Nigel Boocock (17 September 1937 – 3 April 2015) was a British speedway rider who appeared in eight Speedway World Championship finals and was a reserve in one other (1962).

Career

Born in

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 99,251 in the 2011 census.https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/census/2011/ks101ew Census 2011 table KS101EW Usual resident population ...

, England, Boocock started his career with the Bradford Tudors in 1955 and stayed there until 1957, followed by spells with the Birmingham Brummies and the Ipswich Witches, before moving in 1959 to the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees were a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon near Coventry, England. History A Coventry team was first formed in 1928 and competed in the inaugural season of the Souther ...

. He spent the next eighteen seasons with the Bees, winning the British League Championship in 1968. Boocock was the first English rider to win the prestigious FIM Internationale meeting held at Wimbledon. 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. He was also a regular England International rider and captain of the National team for many years.

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; and Darren and Mandy attended Maroubra Bay Public School. In 2006, Boocock, who continued to support junior speedway and speedway in general, joined former World Champion Ivan Mauger, and other guests such as South Australian speedway legends John Boulger and Bill Wigzell, Australian flagman Glen Dix, and former Rowley Park Speedway (

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

, South Australia) 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

mascot, and his wife Sharon were killed in a road accident in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other English counties, functions have ...

. His and Cynthia's children each had at least one child - Jack, Daniel, Carl, Thomas and Liam Nigel Boocock died on 3 April 2015, aged 77.Nigel Boocock 1937–2015
, speedwaygb.co, 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

* 1956 -

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

- Reserve, did not ride * 1962 -

- Reserve, did not ride *

1963 Events January * January 1 – Bogle–Chandler case: Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation scientist Dr. Gilbert Bogle and Mrs. Margaret Chandler are found dead (presumed poisoned), in bushland near the Lane Co ...

- 7th - 8pts *

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 - In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patriarc ...

Göteborg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

, Ullevi - 9th - 6pts *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...

- 8th - 8pts * 1966 -

, Ullevi - 15th - 2pt *

1968 The year was highlighted by Protests of 1968, protests and other unrests that occurred worldwide. Events January–February * January 5 – "Prague Spring": Alexander Dubček is chosen as leader of the Communist Party of Czechos ...

, Ullevi - 16th - 1pt * 1969 -

- 4th - 10pts *

1971 * The year 1971 had three partial solar eclipses (Solar eclipse of February 25, 1971, February 25, Solar eclipse of July 22, 1971, July 22 and Solar eclipse of August 20, 1971, August 20) and two total lunar eclipses (February 1971 lunar eclip ...

, Ullevi - 9th - 6pts * 1972 -

- 10th - 6pts

World Pairs Championship

* 1969*- Stockholm, Gubbängens IP (with Martin Ashby) - 3rd - 21pts (11) * 1970 -

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal popula ...

, Malmö Stadion (with Eric Boocock) - 3rd - 19pts (6) ''* Unofficial World Championships.''

World Team Cup

* 1960*-

, Ullevi (with Peter Craven / Ron How / Ken McKinlay / George White) - 2nd - 30pts (1) *

- Abensberg,

Abensberg Stadion Abensberg () is a town in the Lower Bavarian district of Kelheim, in Bavaria, Germany, lying around southwest of Regensburg, east of Ingolstadt, northwest of Landshut and north of Munich. It is situated on the river Abens, a tributary of the ...

(with Barry Briggs / Ron How / Ken McKinlay / Brian Brett) - 3rd - 21pts (3) *

- Kempten (with Barry Briggs /

Charlie Monk Warren “Charlie” Monk (born 5 February 1940) is a former international speedway rider from Australia. Speedway career Monk won a bronze medal at the Speedway World Team Cup in the 1965 Speedway World Team Cup when he represented Great Br ...

/ Ken McKinlay / Jimmy Gooch) - 3rd - 18pts (6) * 1966 -

Wrocław Wrocław (; , . german: Breslau, , also known by other names) is a city in southwestern Poland and the largest city in the historical region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Europe, roughly ...

Olympic Stadium ''Olympic Stadium'' is the name usually given to the main stadium of an Olympic Games. An Olympic stadium is the site of the opening and closing ceremonies. Many, though not all, of these venues actually contain the words ''Olympic Stadium'' as ...

(with Barry Briggs / Terry Betts / Ivan Mauger / Colin Pratt) - 4th - 8pts (4) *

(with Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs / Martin Ashby / Norman Hunter) - Winner - 40pts (10) * 1969 -

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; szl, Rybńik) is a city in southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, around 38 km (24 mi) southwest of Katowice, the region's capital, and around 19 km (11 miles) from the Czech border. It is o ...

, Rybnik Municipal Stadium (with Martin Ashby / Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs) - 2nd - 27pts (5) * 1970 -

(with Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs / Eric Boocock / Ray Wilson) - 2nd - 31pts (2) ''* 1960 for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe ...

. All others for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boocock, Nigel 1937 births 2015 deaths Sportspeople from Wakefield British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Speedway promoters Coventry Bees riders Exeter Falcons riders Canterbury Crusaders riders Birmingham Brummies riders Bradford Tudors riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Ipswich Witches riders Swindon Robins riders