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{{Infobox comedian
| name              = Stan Boardman
|image              = Stan Boardman.jpg
|caption            = At the Floral Pavilion Theatre, [[New Brighton, Merseyside]]
| birth_date        = {{birth date and age|df=y|1937|12|7}}
| birth_place       = [[Liverpool]], England
| medium            = comedian
| active            = 1970–present
| notable_work      = ''[[The Comedians (1971 TV series)|The Comedians]]''
}}
'''Stanley Boardman''' (born 7 December 1937) is an English comedian.

==Early life and career==
Boardman was evacuated with his family to [[Wrexham]] during the [[Second World War]], and after the family returned to their Merseyside home mistakenly thinking the area had escaped the German bombs, his elder brother Tommy was killed in a bombing raid.{{r|Devine}}

He had been a keen footballer in his youth and was an apprentice at [[Liverpool F.C.]] He signed for [[Tranmere Rovers F.C.|Tranmere Rovers]] as a teenager.{{r|BBC2}}

Boardman ran a [[Logistics|haulage]] firm before winning a [[holiday camp]] [[talent contest]] and breaking into television on ''[[Opportunity Knocks (UK TV series)|Opportunity Knocks]]'' and ''[[The Comedians (1971 TV series)|The Comedians]]''.{{r|Key}}{{r|Grant}}

Boardman became known for his anti-German jokes, with his claim that "the Germans bombed our chippy" during the Second World War.{{sfnp|Moore|2000|p=118|ps=}}

His later involvement in [[Association football|football]] includes being invited by [[Ron Atkinson]] to entertain his [[Sheffield Wednesday]] and [[Aston Villa]] players before the [[Football League Cup|League Cup]] finals in 1991 and 1994.{{r|BBC2}}

==Controversies==
An incident during a live edition of ''[[Des O'Connor Tonight]]'' on [[Thames Television|Thames]] in the mid-1980s gained publicity. A joke&nbsp;– about the [[Second World War]] reminiscences of a [[Polish people|Polish]] pilot who flew in the [[Royal Air Force]]&nbsp;– made play on the word "focke", referring to the German [[Focke-Wulf]] aeroplanes.{{sfnp|Bycroft|2008|p=119|ps=}}

Boardman's comedic style has led to controversy several times; after telling racist jokes at a [[Leeds United F.C.|Leeds United]] Player of the Year Award dinner in 2002 (months after two Leeds players had been arrested for assaulting an Asian student), the club withheld his fee, describing his act as "inappropriate and unacceptable", barring him from performing at the club in future.{{r|BBC1}}{{r|Sayid}} This led to a planned appearance at a [[Leicester City F.C.|Leicester City]] event being cancelled.{{r|BBC1}}

==Other appearances==
In June 2006 he had a hit with "[[Stan's World Cup Song]]", which reached No 15 in the [[UK Singles Chart]].{{r|ChartStats}}

Fellow comedian [[Peter Kay]] wrote about him in his second autobiography "Saturday Night Peter"; in it he describes his early days on the comedy circuit and being on the bill with Stan who at the time had the nickname Stan "The German Fokker" Boardman.

In June 2009, Boardman appeared on ''[[Wife Swap (UK TV series)|Celebrity Wife Swap]]'',{{r|Shennan}} and in October 2011 he appeared with his daughter, [[Andrea Boardman]], on the celebrity version of ''[[Coach Trip]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coach-trip/articles/meet-the-celebrity-coach-trip-passengers|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20121223020928/http://www.channel4.com/programmes/coach-trip/articles/meet-the-celebrity-coach-trip-passengers|title=Coach Trip|archivedate=23 December 2012}}</ref>

==References==
'''Notes'''
{{reflist|refs=

<ref name="BBC1">
{{citation |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/1964321.stm |title=Comic's show cancelled after racist jokes |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=2 May 2002 |accessdate=20 March 2010}}
</ref>

<ref name="BBC2">
{{citation |last=Bevan |first=Chris |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/league_cup/8537957.stm |title=When Boardman gave Villa the last laugh |publisher=[[BBC]] |date=26 February 2010 |accessdate=20 March 2010}}
</ref>

<ref name="ChartStats">
{{citation |url=https://www.officialcharts.com/artists/ |title=Stan Boardman |publisher=[[Official Charts Company]] |accessdate=20 March 2010}}
</ref>

<ref name="Devine">
{{citation |last=Devine |first=Darren |url=http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/09/23/comedian-recounts-tale-of-tragedy-and-survival-on-his-return-to-wrexham-91466-24757900/ |title=Comedian recounts tale of tragedy and survival on his return to Wrexham |publisher=Wales Online |date=23 September 2009 |accessdate=20 March 2010}}
</ref>

<ref name="Grant">
{{citation |last=Grant |first=Peter |title=Review: Stan Boardman The Cavern, Sunday July 1 |newspaper=[[Liverpool Echo]] |date=30 June 2007}}
</ref>

<ref name="Key">
{{citation |last=Key |first=Phil |url=http://www.liverpooldailypost.co.uk/liverpool-life-features/liverpool-arts/2007/07/04/stan-boardman-review-64375-19401055/ |title=Stan Boardman review |newspaper=[[Liverpool Daily Post]] |date=4 July 2007 |accessdate=20 March 2010}}
</ref>

<ref name="Sayid">
{{citation |last=Sayid |first=Ruki |title=LEEDS RACE OUTRAGE; EXCLUSIVE Club hires Stan Boardman for awards dinner and he says: 'I could murder an Indian' ..then tells Asian: 'F*** off back to your curry house' |newspaper=[[Daily Mirror]] |date=2 May 2002}}
</ref>

<ref name="Shennan">
{{citation |last=Shennan |first=Paddy |url=http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-entertainment/echo-entertainment/2009/06/13/stan-boardman-s-wife-viv-steals-the-show-on-celebrity-wife-swap-100252-23863832/ |title=Stan Boardman's wife, Viv, steals the show on Celebrity Wife Swap |newspaper=[[Liverpool Echo]] |date=13 June 2009 |accessdate=20 March 2010}}
</ref>

}}

'''Bibliography'''
{{refbegin}}
*{{citation |last=Bycroft|first=Colin |year=2008| title=End 2 End 4 Parkinson's |publisher=Vita Fugit |isbn=978-0-9559902-0-5}}
*{{citation |last=Moore |first=Kevin |year=2000 |title=Museums and Popular Culture |publisher=Leicester University Press |isbn=978-0-7185-0227-0}}
{{refend}}

==External links==
*{{IMDb name|90203}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boardman, Stan}}
[[Category:1937 births]]
[[Category:Comedians from Liverpool]]
[[Category:English male comedians]]
[[Category:English stand-up comedians]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Huyton]]
[[Category:Controversies in the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Entertainers from Merseyside]]