Jack Leslie: Cap for first black player picked for England

The cap was presented to his granddaughters by FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt (right) and former England international Viv Anderson

The Football Association (FA) has presented a posthumous honorary cap to the family of the first black player to receive an England call-up.

Leslie was the first black player to be called up for England in 1925, before his name disappeared from the team sheet due to his skin colour.

The cap was presented to his granddaughters before the England-Ukraine Euro 2024 qualifier at Wembley.

The FA said the retraction of his call-up "should never have happened".

It said: "In 1925, Jack Leslie earned a deserved call-up to represent England.

"However, he faced adversity because of the colour of his skin, and was deselected and never played for his country."

It said the cap would recognise Leslie's "career, his contribution to our game and wider society, and to right this historical wrong".

• Listen: Radio Devon speaks to Jack Leslie's granddaughter Lyn Davies

A statue to honour Jack Leslie was erected at the Plymouth Argyle ground in October 2022

Leslie made 400 appearances and scored 137 goals for Plymouth Argyle in the 1920s and 1930s.

Granddaughters Lesley Hiscott, Lyn Davies and Gill Carter said the award meant "so much to the whole family".

"When the FA told us they were giving our grandad this posthumous honour it took our breath away.

"This is our family's history and now it is part of the nation's history, a recognition that things can and must change."

FA chairwoman Debbie Hewitt and former England international Viv Anderson were part of the presentation.

Anderson was the first black footballer to receive a full England international cap against Czechoslovakia in 1978.

A statue to honour Leslie was placed outside Plymouth Argyle in October 2022, where he played between 1921 and 1935.

Leslie was also posthumously inducted into the National Football Museum's Hall of Fame in February.

Co-founders of the Jack Leslie Campaign, Greg Foxsmith and Matt Tiller, said they were "delighted he has now been given this honour".