Sammy Collins
Encyclopedia
Ronald Dudley 'Sammy' Collins (13 January 1923 – 31 May 1998) was an English professional footballer. He holds the record for most league goals scored by a Torquay United
Torquay United F.C.
Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 player.

Collins began his career as a right winger with Bristol City
Bristol City F.C.
Bristol City Football Club is one of two football league clubs in Bristol, England . They play at Ashton Gate, located in the south-west of the City...

, for whom he signed in November 1944. On the resumption of the Football League after the war, he struggled to make an impact at Ashton Gate
Ashton Gate
Ashton Gate Stadium is a stadium in Ashton Gate, Bristol, England, and is the home of Bristol City F.C. Located in the south-west of the city, just south of the River Avon, it has an all-seated capacity of 21,497, with an effective capacity for football matches of around 19,500, with an average...

 and, after 2 goals in 14 league games he left to join Torquay United
Torquay United F.C.
Torquay United Football Club, nicknamed the Gulls, are an English association football club based in the tourist resort town of Torquay, Devon. They played in the Conference National in 2008–09, but were promoted to Football League Two after a 2–0 win over Cambridge United on 17 May 2009 at Wembley...

 in June 1948. Over the next 10 years, Collins would score 204 league goals in 356 games for Torquay, a total that still stands today as the highest number of league goals by any Torquay player. He also holds the record for most league goals in a season after he hit 40 in 1955-56. In August 1956 he scored a penalty after only ten seconds of Torquay's game against Walsall
Walsall F.C.
Walsall Football Club are an English association football club based in Walsall, West Midlands. They currently play in League One. The club was founded in 1888 as Walsall Town Swifts, an amalgamation of Walsall Town F.C. and Walsall Swifts F.C. The club was one of the founder members of the Second...

. He was Torquay's leading goalscorer seven seasons in a row and played a significant part in Torquay's emergence as one of the better sides in the Third Division (South). On leaving Torquay, he joined non-league side Gloucester City
Gloucester City A.F.C.
Gloucester City Association Football Club is an English semi-professional association football club currently based in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire in South West England, via groundshare agreement....

.

He later ran a newsagents on Forest Road near the Plainmoor Ground
Plainmoor
Plainmoor is a suburb of Torquay, Devon, but is best known as the name of the stadium in which Torquay United Football Club currently play.-History:...

 in Torquay
Torquay
Torquay is a town in the unitary authority area of Torbay and ceremonial county of Devon, England. It lies south of Exeter along the A380 on the north of Torbay, north-east of Plymouth and adjoins the neighbouring town of Paignton on the west of the bay. Torquay’s population of 63,998 during the...

, before returning to his native Bristol to live in retirement.

Collins died in hospital on 31 May 1998.
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