Frank Collier (26 April 1933 – 1 September 1989) 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 1950s and 1960s. He played at representative level for

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, 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 ...

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 ...

and

Salford Salford () is a city and the largest settlement in the City of Salford metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. In 2011, Salford had a population of 103,886. It is also the second and only other city in the metropolitan county afte ...

, as a and .

Background

Frank Collier was born in

, Lancashire, England, and he died aged 56.

Playing career

International honours

Frank Collier won

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

s for

while at Wigan in 1963 against Australia, and while at Widnes in 1964 against France.

Championship final appearances

Frank Collier played right- in

's 27–3 victory over

Wakefield Trinity Wakefield Trinity is a professional rugby league club in Wakefield, West Yorkshire, England, that plays in the Super League. One of the original twenty-two clubs that formed the Northern Rugby Football Union in 1895, between 1999 and 2016 the c ...

in the

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

Final during the 1959–60 season at

Odsal Stadium Odsal Stadium in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England, is the home of Bradford Bulls Rugby League team. It has also been used by the Bradford Dukes speedway team, BRISCA F1 and F2 stock cars, the football team Bradford City, following the Valley ...

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

on Saturday 21 May 1960.

County League appearances

Frank Collier played in

's victories in the Lancashire League during the 1958–59 season and 1961–62 season.

Challenge Cup Final appearances

Frank Collier played right- in

's 13–9 victory over

Workington Town Workington Town R.L.F.C. is a semi-professional rugby league club playing in Workington in west Cumbria. Their stadium is Derwent Park, which they share with Workington Comets, a speedway team. They became Rugby League Champions in 1951 and ...

in the

1957–58 Challenge Cup The 1957–58 Challenge Cup was the 57th staging of rugby league's oldest knockout competition, the Challenge Cup. The final was contested by Wigan and Workington Town at Wembley Stadium in London. The final was played on Saturday 10 May 1958, ...

Final during the 1957–58 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 on Saturday 10 May 1958, in front of a crowd of 66,109, played in the 10–25 defeat by

in the 1962–63 Challenge Cup Final during the 1962–63 season at

, London on Saturday 11 May 1963, in front of a crowd of 84,492, and played right- and was

man of the match In team sport, a player of the match or man of the match or woman of the match award is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chosen from the winn ...

winning the

Lance Todd Trophy The Lance Todd Trophy is a trophy in rugby league, awarded to the annual Challenge Cup Final's man of the match. Introduced in 1945–46, the trophy was named in memory of Lance Todd, the New Zealand-born player and administrator, who was killed in ...

, in

' 13–5 victory over

Hull Kingston Rovers Hull Kingston Rovers are a professional rugby league club based in Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire, England, that competes in the Super League, the top tier of British rugby league. The club has won five league championships, and one Challeng ...

in the 1963–64 Challenge Cup Final during the 1963–64 season at

, London on Saturday 9 May 1964, in front of a crowd of 84,488.

County Cup Final appearances

Frank Collier played in

's 8–16 defeat by St. Helens in the 1953 Lancashire Cup final during the 1953–54 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 24 October 1953.

Genealogical information

Frank Collier is the younger brother of the rugby league , and of the 1950s for Wigan; William "Bill" E. Collier (birth registered first ¼ 1929 in Wigan), and older brother of Evelyn M. Collier (birth registered first ¼ 1937 in Wigan). Frank Collier's marriage to Eileen (

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 ...

Walford) (birth registered second ¼ 1934) was registered during first ¼ 1953 in

district. They had children; Stephen F. Collier (birth registered fourth ¼ 1953 in

Ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...

district – death registered first ¼ 1955 (aged 1) in

district), Trevor S. Collier (birth registered fourth ¼ in

district, Andrew Collier (birth registered first ¼ in

district, and Alison Marie Collier (born July 1963). Alison went on to marry Alan Barker (born May 1962). They have two daughters, Sarah Elizabeth Barker (born November 1990) and Sophie Marie Barker (born July 1992).

References

External links

Statistics at wigan.rlfans.comStatistics at rugby.widnes.tvSearch for "Frank Collier" at britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collier, Frank 1933 births 1989 deaths English rugby league players Great Britain national rugby league team players Lance Todd Trophy winners Place of death missing Rugby league fullbacks Rugby league players from Wigan Rugby league props Rugby league second-rows Salford Red Devils players Widnes Vikings players Wigan Warriors players