Collins started his British leagues career with
Ellesmere Port Gunners during the
1976 National League season. The very next season in 1977, he rode a couple of times in the top tier of speedway for the first time with
Cradley Heath, while doubling up with Ellesmere Port in tier 2. In 1978, he became the
British Under 21 champion and his transfer to Cradley Heath at the end of the season for £15,000 set a new British transfer record. From 1979, he rode exclusively for Cradley Heath. He won his first team silverware during the
1979 British League season, winning the
Knockout Cup and then repeated the success the following year, as well as winning the 1980
Midland Cup. In
1981, he reached the first of his three
World Longtrack finals, finishing sixth, won another Knockout Cup and helped Cradley win the league title. The Cradley team at the time were one of the strongest during that era and were led by
Bruce Penhall and
Erik Gundersen and they then won the Knockout Cup and League Cup in 1982. The
1983 British League season saw Cradley dominate again and Collins was part of the team that won another league title, Knockout Cup and Midland Cup. It was also during 1983 that Collins reached the final of the
1983 Individual Speedway World Championship. His last season was in 1986 and when he retired he had earned 55 international caps for the
England national speedway team and 1 cap for Great Britain, in addition to reaching seven
British finals. ==World final appearances==