It’s time to plumb the archives once again for my Top 5 personal favourite tricks I’ve ever filmed at The Boys Clubs Banks in Coventry. I know for a fact that this spot has been skated a hell of a lot by many different crews who have passed through the city, so in order to keep things simple and to tie into the 20th anniversary of the blog, this list of tricks is pulled directly from Terribleco videos.
Header Photo / Dirty, grimy, oil stained, and covered in broken glass... And that's just the skateboarders. The Boys Club Banks are hardcore. Photo by Ryan Bradley.
5. Ralph Cooper – Nollie Dolphin Flip
from Batface (2009)
Man I don’t even know what a Dolphin Flip is or how you even learn them, let alone do one Nollie. I wanted to open this list with a straight up bank trick, on the banks which gave the spot its name. When I think about all of the tricks that have gone down here, this nutso flip trick from Ralph Cooper is top of the list. Ralph did a few snazzy moves on, and into, these banks over the years – Nollie Front Foot Flips, Frontside Full Cab Kickflip in, Nollie BS Flip In. This Nollie Dolphin Flip from Batface is my favourite though.
4. Ant Smith – FS Krooked Stall to Manual
from Concrete Jungle (2013)
The smaller banks at the spot (which no longer exist anymore) were always a good laugh. Some BMXers had concreted a slight transition into the curb at the base of the bank years prior, and this unlocked a couple of trick opportunities. This end of the car park had a bank to wall, and a section with concrete coping that you could grind. The weirdest bit was this block at the base of a giant lamp post for the ring road which allowed you to ride up the bank and stall the side.
On this little ledge, I only know of 3 people to ever get a trick on it: Tez Aldersley, Alex Burrell and Ant Smith. Ant’s cheeky little Krooked Stall, with a pivot to manual down the bank, was properly rad and one of those spur of the moment daft tricks he pulled out during a street skate.
3. Tez Aldersley – Fakie Gazelle into the bank
from Cannonball Holocaust (2012)
I was walking around town during a street skate this year and acting as a bit of a “Skate spot tour guide” to a bunch of other Cov skaters, and I swear every spot we passed Tez had done a rad trick there. Everyone has done a trick at the Boys Club, and Tez was no exception. He had a few choice tricks there, but this dizzying Fakie Gazelle into the bank was epic.
The Gazelle spin was a staple of Tez’s trick bag back when he skated often, and during his Cannonball Holocaust part he was frequently throwing them out into lines and doing them on spots too gnarly for something so technical. This trick is a classic example. Tricks into the boys club banks are usually not as fiddly and dicey as this, and that’s why it’s one of my favourites.
2. Joxa – Nosepick Rag In Off The Wall
from Red Cross Episode 1 (2011)
The Boys Club Banks is the sort of dirty, dark, dingy, nasty spot where Joxa thrives. He was constantly charging round the place, wallriding left, right and centre, or giving himself an excuse to fly down the banks at top speed. If you’re after the perfect method to bomb down the banks, it’s to huck yourself off the wall at the very top. Squeeze yourself into the gap between the wall and the bottom of the ring road, and throw yourself off the wall into the bank.
A couple of people have tollied into the bank off of this wall, and more recently I saw Rasheed Osman switch tollie into it in the latest Baghead Crew video. This weird little rag-in from Joxa is my favourite though. With his front truck locked in, he yanked his board in from the top of the wall and planted himself right into the bank. And in classic Joxa fashion, he gave a funny little humble northerner celebration after landing it.
1. Charlie Kerr – No Comply
from Ghostface (2022)
This trick is nuts. After seeing Leam shredder Aviv boost an ollie from the upper car park, over the curb and top slab, and into the bank, an arms race emerged where people saw this gap into the bank as a viable spot. I don’t know why people hadn’t really skated it this way in so long, but once Aviv’s ollie happened it became almost the norm to skate it this way. I definitely came away inspired by Aviv to do a beanplant over the gap, popping my tail off the curb to boost it into the bank. A few months after I put my trick down there, Charlie Kerr did something even better.
A straight No Comply over the gap and into the bank, in theory, should be easy – but there is so much room for your board to fly out and not follow through into the bank that it’s super risky. There’s also the matter of clearing the slab to get yourself into the bank. It’s all too easy to pop your board up the curb and land on the flat slab at the top – and for this to count it has to land in the bank. I dunno how Charlie managed it but he just managed to kick the thing right over the gap and stick it right into the bank perfectly. It’s a rad as hell trick.
Honourable Mentions
Lucas Healey – Switch Bigspin into the bank – from Shredventures Into Unknown (2018)
Tom Albrow – Skiing on two plastic barriers down the bank – from Batface (2009)
Pip Sangster – Riding a camping chair on two skateboards down the bank – from Shredventures Into The Unknown (2018)
Stan Byrne – FS Tailblock Wraparound – from Cannonball Holocaust (2012)
Mikey Crosdale – Fakie Inward Heelflip – from Cannonball Holocaust (2012)
The Terrible Company 