Nathan "Nat" Douglas Silcock (25 November 1927 – 7 July 1992) was an English professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as just rugby league and sometimes football, footy, rugby or league, is a full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular field measuring 68 metres (75 yards) wide and 112 ...

footballer who played in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s, and

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

ed in the 1960s. He played at representative level for

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England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

Rugby League XIII The Rugby League XIII was an invitation team run along the same lines as the Rugby Union Barbarians team. Particularly in the Second World War, when international fixtures were restricted to England V Wales. The Rugby League would play representat ...

Lancashire Lancashire ( , ; abbreviated Lancs) is the name of a historic county, ceremonial county, and non-metropolitan county in North West England. The boundaries of these three areas differ significantly. The non-metropolitan county of Lancashi ...

, and Australia’s Newcastle team, and at club level for

Wigan Wigan ( ) is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, on the River Douglas, Lancashire, River Douglas. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. Bolton lies to the nor ...

, St. Helens,

Warrington Warrington () is a town and unparished area in the borough of the same name in the ceremonial county of Cheshire, England, on the banks of the River Mersey. It is east of Liverpool, and west of Manchester. The population in 2019 was estimat ...

, South Newcastle and

Eastern Suburbs Eastern Suburbs may refer to: Places *Eastern Suburbs (Mumbai), India *Eastern Suburbs (Sydney), Australia **Eastern Suburbs railway line, Sydney, Australia Sports clubs ;Association football *Eastern Suburbs AFC, Auckland, New Zealand * Eastern ...

, as a , or , i.e. number 2 or 5, 8 or 10, or, 11 or 12, during the era of contested

scrum Scrum may refer to: Sport * Scrum (rugby), a method of restarting play in rugby union and rugby league ** Scrum (rugby union), scrum in rugby union * Scrum, an offensive melee formation in Japanese game Bo-taoshi Media and popular culture * M ...

s, and coached at club level for South Newcastle and

Background

Nat Silcock was born in

Widnes Widnes ( ) is an Industrial city, industrial town in the Borough of Halton, Cheshire, England, which at the 2011 United Kingdom census, 2011 census had a population of 61,464. Historic counties of England, Historically in Lancashire, it is on t ...

, England. H was the son of rugby league player Nat Silcock Sr. and would die aged 64 in Penketh,

, England.

Playing career

England

Wigan

Silcock played in

’s 16–11 victory over

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Central Park Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...

on Wednesday 20 October 1948. Silcock played in

’s 14–8 victory over

in the 1948–49

County Cup The county football associations are the local governing bodies of association football in England and the Crown dependencies. County FAs exist to govern all aspects of football in England. They are responsible for administering club and player ...

Final during the 1948–49 season at

Station Road, Swinton Station Road was a stadium in Pendlebury, near Manchester, England. It was the home of Swinton Rugby League Club between 1929 and 1992 and was widely recognised as one of the finest grounds in the Rugby League. Swinton moved to Station Road w ...

on Saturday 13 November 1948. Silcock played , and scored a

try Try or TRY may refer to: Music Albums * ''Try!'', an album by the John Mayer Trio * ''Try'' (Bebo Norman album) (2014) Songs * "Try" (Blue Rodeo song) (1987) * "Try" (Colbie Caillat song) (2014) * "Try" (Nelly Furtado song) (2004) * " Try (Ju ...

’s 20–2 victory over

Huddersfield Huddersfield is a market town in the Kirklees district in West Yorkshire, England. It is the administrative centre and largest settlement in the Kirklees district. The town is in the foothills of the Pennines. The River Holme's confluence into ...

in the Championship Final during the 1949–50 season at Maine Road, Manchester on Saturday 13 May 1950. Silcock played , and scored three tries in the 49–28 victory over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

on Saturday 26 August 1950. He played right , i.e. number 12, in the 28–5 victory over

in the 1950–51

Final during the 1950–51 season at

on Saturday 4 November 1950. Silcock played in

’s victories in the

County League during the 1949–50 season and 1951–52 season. Silcock played left , i.e. number 11, in

’s 10–0 victory over

Barrow Barrow may refer to: Places England * Barrow-in-Furness, Cumbria ** Borough of Barrow-in-Furness, local authority encompassing the wider area ** Barrow and Furness (UK Parliament constituency) * Barrow, Cheshire * Barrow, Gloucestershire * Barro ...

in the 1950–51

Challenge Cup The Challenge Cup is a knockout rugby league cup competition organised by the Rugby Football League, held annually since 1896, with the exception of 1915–1919 and 1939–1940, due to World War I and World War II respectively. It involves am ...

Final during the 1950–51 season at

Wembley Stadium Wembley Stadium (branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE for sponsorship reasons) is a football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Stadium, which was demolished from 200 ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

on Saturday 5 May 1951. He played in the 14–6 victory over

Leigh Leigh may refer to: Places In England Pronounced : * Leigh, Greater Manchester, Borough of Wigan ** Leigh (UK Parliament constituency) * Leigh-on-Sea, Essex Pronounced : * Leigh, Dorset * Leigh, Gloucestershire * Leigh, Kent * Leigh, Staf ...

in the 1951–52

Final during the 1951–52 season at

on Saturday 27 October 1951. Silcock was also selected to play for

in 1951 against

Other Nationalities The Other Nationalities rugby league team are a rugby league representative team that usually consists of non-English players. They have also played under the name The Exiles and more recently Combined Nations All Stars. They competed in the first ...

. He also played , and scored a

in the 13–6 victory over

Bradford Northern The Bradford Bulls are a professional rugby league club in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, playing in the Championship. They have won five Challenge Cups, six league championships and three World Club Challenges. The team jersey is predomi ...

in the Championship Final during the 1951–52 season at

Leeds Road Leeds Road was a association football, football stadium in Huddersfield, England. It operated from its construction in 1908 until the Kirklees Stadium was opened nearby for the 1994–95 in English football, 1994–95 season. It was the home of ...

on Saturday 10 May 1952. Silcock was selected to play for

in 1952 against

. Silcock was selected to play for

while in 1953 against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the Wales–England border, east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the ...

. Silcock played right , i.e. number 10, in

’s 8–16 defeat by St. Helens in the 1953–54

Final during the 1953–54 season at

on Saturday 24 October 1953. He also won caps for

in 1954 against Australia (3 matches).

St Helens

Silcock played right , i.e. number 10, in St. Helens' 13–2 victory over Halifax in the

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

Final during the 1955–56 season at

on Saturday 28 April 1956, in front of a crowd of 79,341, and played right in the 3–10 defeat by

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, wh ...

in the 1956–57

Final during the 1956–57 season at

on Saturday 20 October 1956, in front of a crowd of 39,544.

Warrington

Silcock played for

from September 1958 to April 1961. Silcock played in

’s 5–4 victory over St. Helens in the 1959–60

Final during the 1959–60 season at

on Saturday 31 October 1959, in front of a crowd of 39,237.

Australia

Newcastle

Silcock travelled to Australia to play in the Newcastle Rugby League for the South Newcastle club from 1961 to 1964. In 2010 Silcock was named in a South Newcastle team of the century.

Sydney

Silcock moved to Sydney’s New South Wales Rugby Football League to captain-coach

for the 1964 season. Silcock originally applied for the position of captain-coach at South Sydney, but was beaten by

Bernie Purcell Bernie Purcell (1928–2001) was an Australian rugby league premiership winning footballer and coach. He was a goal-kicking second-row forward of the 1950s for the South Sydney Rabbitohs, the Australian national representative and the New S ...

, and beat out

Jack Hampstead Jack Hampstead (1920-1992) was an Australian professional rugby league footballer who played in the 1940s and 1950s, and coached in the 1950s. A New South Wales state representative lock forward, he played in Sydney's NSWRFL Premiership for th ...

and fellow Englishman

Bert Holcroft Bert Holcroft was an English former professional rugby league footballer, coach and writer on rugby league coaching. Military service Bert Holcroft joined the Royal Navy at aged 18 and was 20 when he served aboard the HMS ''Petunia''. On 6 Jun ...

for the Easts coaching position. Easts had finished last with only three wins in 1963, but although they surrendered the wooden spoon to Canterbury-Bankstown in 1964, did even worse in their one season under Silcock, winning only two games, and it was clear before the season closed that Silcock would not be reappointed.

Genealogical information

Nat Silcock’s marriage to Zelma P. (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Roocroft) was registered during third ¼ 1952 in Prescot district. They had children; Sandra P. Silcock
birth registered
second ¼ in Prescot district) and Karl N. D. Silcock 1966

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.comProfile at saints.org.ukStatistics at wolvesplayers.thisiswarrington.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Silcock, Nathan 1927 births 1992 deaths England national rugby league team players English rugby league coaches English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lancashire rugby league team players Newcastle rugby league team players Rugby league players from Widnes Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Rugby league wingers Rugby League XIII players South Newcastle Lions players St Helens R.F.C. players Sydney Roosters coaches Sydney Roosters players Sydney Roosters captains Warrington Wolves players Wigan Warriors players