Biography
Leslie “Les” Collinson was born in Hull and grew up during the World War Two years. He played for local junior sides as a teenager in the early 1950s before joining Hull City on amateur terms in August 1953. Les served the Reserves for three seasons while completing his National Service with the RAF until his chance for first team action came during November 1956 in an FA Cup tie against Gateshead – the absence of Andy Davidson required a reshuffle of the half back line and Les was given his debut at right half. Collinson impressed City manager Bob Brocklebank sufficiently to be handed his first professional contract in December 1956 and retained the right half shirt for the rest of the season, with Davidson moving to left half. Collinson was a complete half back, combining tackling and aerial ability with a knack for building attacks from deep. He also had a powerful shot that was deployed throughout his career to good effect, his debut goal coming in a March 1957 3-4 defeat at Rochdale and his second coming a fortnight later in a narrow 3-2 win over Chesterfield.
Collinson remained City’s first choice right half throughout the 1957/58 season, missing only eight matches all season and even trying his hand at centre forward in a November 1957 3-3 draw against Bradford Park Avenue in which he scored the Tigers’ third goal. Collinson started the 1958/59 season out of the first team but soon replaced his fellow half back Jack Bennion, however by December 1958 Jock Davidson was again preferred at right back and Les dropped into the Reserves as City ended the season winning promotion to the Second Division – a career feature that would be repeated eight years later.
The 1959/60 season saw Collinson demonstrate his versatility as he spent the first four months covering the half back and inside forward roles when team-mates were absent. By December 1959 City had sunk to the bottom of the Division Two table and Collinson returned to first team action in his preferred right half role as City claimed a rare victory, prevailing 3-1 at Sunderland – Les kept his first team place for the rest of the season. Returning to the Third Division for the 1960/61 season, manager Brocklebank began a process of introducing younger talent to the City first team – notably Chris Chilton – but the old guard of Andy Davidson, Paul Feasey, Brian Bulless and now Les Collinson remained in situ with Les remaining in the starting eleven for the whole season, save for a month’s absence in December.
When Cliff Britton took over as City manager in the summer of 1961 he too viewed Collinson as a key part of his first team squad and for the next two seasons, as Britton started building a squad capable of challenging for promotion back to the Second Division, Les was City’ regular right half missing only five matches in the 1961/62 season and three games in the following term, which extended to the end of May 1963 thanks to heavy winter snowfall. After starting the first two fixtures of the 1963/64 season Collinson was replaced at right half by Scunthorpe signing Len Sharpe and only returned briefly for ten starts during December and January that included two FA Cup ties against First Division Everton. Despite this long absence from regular first team action, Les bounced back in the 1964/65 season and missed only six games as the squad building work of manager Britton saw City narrowly miss out on promotion.
Collinson remained with the Tigers for two further seasons, the 1965/66 Third Division title winning season and the following season in the Second Division. However he was now regarded as a reserve half back that would occasionally deputise for others, notably Welshman Alan Jarvis who took over the right half role in the 1965/66 season. Now in his early 30s, Collinson was sold to Division Four side York City for £3,000 in February 1967, his 332 senior appearances for the Tigers placing in the top 20 all-time appearance makers for the club.
Collinson slotted straight into the right half position at York and his 18 starts in the remainder of the 1966/67 season were supplemented by a further 18 starts the following season – he scored 2 goals in these 36 appearances. He played his last senior fixture for York in February 1968 against Chesterfield, dropping out of the Football League in the 1968 close season.
In July 1968 Collinson signed for Northern Premier League side Goole Town, where he played for two seasons under player-manager and ex-Tiger Paul Feasey. Les joined Scunthorpe-based Midland League side Ashby Institute in March 1970 but moved on again at the end of the 1969/70 season. In July 1970 he signed for Yorkshire League side Hull Brunswick, managed by another ex-Tiger Colin Smith, then in September 1971 he joined Yorkshire League rivals Bridlington Trinity. In the summer of 1972 he switched to Yorkshire League side Hatfield Main, by which time he had retrained and worked as a mathematics teacher, also turning out regularly for the ex-Tigers XI. In September 1973 he joined Bridlington Town but he was jettisoned after just one start.
Collinson retired from teaching at Hessle Junior School in 1990 but still kept fit with regular running sessions at Costello Sports Centre, and during the mid-1990s he coached football at Wyke College. He then became the verger at St Andrew’s Church in Kirkella and enjoyed his retirement at his home in Willerby, dying in May 2023.
Details
Nationality: England
Date/Place of Birth: 2 December 1935, Hull
Hull City First Game: 17 November 1956, Gateshead H (FA Cup First Round), 20 years, 351 days old
Hull City Final Game: 7 January 1967, Preston North End H (Division Two), 31 years, 36 days old
Clubs
Hull City (1953-1967), York City (1967-1968), Goole Town (1968-1970), Hull Brunswick (1970-1971), Bridlington Trinity (1971-1972). Hatfield Main (1972-1973), Bridlington Town (1973)
Hull City Record
Career: 332 apps, 16 goals
Les Collinson| Season | LGE App | LGE Gls | FAC App | FAC Gls | FLC App | FLC Gls | EUR App | EUR Gls | OTH App | OTH Gls |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1953/54 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1954/55 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1955/56 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1956/57 | 26 | 2 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1957/58 | 38 | 1 | 6 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1958/59 | 17 | 2 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1959/60 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1960/61 | 41 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – |
| 1961/62 | 41 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 1962/63 | 44 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 4 | 1 | – | – | – | – |
| 1963/64 | 10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1964/65 | 42 | 1 | 3 | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1965/66 | 2 (0) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1966/67 | 6 (1) | 0 | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | – |
Les died on 22nd May 2023 aged 87 (Hull Daily Mail obituaries 1st June)