BOBBY NEILL

EARLY LIFE

Neill was born in Edinburgh on 10 October 1933, the son of Andrew Neill, a bookmaker and Sarah Richardson. He had an older brother Frank, a younger brother Andrew, and two younger sisters, Myra and Marcella.

AMATEUR CAREER

Neill attended Trinity Academy, and boxed out of the Sparta Amateur Boxing Club, representing Scotland at amateur level despite suffering serious injuries in a car crash.

INJURIES

Another car crash in 1957, resulted in surgery shortening one of his legs, with Neill being told he would never box again, but Neill regained his fitness and continued to have success in the ring.

In a re-match with Spinks, in Novembr 1960, he was knocked out in the fourteenth round and was left in a coma, which required surgery to remove a blood clot from the brain, and forced him to retire from the ring.

LIFE AFTER BOXING

Five years after retiring he became a trainer working with such boxers as Alan Minter, Lloyd Honeyghan, Johnny Pritchett, Frankie Taylor, Alan Rudkin, and Vernon Sollas. Taking Minter and Honeyghan to World titles.

He also worked as a boxing adviser on television shows including Minder.

FAMILY LIFE

Neill married Laurie Steadman in May 1961, they had a daughter Michelle born in 1962 and a son Fraser born in 1965. After Laurie died he married Italian Maria Zola.

DEATH

Neill died of complications related to COVID-19 in London on 15 February 2022, at the age of 88. His funeral was held at Enfield Crematorium on 10 March 2022.

LEGACY

In 2004, Neill was inducted into the Scottish Boxing Hall of Fame.