John Collins (footballer, born 1968)

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Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox football biography John Angus Paul Collins (born 31 January 1968) is a Scottish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder.

He played for Hibernian, Celtic, AS Monaco, Everton and Fulham in a 19-year career. Collins also represented Scotland 58 times, scoring in the opening match of the 1998 FIFA World Cup against Brazil.

He started his coaching career as manager of Hibernian, winning the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final, but resigned later that year. He then had a brief spell as manager of Charleroi in 2009. Collins was appointed director of football at Livingston in February 2012, but resigned a year later. He then assisted Ronny Deila at Celtic for two years. Collins has also worked in media coverage of football.

Playing career

Hibernian

As a youngster, Collins played both rugby union and football before turning his attention entirely to football. At youth level, he played for Hutchison Vale<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> between 1980 and 1984, captaining the side for four years, before signing as a professional with Hibernian. Collins played with the Hibees for six seasons, making his debut in 1985 aged 17, appearing 195 times and scoring 21 goals.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During his spell at Easter Road, he was named the PFA Scotland Young Player of the Year for 1988.

Celtic

Collins signed for Celtic in 1990, becoming their first million pound player. He generally played on the left side of midfield, scoring 55 goals in 273 appearances.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In April 1994, he became the first professional footballer using Adidas Predator boots to score a goal in a top-level match: he scored the opening goal of a 1–1 draw at Ibrox against Rangers, direct from a free-kick on the edge of the penalty box.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> He repeated that feat from almost the same position in the next Old Firm meeting at the same venue in August of the same year.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> During his time at Celtic he won only one trophy; the Scottish Cup in 1995.

Monaco

Collins moved to AS Monaco in the summer of 1996 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling;<ref name = "bosman">Template:Cite news</ref> Under the direction of Fergus McCann, Celtic attempted to obtain compensation for the loss of Collins,<ref name = "bosman"/> arguing that the Bosman ruling did not apply to this case because AS Monaco were based in the principality of Monaco and outside of European Union jurisdiction.<ref name = "bosman"/> The compensation claim was not successful.

Collins won the French championship in 1997 with Monaco,<ref name="monaco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> who then reached the semi-final of the 1997–98 UEFA Champions League,<ref name="monaco" /> defeating Manchester United in the quarter-final before losing to Juventus.<ref name="monaco" />

Later career

Collins moved to Everton in the summer of 1998 for £2 million.<ref name = "calls it"/> He captained Everton before submitting a transfer request in 2000. He then joined Fulham, where he linked up with Jean Tigana, who had been his manager at Monaco. Collins helped Fulham gain promotion to the Premier League in 2001. He retired in 2003, having not played regularly during the 2002–03 season.<ref name = "retirement">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Coventry City offered to sign Collins on loan, but this offer was refused by Fulham because it did not cover his wages fully.<ref name = "retirement"/>

In February 2014, Collins registered as a player with Gala Fairydean Rovers, a club who he had been ambassador for.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

International

Collins won 58 caps and scored 12 goals for Scotland.<ref name = "Cbc"/> He played for his country at Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup.<ref name = "Cbc"/> He scored a goal in the opening match of that World Cup, with a penalty kick against Brazil.<ref name = "Cbc"/> He retired from international football after the aggregate defeat in the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-offs by England in November 1999.<ref name = "calls it">Template:Cite news</ref>

Coaching career

After retiring from club football in 2003, Collins spent time in Monaco with his family, while also obtaining coaching qualifications including the UEFA Pro Licence.

On 31 October 2006, Collins was appointed as manager of Hibernian. Collins led Hibernian to their first national trophy in over 15 years, when they defeated Kilmarnock 5–1 in the 2007 Scottish League Cup Final.<ref name = "collins resigned"/> Despite the League Cup victory, Collins had a major dispute with his players just weeks later.<ref name = "revolt"/> A delegation of players met chairman Rod Petrie, where they complained about his training methods and match tactics.<ref name = "revolt"/> The players soon backed down and captain Rob Jones offered a public apology to Collins on their behalf.<ref name = "revolt">Template:Cite news</ref>

On 20 December 2007, Collins resigned from Hibernian with immediate effect, citing a disagreement with the Hibs board about the budget to bring in new players.<ref name = "collins resigned">Template:Cite news</ref> His decision was taken just one day after the club opened new training facilities.<ref name = "collins resigned"/> Collins had also said in October 2007 that he had "no intention" of breaking his contract with Hibs, after turning down a possibility of becoming Queens Park Rangers manager.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Lawrie Sanchez was sacked by Fulham the next day, which led to reports that Collins might move there.<ref name = "sanchez">Template:Cite news</ref> Collins distanced himself from this speculation,<ref name = "sanchez"/> and Roy Hodgson was appointed by Fulham a week later.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Collins was interviewed by West Ham United in September 2008.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

On 15 December 2008, Collins was appointed as the manager of Belgian club Charleroi.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Collins was reunited with former Hibs striker Abdessalam Benjelloun, but Benjelloun was almost immediately returned to Hibs before being loaned to another Belgian club, Roeselare.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Collins announced his departure from Charleroi after the club secured their First Division status near the end of the season.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>

Collins was appointed director of football by Livingston in February 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He agreed to play for his old amateur club Gala Rovers in a friendly against a Livingston XI on 25 July 2012.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He left the club on 28 February 2013, after Collins disagreed with a decision to remove Gareth Evans from first team coaching.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

In June 2014, Collins was appointed to the position of assistant manager at Celtic.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He left the club at the end of the 2015–16 season, at the same time as Ronny Deila.

Media work

Collins has appeared on the Sky Sports coverage of the UEFA Champions League and Sportscene's coverage of Scotland games. He worked for CBC Sports during their coverage of the 2010 FIFA World Cup.<ref name = "Cbc">Template:Cite news</ref>

Career statistics

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland<ref>Template:SFA Profile</ref> 1988 1 1
1990 4 0
1991 1 1
1992 3 0
1993 6 2
1994 7 3
1995 7 1
1996 10 1
1997 7 0
1998 7 2
1999 5 1
Total 58 12
Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Collins goal.
List of international goals scored by John Collins
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 February 1988 Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium, Riyadh Template:Fb 2–1 2–2 Friendly
2 27 March 1991 Hampden Park, Glasgow Template:Fb 1–0 1–1 Euro 1992 qualifier
3 19 May 1993 Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn Template:Fb 2–0 3–0 1994 World Cup qualifier
4 8 September 1993 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen Template:Fb 1–0 1–1 1994 World Cup qualifier
5 7 September 1994 Olympiastadion, Helsinki Template:Fb 2–0 2–0 Euro 1996 qualifier
6 12 October 1994 Hampden Park, Glasgow Template:Fb 3–0 5–1 Euro 1996 qualifier
7 5–0
8 26 April 1995 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle Template:Fb 1–0 2–0 Euro 1996 qualifier
9 5 October 1996 Stadionas Daugava, Riga Template:Fb 1–0 2–0 1998 World Cup qualifier
10 23 May 1998 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey Template:Fb 1–1 2–2 Friendly
11 10 June 1998 Stade de France, Saint-Denis Template:Fb 1–1 1–2 1998 World Cup
12 5 October 1999 Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow Template:Fb 1–0 1–0 Euro 2000 qualifier

Managerial record

Template:Updated

Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Hibernian 31 October 2006 20 December 2007

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Charleroi 15 December 2008 15 May 2009

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Career total

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Honours

Player

Hibernian

Celtic

Monaco

Fulham

Individual

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Manager

Hibernian

References

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