An Interview with ex-Fylde Falcons and London Raven QB Bo Hickey. Bo still holds the single season record for passing yards in a British season with a staggering 3,725 in the 1988 season

Interview conducted March 2004

Pictures of Bo Hickey in action

What is your current occupation and age?

I actually have to disclose my age? Ok, 46. I have been involved in the financial market for many years both before and after my days in England but I am considering a change. I've been doing some fill in work on sports talk radio (got any openings over there). I also built homes for awhile when I first returned to the states.

Where do you currently live?
In a suburb of Baltimore, Maryland on the East Coast of the U.S. The town is called Lutherville.

What is your favourite NFL team?
I support our local team the Ravens, but I actually still follow certain players and coaches that I have connections to.

How and when did you very first 'get into' American football?
I started playing organised tackle football at age 8. My dad fibbed about my age (you had to be 9). I can't remember ever not playing, even as a toddler I tried to get involved in the neighbourhood pick up games with the older kids.

What High School and College did you attend? Did you play QB, and what were your stats like? Set any records?
I went to Loyola Blakefield a private prep school and played both QB and Safety. I also did the kicking. I was only the second player since the school was founded in 1853 to play varsity football in their freshman year. The only high school record I set was in Springboard Diving for Loyola's nationally ranked swim team and in doing so I also qualified for the 1976 Olympic Diving trials at Knoxville, Tennessee my senior year (of course I was crushed at the competition). In college I played QB at Western Maryland but we ran a wishbone offence so I didn't do a lot of passing. I did have the record for longest TD pass for awhile but that record was broken years ago. However while in college I also played lacrosse and set a NCAA record for fastest goal after a face off (7 seconds) that record has also been broken. This past year we had a reunion for Western Maryland's first Championship Lacrosse Team on which I was a starting midfielder.

How did you come to join the Fylde Falcons?
I was coaching a semi-pro team in my spare time the Baltimore Bears and we were playing a National Title game against the Indianapolis Patriots. This was in late November 1987 and the Baltimore Colts moved to Indy in 1984 so the pain of losing them was still fresh. The game was played in Baltimore at Memorial (Colts) Stadium and was broadcast live on the Colts former radio station. The Indy team had both Dale Speckman and Jeff Christmann playing for them as well as a QB that I think went over to the Luton Flyers. We were losing at halftime 7 - 6. The owner came down from the press box to the locker room and told me to suit up. He was not going to have the huge crowd of "Baltimore fans watch us lose to an Indy team after they stole our Colts". The game had been billed on radio and TV as the "Revenge Bowl". Although I was on the roster, I had not played since I retired in 1983 and wasn't real happy about the thought of going out and getting chased around by Christmann and company. I suited up and played and we won in a rout 34 - 7. I played pretty well but our defence just brutalised them and that made it easy. After the game they tried to recruit me to come to England and I said no way I was definitely retired. Between November and February I received many calls from various people about playing in England but it was Dr. Kurt Smeby that finally got me to say yes. There were some other teams involved but because of Christmann, I wound up in Fylde. I had asked to play for a running team to save my twice severely separated throwing shoulder and on a grass field to help my back with a ruptured disk that forced me to retire in the first place. So where do I end up, at Preston South End turf field and setting a record for pass attempts.

Did any other UK clubs try to sign you when Fylde did, or after you left them?
Dr. Smeby mentioned Birmingham and Luton and one other I can't remember. I was in London with the Ravens in 1989 mostly as an asst. coach, but I played a little.

Who was the Falcons Head Coach? Did you help out in the coaching?
Jeff Christmann was the head coach, I was the offensive co-ordinator (when he let me) haha.

What are your favourite recollections of your times with the Falcons, and in the UK in general?
There are way too many to list, but I wouldn't trade it for the world. A few would be my weekly American football show on Red Rose Radio Lancashire. My wife, I married a Fylde cheerleader (we have since divorced). Playing the whole season after breaking my ribs in the second game against Chelmsford. Going to the Queen Victoria Hospital each week to get x-rays and check on the condition of my ribs after the game and of course after the pub. Boy was that fun. But most of all it was the people, all of the people I met there that made it so special. Players, supporters, families and yes cheerleaders haha. One of the best times in my life.

How long did you stay at the Falcons for, and why did you leave?
I was at Fylde in 1988. I didn't plan on playing more than one year, but I missed it and decided to return. Fylde decided to recruit a younger QB so the Ravens brought me back as a coach. When the QB at Fylde bombed they sent him home and decided to play with three Americans instead of four for financial reasons.

What clubs did you move to after you left the Falcons? Did you play when you moved back to the States?
The London Ravens. Yes, briefly for the Baltimore Bears and another Championship.

Are you still involved with American Football in any capacity?
Yes, I still coach QB's at my alma mater Loyola and at St. Pauls I also do clinics at both high school and college level camps.

What was the best game you have ever had and why? In the UK and the US?

I don't know, but the most exciting game I ever participated in was our loss to Glasgow. It was back and forth, and everytime you thought we were out of it we would manage to score. To this day I say anyone that saw that game would say it the best game ever played in England.

What was the worst game you have ever had and why? In the UK and the US?
In a late season game at Manchester, I took an early shot to the ribs and couldn't get much on any of my passes. I threw a ton of interceptions that day and we had open receivers all day. At home against the Leicester Panthers I had a tough day because they had devised the best defence to stop our passing attack. In the U.S. in high school I was scrambling in the endzone and knocked the ball out of my own hand by bumping my thigh pad while running. The other team recovered and won the game.

Do you have any funny/embarrassing stories about your times at the Falcons?
I lost a bet and had to shave the left half of my beard and the right half of my moustache on the sidelines after a game in front of the crowd and then stay that way for a week. It was probably worse for my girlfriend. I also had to dance and strip at one of our cheerleaders wedding receptions, at her parents request.

Did you hang out with any of the other Americans who were playing for local teams over here? If so, who?
Not really, just the Americans from Fylde

How good a receiver was Cliff Walker at the Falcons?
He was awesome. What a talent. He was a bit of a character though.

Which British players stood out at the Falcons for you?
We had such a small club it was tough, but Dave Sutcliff did a lot with a little. John Anderton was one of the good early English receivers, and a D lineman "Oz" tough as nails.

How much did it help to have fellow countrymen Jeff Chrsitmann and Cliff Walker in Blackpool with you in 1988? Did you socialise much with the British members of your squad?
It helped a great deal because Jeff had played in the league the year before and was a star, so he helped me get acclimated to the lifestyle as well as being a big help on the field. Cliff was a wild man a real party guy so he kept it light, but he too was great on the field. I socialised with the locals all the time and I am still in touch with guys from the Falcons and the Ravens.

Your 1988 passing yardage (3725 yards) still stands and is unlikely ever to be beaten. Proud of that record (and your 41TDs!)?

Yes I am very proud of the records I set while playing in Fylde. As odd as it sounds I still think that breaking my ribs in the second game of the year actually helped my record setting year. Fylde was a small market team that pinned it's hopes on my arm and Cliff's and John Anderton's hands. If we were going to win, we going to have to out score the other team and to score we had to throw....a lot. I flew home to see my doctors after the injury and everyone thought I wasn't coming back, but I was back in time for the next game suited up to play (against doctors orders) and was tackled into an out of bounds wall after a couple of series and couldn't breath. Another night spent in the hospital to check my ribs. The next week at a home game the doc said no way was I kitting up, so from the sidelines I watched. We were getting pounded, we couldn't move the ball and the team was demoralised. So after the team left the locker room and headed out for the second half, my girlfriend brought me my kit so I could suit up without anyone including the doc knowing. When I trotted out of the locker room and into the view of the stands at Preston Deep Dale the ovation from the home crowd when the announcer called my name was like nothing I had ever experienced. What great fans, they were awesome. It still told some negotiation to get on the field but when I did things changed. I completed 7 out of 8 passes as we marched right down the field. We eventually lost the ball on a fumble in the endzone but the players finally held their heads up. It was then that I knew something special was going to happen that year. These guys believed in me and I couldn't let them down. A late hit on the play from the Olympians DE sent me to Queen Vic hospital for another visit, but I was helped off the field by Bob Dean one of the toughest players and nicest guys I met in my time in England.

We note against Bournemouth Bobcats in 1988 you completed 31 of 45 for 516 yards and 6TDs – ever had better figures than that?
Yes I have had better figures but I don't think she or her friends would like their names put on the internet. Just joking. Actually no, I've been close a few times but that was the best.

Do you still follow British American Football?
Yes I do as much as I can. It's a bit more difficult from here.

Have you been back to the UK since 1988?

Yes I have on many occasions. My ex-wife and kids have moved back to England and although my girls are with me all summer and all winter break, I do come back from time to time. Maybe I could make it more permanent, and return to the field.