Nigel Boocock
Born(1937-09-17)17 September 1937
Wakefield, England
Died3 April 2015(2015-04-03) (aged 77)
Queensland, Australia
NationalityBritish (English)
Career history
1955-1957Bradford Tudors
1957Birmingham Brummies
1958Ipswich Witches
1959-1976Coventry Bees
1977-1978Bristol Bulldogs
1979-1980Exeter Falcons
1979Canterbury Crusaders
1980Swindon Robins
Individual honours
1962, 1968Midland Riders' Champion
1966The Laurels
1966Brandonapolis
1968Internationale
1969South Australian Champion
Team honours
1968World Cup winner
1960, 1969, 1970World Cup silver
1964, 1965World Cup bronze
1969, 1970World Pairs bronze
1968British League
1967BL KO Cup
1960, 1966, 1969,
1970, 1971, 1976		Midland Cup

Nigel Boocock (17 September 1937 – 3 April 2015) was a motorcycle speedway rider from England.[1] who appeared in eight Speedway World Championship finals.[2][3] He holds the record number of caps for Great Britain (64) and the record for total number of caps, when including England (154).[3]

Career

Born in Wakefield, England,[4] Boocock started his career with the Bradford Tudors during the 1955 season and stayed there until the end of the 1957 season (Bradford replaced Birmingham Brummies during August of the 1957 season).[5]

After spending the 1958 season with the Ipswich Witches, he moved in 1959 to the Coventry Bees. He found a permanent home with the Bees and spent the next eighteen seasons with them. His career also took off in terms of success and was regularly called up to represent his country.[3] In his first season with the Bees he topped the Coventry averages[6] and won the Midland Cup in 1960.[7]

As one of Coventry's leading riders he was called up by England for the 1960 Speedway World Team Cup, taking a silver medal at the event. He would reach multiple Speedway World Championship finals form 1963 to 1972 and was the World Pairs bronze medal winner in 1969 and 1970, the latter with his brother Nigel.[8] Two further bronze medals came in the World Team Cup (1964 and 1965) before his career best achievement, winning the World Cup with Great Britain in 1968 at Wembley.[9][10]

On the domestic front he won the British League Championship in 1968 and five more Midland Cup wins.[11]

He was known for the blue leathers he raced in, when most other riders wore black leathers – he was nicknamed "Little Boy Blue". He appeared with brother Eric Boocock in the 1970 Speedway World Pairs Championship finals, finishing in third place.

At retirement he had earned 90 international caps for the England national speedway team and 64 caps for Great Britain (a record) for a combined total of 154 caps (also a record).[3]

Personal life

Boocock married Cynthia Boon in 1958, and they had three children, Victoria, Darren and Mandy. He and Cynthia retired to Australia, which he had visited on numerous occasions with British Lions and England teams during the English winter months. For some time they lived in Maroubra (Sydney), NSW.

In 2006, Boocock, who continued to support junior speedway and speedway in general, joined former World Champion Ivan Mauger, and other guests such as John Boulger and Bill Wigzell, Australian flagman Glen Dix, and former Rowley Park Speedway promoter Kym Bonython for the official opening of a junior speedway track on the infield of one of Australia's premier motorcycle speedways, the Gillman Speedway in Adelaide. Bonython officially opened the 111-metre-long track, with Boocock and Boulger acting as starting marshals for the night.

In 2008 his son Darren Boocock, a former rider and Coventry Bees mascot, and his wife Sharon were killed in a road accident in Yorkshire.

Nigel Boocock died on 3 April 2015, aged 77.[12]

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

  • 1956 - England London, Wembley Stadium - Reserve, did not ride
  • 1962 - England London, Wembley Stadium - Reserve, did not ride
  • 1963 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 7th - 8pts
  • 1964 - Sweden Göteborg, Ullevi - 9th - 6pts
  • 1965 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 8th - 8pts
  • 1966 - Sweden Göteborg, Ullevi - 15th - 2pt
  • 1968 - Sweden Göteborg, Ullevi - 16th - 1pt
  • 1969 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 4th - 10pts
  • 1971 - Sweden Göteborg, Ullevi - 9th - 6pts
  • 1972 - England London, Wembley Stadium - 10th - 6pts

World Pairs Championship

* Unofficial World Championships.

World Team Cup

* 1960 for England. All others for Great Britain.

References

  1. ↑ Lawson,K (2018) “Riders, Teams and Stadiums”. ISBN 978-0-244-72538-9
  2. ↑ Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN 0-7524-2402-5
  3. 1 2 3 4 "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 6 August 2023.
  4. ↑ Oakes, Peter; Mauger, Ivan OBE, MBE (1976). Who's Who of World Speedway. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. ISBN 0-904584-04-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ↑ "1957 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  6. ↑ "Rider averages 1929 to 2009" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 28 October 2023.
  7. ↑ "Bees' Sparkling Win in Midland Cup Final". Coventry Evening Telegraph. 26 September 1960. Retrieved 19 October 2023 – via British Newspaper Archive.
  8. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1981). 1981 Speedway Yearbook. Studio Publications (Ipswich) Ltd. pp. 27–28. ISBN 0-86215-017-5.
  9. ↑ Bott, Richard (1980). The Peter Collins Speedway Book No.4. Stanley Paul & Co Ltd. p. 98. ISBN 0-09-141751-1.
  10. ↑ Oakes, Peter (1990). Speedway Yearbook 1990. Front Page Books. p. 18. ISBN 0-948882-15-8.
  11. ↑ Montague, Trevor (2004). The A-Z of Sport. Little, Brown. p. 515. ISBN 0-316-72645-1.
  12. ↑ "Nigel Boocock 1937–2015", speedwaygb.co, 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015
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