A local footballer who was infamously dropped from the England team after officials discovered he was of Black Jamaican heritage will be remembered in a new housing development in Canning Town.

The Mayor of Newham, Rokhsana Fiaz, Cllr Shaban Mohammed, Cabinet Member for Housing Services, and officials from Rooff Construction Company joined Jack Leslie’s family in the Topping Out Ceremony for the new block of 15 council flats in Canning Town named after local footballer Jack Leslie (1901-1988).

Mayor Fiaz and Councillors with Jack Leslie’s Family. © Andrew Baker

The site of Jack Leslie Point was previously occupied by under used garages. The homes are being built to ambitious sustainability standards. The development will be car free, in accordance with council policy, but there will be disabled parking spaces.

Jack Leslie, who featured in an exhibition I curated for Newham Black History Month 2021, was picked to play for England in 1925. However, his name was dropped from the final line up after officials discovered his Black Jamaican heritage.

Jack’s grand-daughter Gillian told Newham Voices how it feels to have him remembered in Newham: “I’m so very happy that my grandad is now getting his story out there. He’d probably say “what’s all the fuss about.”

The flats are located near Gerald Road in Canning Town, where there is now a blue Heritage plaque.

Jack Leslie’s family, the Mayor of Newham, and myself signed parts of the beams in the building.

Rokhsana Fiaz said: “I’m proud and privileged to be here with members of Jack’s family as a woman of colour who has been trying to do some pioneering things by being disruptive. I hope we have done as best as we can in Jack’s memory and that he will forever be immortalised in this building of exceptional design and quality.”

Jack’s grand-daughter Lyn asked her mother, Eve, how Jack would have reacted to the news of the naming of the new flats, “Mum said he would have been embarrassed by it all. I am so proud and thankful that his name and story will now be mentioned forever, he will never be forgotten.”

Jack played for Barking Town and Plymouth Argyle. After retiring, he joined West Ham United FC’s backroom staff, managed by Ron Greenwood, as the club’s boot-boy for over 15 years at Chadwell Heath and the Boleyn Ground.

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