Trevor Hockey

Trevor Hockey

Personal information
Full name	Trevor Hockey
Date of birth	1 May 1943
Place of birth	Keighley, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Date of death	2 April 1987 (aged 43)
Place of death	Keighley, England
Playing position	Midfielder
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
1960–1961	Bradford City	53	(5)
1961–1963	Nottingham Forest	73	(6)
1963–1965	Newcastle United	52	(3)
1965–1971	Birmingham City	196	(8)
1971–1973	Sheffield United	68	(4)
1973	Norwich City	13	(0)
1973–1974	Aston Villa	24	(1)
1974–1976	Bradford City	44	(1)
1976	Athlone Town	9	(0)
1976	San Diego Jaws	22	(0)
1977	Las Vegas Quicksilvers	15	(0)
1977	San Jose Earthquakes	5	(0)
1977–1978	Ashton United	4	(0)
National team
1971–1973	Wales	9	(1)
Teams managed
1976	Athlone Town
	San Diego Jaws
	Stalybridge Celtic
	San Jose Earthquakes
	Las Vegas Quicksilvers
1981	Keighley Town
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

Trevor Hockey (1 May 1943 – 2 April 1987) was a professional footballer. His professional career spanned 16 years, seven clubs and almost 600 appearances, plus nine international caps for Wales.

Playing career

Born in Keighley, Hockey turned professional with Bradford City in May 1960. Hockey had been discovered by the club in the local amateur ranks.^[1] He left Valley Parade for Nottingham Forest in November 1961, but after just two years at the City Ground, Hockey was on the move again, this time to Newcastle United where he collected a Second Division winners medal in 1965.

Now transformed from a winger into a central midfielder, Hockey joined Birmingham City in November 1965 in a £25,000 deal. He went on to make 231 appearances for the Blues scoring 13 goals. He was also the club captain when he was transferred to Sheffield United for £40,000 in January 1971.

He made his debut in a 2–1 away victory against Oxford United and, following instructions "to battle, to win the ball, and give it to Currie" he instantly became a Bramall Lane cult figure on the pitch with his beatle-style haircut, beard and tough tackling. He played a large part in ensuring that United was promoted that year, including the scoring first goal in a 2–0 win, against Millwall on 13 April, sat down after colliding with the goalkeeper.

His United career virtually ended with a broken leg against Manchester City on 12 February 1972. Struggling to regain his place in the first team, he made his final appearance on 30 December 1972 before Norwich City secured his services in February 1973, swapping him for Scottish striker Jimmy Bone.

However, after just six months with The Canaries, Hockey was back playing his football in Birmingham, this time for Aston Villa. After just a year at Villa Park he was on the move again, this time returning to his first club Bradford City. Hockey drifted into semi-professional football after leaving Bradford and played four Cheshire League games for Ashton United during the 1977–78 season.

Managerial career

In March 1976, Hockey became player-manager at Athlone Town before taking his footballing talents across the pond and a spell with San Diego Jaws in the North American Soccer League. Hockey returned to England the following year and took on the managers role at non-league Stalybridge Celtic before another spell in the States as coach with both San Jose Earthquakes and Las Vegas Quicksilvers.

In 1981, he returned home to reform Keighley Town, a side that had played in the old Yorkshire League after the Second World War. Hockey's intention was to guide Keighley Town into the Northern Premier League by the end of the decade. Based at Utley, Town were accepted into the West Riding County Amateur league's first division. Keighley won the league in their first season back. However, their ground was deemed not acceptable for the league's premier division. Town defeated Shamrocks 3–1 in the Keighley FA Cup final, before going on to beat Silsden 2–0 in the revived Keighley Charity Cup final at the end of the season. In the years that followed, Town would win the County Amateur league premier title, and would be joined by Silsden in that league – yet by the end of the decade Town would again be defunct, Town's demise around the same time as Hockey's death.^[2]

Death

He died of a heart attack shortly after taking part in a five-a-side tournament in Keighley on 2 April 1987, aged 43.

Career statistics

International goals

#	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	28 March 1973	Ninian Park, Cardiff, Wales	Poland	2–0	Win	1974 WC qualification
Correct as of 7 October 2015[3]

References

1. Soccer Who's Who compiled by Maurice Golesworthy The Sportsmans Book Club London 1965
2. A century of sporting memories
3. Football PLAYER: Trevor Hockey