Willy Collins headstone: Sheffield Council and family of bare-knuckle boxer fail to reach agreement

A giant memorial was unveiled in Shiregreen Cemetery in March as a lasting tribute to Willy Collins, the patriarch of a traveller family, in March last year.

Sheffield Council said it breaches size guidelines for city cemeteries but in response, the Collins family said planning permission was granted before the monument was installed.

The family has warned that there would be ‘war’ if the memorial is damaged or taken down by the council.

The last statement the council issued on the situation was that it was “still trying to achieve an agreed position with the Collins family over the future of the memorial”.

The 35-ton structure, created from Italian marble, was installed in tribute to 49-year-old Willy Collins, known among family and friends as ‘the King of Sheffield’. He was one of 16 siblings and a dad-of-nine, who was also a grandfather.

He collapsed and died during a holiday with his family in Majorca in July 2020.

The monument at his final resting place features two life-sized statues of the bare-knuckle boxer’s six-foot-two frame, four flagpoles, depictions of Jesus Christ and biblical scenes. It also has a solar-powered jukebox playing his favourite tracks.

The monument is lit up in LED lights that change colour and is under 24-hour CCTV monitoring. A security firm also guards the memorial.

Although some people approve and admire the monument, others say it is too big and claim to have been contacted by the council over much less serious cemetery guideline breaches.

When it was first installed, there was a steady stream of intrigued visitors who went along to see the scale of the memorial for themselves. It continues to divide opinion.

Willy’s funeral was one of the most extravagant ever seen in Sheffield. Hundreds of mourners attended his burial, with his gold-plated casket, topped with a crown, paraded through Sheffield first.

A fleet of Rolls Royce cars, a huge American truck, bikers and vintage cars formed part of the massive cortege as it snaked around the city.