John Collins (footballer, born 1968)

John Collins
Personal information
Full name John Angus Paul Collins[1]
Date of birth (1968-01-31) 31 January 1968
Place of birth Galashiels, Scotland
Height 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m)
Playing position Midfielder
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1984–1990 Hibernian 163 (15)
1990–1996 Celtic 221 (47)
1996–1998 AS Monaco 53 (7)
1998–2000 Everton 53 (3)
2000–2003 Fulham 65 (3)
2014 Gala Fairydean Rovers 0 (0)
Total 555 (75)
National team
1987–1989 Scotland U21[2] 8 (0)
1988–1999 Scotland 58 (12)
Teams managed
2006–2007 Hibernian
2008–2009 Charleroi
2012–2013 Livingston (director of football)
2014–2016 Celtic (assistant)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.


John Angus Paul Collins (born 31 January 1968) is a Scottish football player and coach.

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.

Club career

As a youngster, Collins played both rugby union and football before turning his attention entirely to football. At youth level, Collins played for Hutchison Vale between 1980 and 1984, captaining the side for four years, before signing as a professional with Hibernian. Collins played for six seasons with the club, appearing 195 times and scoring 21 goals.

Collins signed for Celtic in 1990, becoming their first million pound player. He generally played on the left side of midfield, scoring 47 goals in 217 appearances. In April 1994, Collins became the first professional footballer using Predator boots to score a goal in a top-level match. He scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw at Ibrox against Rangers, direct from a free-kick on the edge of the penalty box.[3] During his time at Celtic, he won only one trophy; the 1995 Scottish Cup.

Collins moved to AS Monaco in the summer of 1996 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling.[4] Celtic, under the direction of Fergus McCann, attempted to obtain compensation for the loss of Collins.[4] McCann argued that the Bosman ruling did not apply to this case because AS Monaco are based in the principality of Monaco and are outside of European Union jurisdiction.[4] The compensation claim was not successful.

Collins won the French championship in 1997 with Monaco,[5] who then reached the semi-final of the 1998 UEFA Champions League,[5] defeating Manchester United in the quarter-final.[5] Collins moved to Everton in the summer of 1998 for £2 million.[6] He captained Everton before submitting a transfer request in 2000. Collins 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.[7] Coventry City offered to sign Collins on loan, but this offer was refused by Fulham because it did not cover his wages fully.[7]

In February 2014, Collins registered as a player with Gala Fairydean Rovers, a club who he had been ambassador for.[8]

International career

Collins won 58 caps and scored 12 goals for Scotland.[9] He played for his country at Euro 1996 and the 1998 World Cup.[9] Collins scored a goal in the opening match of that World Cup, with a penalty kick against Brazil.[9] He retired from international football after the aggregate defeat in the UEFA Euro 2000 qualifying play-offs by England in November 1999.[6]

Coaching career


Collins (right) is introduced by Rod Petrie as Hibernian manager at a press conference on 31 October 2006.

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.[10]

Despite the League Cup victory, Collins had a major dispute with his players just weeks later.[11] A delegation of players met chairman Rod Petrie, where they complained about his training methods and match tactics.[11] The players soon backed down and captain Rob Jones offered a public apology to Collins on their behalf.[11]

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.[10] His decision was taken just one day after the club opened new training facilities.[10] 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.[12]

Lawrie Sanchez was sacked by Fulham the next day, which led to reports that Collins might move there.[13] Collins distanced himself from this speculation,[13] and Roy Hodgson was appointed by Fulham a week later.[14] Collins was interviewed by West Ham United in September 2008.[15]

On 15 December 2008, Collins was appointed as the manager of Belgian club Charleroi.[16] 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.[17] Collins announced his departure from Charleroi after the club secured their First Division status near the end of the season.[18]

Collins was appointed director of football by Livingston in February 2012.[19] He agreed to play for his old amateur club Gala Rovers in a friendly against a Livingston XI on 25 July 2012.[20] He left the club on 28 February 2013, after Collins disagreed with a decision to remove Gareth Evans from first team coaching.[21]

In June 2014, Collins was appointed to the position of assistant manager at Celtic.[22] He left the club at the end of the 2015–16 season, at the same time as 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.[9]


Statistics

International goals

Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first.

# Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 17 February 1988 King Fahd Stadium, Riyadh  Saudi Arabia 2–1 2–2 Friendly
2 27 March 1991 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Bulgaria 1–0 1–1 Euro 1992 qualifier
3 19 May 1993 Kadrioru Stadium, Tallinn  Estonia 2–0 3–0 1994 World Cup qualifier
4 8 September 1993 Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen   Switzerland 1–0 1–1 1994 World Cup qualifier
5 7 September 1994 Olympic Stadion, Helsinki  Finland 2–0 2–0 Euro 1996 qualifier
6 12 October 1994 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Faroe Islands 3–0 5–1 Euro 1996 qualifier
7 12 October 1994 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Faroe Islands 5–0 5–1 Euro 1996 qualifier
8 26 April 1995 Stadio Olimpico, Serravalle  San Marino 1–0 2–0 Euro 1996 qualifier
9 5 October 1996 Stadionas Daugava, Riga  Latvia 1–0 2–0 1998 World Cup qualifier
10 23 May 1998 Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey  Colombia 1–1 2–2 Friendly
11 10 June 1998 Stade de France, Saint-Denis  Brazil 1–1 1–2 1998 World Cup
12 5 October 1999 Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow  Bosnia and Herzegovina 1–0 1–0 Euro 2000 qualifier

Manager

As of 16 May 2009
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Hibernian Scotland 31 October 2006 20 December 2007 54 23 15 16 42.59
Charleroi Belgium 15 December 2008 15 May 2009 18 7 4 7 38.89

Honours

Player

Celtic
Monaco

Manager

Hibernian

Individual

References

  1. ↑ John Collins, London Hearts.
  2. ↑ "John Collins". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  3. ↑ "Sound of silence: Celtic went to Ibrox under-strength and without their fans but still snatched a point". Scotland on Sunday. 26 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2014.
  4. 1 2 3 Rodger, Jim (25 July 1996). "Francs For Nothing". Daily Mirror. Trinity Mirror. Retrieved 21 April 2012.
  5. 1 2 3 Bate, Adam (6 February 2014). "Brits Abroad - Interview with John Collins". SKY Sports. Retrieved 19 March 2014.
  6. 1 2 "Collins calls it a day for Scots". BBC News. BBC. 20 November 1999. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  7. 1 2 "Collins mulls future". BBC Sport. BBC. 4 February 2003. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  8. ↑ Esson, Blair (6 February 2014). "John Collins signs for Gala Fairydean Rovers". Daily Express. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
  9. 1 2 3 4 "Lenarduzzi, Collins to cover World Cup for CBC". CBC Sports. Canadian Broadcasting Company. 12 May 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  10. 1 2 3 "Collins resigns as Hibs manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 20 December 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  11. 1 2 3 "Hibs players apologise to Collins". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 April 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  12. ↑ "Collins rejects approach by QPR". BBC Sport. BBC. 12 October 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  13. 1 2 "Manager Sanchez sacked by Fulham". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 December 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  14. ↑ "Fulham appoint Hodgson as manager". BBC Sport. BBC. 28 December 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  15. ↑ Jacob, Gary (6 September 2008). "Robert Donadoni and John Collins speak to West Ham". The Times. News International. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  16. ↑ "Charleroi verrast met John Collins". De Standaard (in Dutch). 15 December 2008. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  17. ↑ "Benjelloun moves on to Roeselare". BBC Sport. BBC. 1 February 2009. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  18. ↑ Gordon, Phil (12 May 2009). "Monaco could be the next stop for John Collins". The Times. News International. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  19. ↑ McLauchlin, Brian (14 February 2012). "John Hughes and John Collins take over at Livingston". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 14 February 2012.
  20. ↑ "Collins to face his own side". Scottish Football League. 24 July 2012. Retrieved 24 July 2012.
  21. ↑ McLauchlin, Brian (28 February 2013). "John Collins and Gareth Evans leave Livingston". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved 28 February 2013.
  22. ↑ "Celtic: John Collins appointed as Ronny Deila's assistant boss". BBC Sport. BBC. 17 June 2014. Retrieved 17 June 2014.
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