Biography
David Hockaday was an experienced full back who joined the Tigers in September 1990, the evening after he had played against Hull City for Swindon Town. The £50,000 fee paid was substantial for a player approaching his 33rd birthday but his pedigree was unquestionable and he proved to an effective signing – not a claim that could be made for all of Stan Ternent’s transfer work. Hockaday immediately slotted into the right back role and gave four months of service as Ternent’s listless Tigers tumbled down the Division Two table. Hockaday scored his first goal in October 1990, the consolation in a 1-7 thrashing at West Ham United that saw four full backs (Hockaday plus Steve Potts, George Parris and Julian Dicks) score in the same match. When Ternent was dismissed at the start of January 1991 Hockaday was rested for a handful of games and when new manager Terry Dolan took the reins David was given a more advanced role on the right side of midfield, but by the last few weeks of the season Hockaday was restored at right back.
David was absent through injury for the first half of the 1991/92 season as City adjusted to life back in Division Three. He came back into the first team in early February 1992 before again missing the final month of the season. Hockaday started the 1992/93 season as first choice right back and was a first team regular until early February 1993 when the Tigers lost 0-3 at Stoke City. Hockaday joined Stoke City on loan after that match, renewing his working relationship with manager Lou Macari and making 7 appearances for the Potters as they lifted the League Division 2 title. Hockaday left City in June 1993 on expiry of his contract.
David Hockaday was born in Sedgefield, a County Durham market town near Darlington. He attended Wolviston School near Billingham and played for Durham Juniors during the mid-1970s before joining Northern League side Billingham Synthonia as a teenager, a club that in the mid-1970s was amongst the better North East non-league sides thanks to its support from the local chemical manufacturer ICI. He quickly came to the attention of Football League sides as a talented right winger and in June 1975 he joined Division Two side Blackpool, where he spent a season in the Reserves before making his Tangerines debut in an August 1976 Anglo Scottish Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers. During the next four seasons he remained on the fringes of the first team as Blackpool dropped into Division Three, but in the 1980/81 season Hockaday finally won a regular first team place, scoring seven goals in 46 appearances as the Tangerines were relegated to Division Four. David was a first team regular for two seasons in the fourth tier and by the end of the 1982/83 season Hockaday had made 192 senior appearances in all competitions for Blackpool and scored 27 goals.
In August 1983 he transferred to Division Four rivals Swindon Town and was a solid first team presence for several seasons, though he did miss two large chunks of the 1984/85 season due to injury. After two seasons of consolidation the arrival of former Scottish international forward Lou Macari as manager kickstarted a fine 1985/86 season that ended in Swindon winning the Division Four title and dumping Division One side Sheffield Wednesday out of the League Cup. A second promotion the following season via a play-offs victory against Gillingham meant that Hockaday was now competing in and thriving in Division Two as a defender, having moved into a full back role during his time at the County Ground. In June 1990 financial irregularities mean the Football League denied Swindon Town promotion to First Division via another play-off victory over Sunderland that Hockaday did not feature in. Instead Swindon started of the 1990/91 season back in Division Two – an initial two division demotion for the Robins was reduced on appeal to one. Hockaday was stranded in the second tier at a club with major financial woes, he was therefore grateful of the chance to leave the Robins for Hull City in September 1990 after eight years of service, 308 senior appearances and 11 goals.
Hockaday left Hull City in the 2003 close season and joined Shrewsbury Town in August 1993, the interest from Stoke City having waned when Lou Macari left the club in the summer. David spent two years at Gay Meadow and made 61 senior appearances before dropping down non-league side to Hellenic League side Cirencester Town for the 1995/96 season, helping the Wiltshire side to the league title in his final season as a player.
Hockaday began his coaching career in 1996 when he set up a soccer coaching school in Cirencester. This facility proved to be a big success and in July 2000 David was persuaded to join the coaching staff at Watford, initially as under-18s coach then from July 2005 as first team coach as the Hornets won promotion to the Premier League. In January 2007 Hockaday left Watford at the same time as sacked first team manager Aidy Boothroyd and for the next few months he undertook short term coaching assignments, working with manager Martin Allen at Milton Keynes Dons and Leicester City. In June 2007 he was appointed youth team coach at Southampton, a post he held for eighteen months. In February 2009 he was appointed assistant manager at Cheltenham Town, again teaming up with Martin Allen, but left the role in March 2009.
In September 2009 Hockaday was appointed first team manager at Conference National side Forest Green Rovers, in his first season the Gloucestershire side struggled at the foot of the table despite reaching the Third Round of the FA Cup. Reprieved from relegation due to Salisbury City’s demotion for financial snafus, Hockaday led Forest Green for three further seasons as they consolidated themselves as a mid-table side. He left the club in October 2013 after a poor start to the season and spent eight months out of the game.
It was therefore a matter of some surprise in June 2014 when Hockaday, paired with assistant manager and ex-Tiger Junior Lewis, was appointed first team manager at Championship side Leeds United. After a chaotic summer during which several small amateur clubs were thumped in pre-season friendlies for little apparent benefit, Hockaday was dismissed at the end of August 2014 after only six senior games in charge. Over the next six months David had short spells at Southern League side Swindon Supermarine and League One side Coventry City – he was caretaker manager at Coventry for two matches in February 2015 – before taking over as first team coach at Kidderminster Harriers in October 2015. He lasted only three months in that role before his dismissal, having won only two of 13 matches in charge.
He then returned to running his own football academy, this time in Wiltshire, and also managed the football team at South Gloucestershire and Stroud College near Bristol.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 9 November 1957, Sedgefield
Hull City First Game: 15 September 1990, Bristol Rovers A (Division Two), 32 years, 310 days old
Hull City Final Game: 6 February 1993, Stoke City A (Division Two), 35 years, 89 days old
Clubs
Billingham Synthonia (1974-1975), Blackpool (1975-1983), Swindon Town (1983-1990), Hull City (1990-1993), Stoke City (1993, loan), Shrewsbury Town (1993-1995), Cirencester Town (1995-1996)
Hull City Record
Career: 83 apps, 3 goals
David Hockaday| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990/91 | 35 (0) | 1 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1991/92 | 12 (0) | 0 | 0 (1) | 0 | – | – | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 |
| 1992/93 | 25 (0) | 1 | 2 (0) | 0 | 2 (0) | 1 | – | – | 2 (0) | 0 |