Neil Collins (speedway rider)

Neil Collins

Born	(1961-10-15) 15 October 1961 (age 62) Manchester, England
Nationality	British (English)
Career history
1978	Ellesmere Port Gunners
1979	Nottingham Outlaws
1979, 2001	Workington Comets
1979–1980, 1984–1988, 1995	Sheffield Tigers
1980–1981	Edinburgh Monarchs
1981, 1996, 2001, 2003	Belle Vue Aces
1982–1983	Leicester Lions
1989–1990	Wolverhampton Wolves
1992, 1997	Glasgow Tigers
1993-1994	Long Eaton Invaders
1998	Stoke Potters
1999–2000	Swindon Robins
2002, 2004	Somerset Rebels
2003	Hull Vikings
2005–2006	Newport Wasps
Individual honours
1981	Grand National Winner
Team honours
1981, 2000	NL/PL Knockout Cup
1981, 2001	NL/PL Fours
2000	Young Shield

Neil Jeffrey Collins (born 15 October 1961 in Manchester, England) is a former motorcycle speedway rider from England. ^{[1] [2]}

Career

Collins started his British leagues career with Ellesmere Port Gunners during the 1978 National League season. ^[3] The very next season in 1979, he rode in the top tier of speedway for the Sheffield Tigers and doubled up the following season with the Edinburgh Monarchs in tier 2. He won his first silverware during the 1981 National League season, winning the Knockout Cup and helping the Monarchs win the Fours Championship. ^[4]

After two seasons with Leicester Lions, he returned to Sheffield in 1984, which turned out to be the season when Collins won a silver medal with the England national speedway team, after finishing runner-up in the World Team Cup final. ^{[5] [6]} He remained at Sheffield for five more seasons before signing for in Wolverhampton Wolves in 1989. After Wolves he became a bit of a journeyman rider, appearing for multiple clubs but he remained a solid rider with a reliable average for most teams he rode for. In 2000, he won the Knockout Cup and Young Shield with Swindon Robins.

His final two seasons with Newport Wasps still saw him riding with an average of 7.45 and 6.88 respectively. In 2007, which would have been his thirtieth season he could not find a team place by the start of the season, largely due to the reduction in the points limit for team building purposes. Left without a club he decided to retire after 29 years in the sport. ^[7] When Neil retired he had broken the record for domestic appearances (1,132) in British Speedway, overtaking the record previously held by his brother Les Collins (1,084). ^[8] He had also reached eight British finals and earned 19 international caps for the England. ^[2]

Family

Neil has four brothers all of whom were speedway riders, Peter, Phil, Les and Stephen. His nephews Aidan and Chris were also riders but have both retired from the sport.

Married to wife Annette, they have two children, Louis and Hannah.

World Final appearances

World Team Cup

• 1984 - Leszno, Alfred Smoczyk Stadium (with Chris Morton / Peter Collins / Simon Wigg / Phil Collins) - 2nd - 24pts (2)

External links

• Neil Collins in the Leicester Lions Scrapbook

References

1. Oakes, P.(2004). British Speedway Who's Who. ISBN   0-948882-81-6
2. "ULTIMATE RIDER INDEX, 1929-2022" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 21 June 2023.
3. "1978 season results" (PDF). Speedway Researcher. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
4. "Tigers miss the boat in four teams final" . Cambridge Daily News. 27 July 1981. Retrieved 10 May 2023– via British Newspaper Archive.
5. Bamford, R. & Shailes, G. (2002). A History of the World Speedway Championship. Stroud: Tempus Publishing. ISBN   0-7524-2402-5
6. "2008 Rider index" (PDF). British Speedway. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
7. Bamford, Robert (2008). Methanol Press Speedway Yearbook 2008. Methanol Press. ISBN   978-0-9553103-5-5.
8. Bamford, Robert (July 2008). "Retro Speedway Magazine". Retro Speedway. p. 19.