. Later research gave this immovable credence. In the 1924-25 season, Leslie was the top scorer with 14 goals and the following season Argyle got off to a flyer. By the time the FA's International Selection Committee met (in the days before an England Manager) on 5th October 1925, the club was topping the division, having scored 31 goals in eight games with six from Leslie.

Argyle's free-scoring play had attracted national press attention and Jack's record, combined with the recommendation of Bob Jack, was enough to earn him a call-up for England.

The announcement made several papers on 6th October 1925 and in the days following too. Publications including the Birmingham Gazette, Northern Whig, Western Daily Press and Liverpool Echo all listed an identical England team with Leslie named as a travelling reserve, one of only 13 players selected for a match versus Ireland in Belfast.

However, on 24th October 1925, as England limped to a 0-0 draw, Leslie scored twice for Argyle in a 7-2 victory against Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic. Jack had disappeared from the list as a travelling reserve and was replaced by others, with the FA giving a cap to an ageing 35-year-old, Frank Hudspeth - his first and only cap. Certainly, after his performance at Dean Court, Jack Leslie never obviously let that disappointment affect his game.

Clearly neither injured nor suspended, it was strongly rumoured that the selectors had changed their mind, realising the colour of his skin. Whilst often side-stepped and overlooked in the intervening years, such racism was not uncommon in those times.

Remarkably, (or perhaps not) nearly 50 years then passed before a black player appeared for England, when Viv Anderson made his debut against Czechoslovakia at Wembley, in December 1978. At the time, Leslie was interviewed by renowned sports journalist Brian Woolnough about his call-up and said, "They must have forgotten I was a coloured boy". Further elaborating on his call-up, he told Woolnough how Bob Jack called him into his office to tell him that he'd been picked for England:

"Everybody in the club knew about it. The town was full of it. All those 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".

Leslie retired from football in 1935, playing his last game and scoring on 29 December 1934 in a 3-1 home win against Fulham - his only appearance of the 1934-35 season. Across a total of 14 seasons, he scored 137 goals in 400 games, making him Argyle's 9th highest appearance maker, and 4th highest goal-scorer.

He never received another England call-up.

He later worked as a member of backroom staff at his local club, West Ham United, as a boot-boy, where he'd given that seminal interview to Brian Woolnough. He was offered the job by the then West Ham (and, ironically, future England) manager, Ron Greenwood, who recognised Leslie as a great former player. During his time, he cleaned the boots of World Cup winners Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters and of England's Trevor Brooking, as well as Clyde Best, who, at the time, was one of only a few black players in the top-flight of English football.

Jack Leslie, the very definition of an Argyle legend, passed away in 1988, aged 87.

However, the story was not to end there, as posthumously, a campaign to right the wrong inflicted upon Jack following his England selection and subsequent snub was mounted.

Firstly, in December 2019, the boardroom in the newly redeveloped Mayflower Grandstand was named in Leslie's honour. In November 2020, a blue plaque was unveiled outside Leslie's former home in Canning Town and in August 2022, a previously unnamed road which runs outside Home Park's Devonport End was named Jack Leslie Way.

Crucially, in early 2020, the Jack Leslie Campaign was set up, with the aim of building a statue of Leslie outside Home Park. Crowdfunding for the project began in July 2020 and by August had raised the target amount of £100,000 in just over a month.

On 7th October 2022, the bronze statue was unveiled, standing at 3.7 m (12ft) tall, and sculpted by Andy Edwards. A plaque on the statue's base also paid tribute to Leslie's strike partner, Sammy Black.

Perhaps the most defining moment of all followed. On the same day, Leslie was awarded a posthumous honorary England cap by the FA. The FA's chair, Debbie Hewitt, said: "The FA is awarding Jack a posthumous honorary cap, to recognise his unique contribution and set of circumstances - and to right the historical wrong". The cap was presented to Leslie's family at Wembley Stadium on 26 March 2023 before England's Euro 2024 qualifying game against Ukraine and following his induction into the National Football Museum’s Hall of Fame a month earlier.