The Fall From Plaice - Part 6

By: Gainsbro Mariner
Date: 09/01/2013 (Last updated: 20/01/2013)

HOCKO the hero of yet another fateful campaign. The David Beckham of Grimsby Town, I seem to remember someone calling him. Was he that good? No! But the few goals he scored and contributed to he did it in such a fashion it earned him rave reviews by a few Town fans desperate for a spark of enthusiasm out of another poor campaign.

Signed in 2001 from Hull as a youngster, Hockless was a right winger, a pretty boy right winger to add to that, he didn't make a run into the team until 2003-04, certainly he had the potential and like Darren Mansaram he was one of the players we were scared of losing. The second to last day of the season, he whipped a ball into the box against Brentford in the 88th minute which set up Isaiah Rankin to head the ball into the back of the net. That goal gave us a 1-0 win and had seemingly put us in a commanding spot to beat the drop on the final day. I as many did swamped Hockless in the resulting pitch invasion, at that time he could of easily have been the Beckham of BP.

In the summer of 2004 Russell Slade came in and didn't think much to him, much to the anger and bemusement of his adoring fans. He found himself out on loan at Leigh RMI and eventually was released and joined North Ferriby United...only a few months after it was rumoured Hull City were after buying him. He then emigrated to Australia and joined semi-professional side Richmond. He has since made a career of playing in the Oz Semi-pro leagues and moved on to Heidelberg United where he was the Victorian Premier League player of the year in 2008. In 2010 he joined the Green Gully Cavaliers where he remains to this day.

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