A FAN-DRIVEN campaign raised more than £100,000 in just six weeks, to fund the commission of a statue outside Home Park in Plymouth to honour the first black male footballer picked to play for England.

Last December, the Morning Star ran a piece celebrating the life of forgotten Plymouth Argyle striker Jack Leslie who was chosen to start for the England national team against Ireland in October 1925, only to have his place revoked once The FA’s international selection committee realised that Leslie, the son of a Jamaican gas fitter labourer, was black.

Matt Tiller, a musician, comedian, writer and television comedy producer, started the campaign to honour Leslie alongside fellow Plymouth fan Greg Foxsmith.