Nigel Boocock (17 September 1937 – 3 April 2015) was a

motorcycle speedway Motorcycle speedway, usually referred to simply as speedway, is a motorcycle sport involving four and sometimes up to six riders competing over four clockwise, anti-clockwise laps of an oval circuit. The motorcycles are specialist machines that ...

rider from England. who appeared in eight Speedway World Championship finals. He holds the record number of caps for Great Britain (64) and the record for total number of caps, when including England (154).

Career

Born in Wakefield, England, 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). After spending the 1958 season with the Ipswich Witches, he moved in 1959 to the

Coventry Bees Coventry Bees are a motorcycle speedway team that existed from 1929 to 2018. They raced at Brandon Stadium, Brandon, Warwickshire, Brandon near Coventry, England. They are eight times champions of Britain. History Origins and 1920s The firs ...

. 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. In his first season with the Bees he topped the Coventry averages and won the Midland Cup in 1960. 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

Eric The given name Eric, Erich, Erikk, Erik, Erick, Eirik, or Eiríkur is derived from the Old Norse name ''Eiríkr'' (or ''Eríkr'' in Old East Norse due to monophthongization). The first element, ''ei-'' may be derived from the older Proto-N ...

. 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. On the domestic front he won the

British League The British League was the main motorcycle speedway league in Britain from its formation in 1965 until 1995 when British speedway was restructured. It initially had a single division, with a British League Division Two, second division starting i ...

Championship in 1968 and five more Midland Cup wins. 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).

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.Nigel Boocock 1937–2015
, speedwaygb.co, 3 April 2015. Retrieved 3 April 2015

World final appearances

Individual World Championship

1956 Events January * January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years. * January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...

– London,

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...

– Reserve, did not ride *

1962 The year saw the Cuban Missile Crisis, which is often considered the closest the world came to a Nuclear warfare, nuclear confrontation during the Cold War. Events January * January 1 – Samoa, Western Samoa becomes independent from Ne ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 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 Cove ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 7th – 8pts * 1964 –

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

, Ullevi – 9th – 6pts *

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The First 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 Lynd ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 8th – 8pts *

1966 Events January * January 1 – In a coup, Colonel Jean-Bédel Bokassa takes over as military ruler of the Central African Republic, ousting President David Dacko. * January 3 – 1966 Upper Voltan coup d'état: President Maurice Yaméogo i ...

– Göteborg, Ullevi – 15th – 2pt * 1968 – Göteborg, Ullevi – 16th – 1pt * 1969 – London, Wembley Stadium – 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 ...

– Göteborg, Ullevi – 9th – 6pts *

1972 Within the context of Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) it was the longest year ever, as two leap seconds were added during this 366-day year, an event which has not since been repeated. (If its start and end are defined using Solar time, ...

– London, Wembley Stadium – 10th – 6pts

World Pairs Championship

* 1969*-

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

, Gubbängens IP (with Martin Ashby) – 3rd – 21pts (11) *

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 1970 Tonghai earthquake, Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli ...

–

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

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

World Team Cup

* 1960*- Göteborg, Ullevi (with Peter Craven / Ron How / Ken McKinlay / George White) – 2nd – 30pts (1) * 1964 – Abensberg, Abensberg Stadion (with Barry Briggs / Ron How / Ken McKinlay / Brian Brett) – 3rd – 21pts (3) *

– Kempten (with Barry Briggs / Charlie Monk / Ken McKinlay / Jimmy Gooch) – 3rd – 18pts (6) *

–

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

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(with Barry Briggs / Terry Betts / Ivan Mauger / Colin Pratt) – 4th – 8pts (4) * 1968 – London, Wembley Stadium (with Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs / Martin Ashby / Norman Hunter) – Winner – 40pts (10) * 1969 –

Rybnik Rybnik (Polish pronunciation: ; ) 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 mi) from the Czech Republic, Czech border. It i ...

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

– London, Wembley Stadium (with Ivan Mauger / Barry Briggs / Eric Boocock / Ray Wilson) – 2nd – 31pts (2) ''* 1960 for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. All others for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

.''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boocock, Nigel 1937 births 2015 deaths Sportspeople from Wakefield British speedway riders English motorcycle racers Speedway promoters Birmingham Brummies riders Bradford Tudors riders Bristol Bulldogs riders Canterbury Crusaders riders Coventry Bees riders Exeter Falcons riders Ipswich Witches riders Swindon Robins riders 20th-century English sportsmen