Robert Young Collins (16 February 1931 – 13 January 2014) was a

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

international

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

player, best known for his successful spells at

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, Everton and

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

Playing career

Celtic

Collins was born on 16 February 1931 in

Govanhill Govanhill ( gd, Cnoc a' Ghobhainn) is an area of Glasgow, Scotland, situated south of the River Clyde between Pollokshields, the Gorbals, Strathbungo, Crosshill, Polmadie and Queen's Park. Historically part of Renfrewshire, Govanhill had the st ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...

, Scotland, the eldest of Tom and Bella Collins's six children. He signed a contract with Everton from

Pollok Pollok ( gd, Pollag, lit=a pool, sco, Powk) is a large housing estate on the south-western side of the city of Glasgow, Scotland. The estate was built either side of World War II to house families from the overcrowded inner city. Housing 30,0 ...

at the age of 17, but after a contractual dispute he eventually ended up joining Celtic instead of Everton; he was also working as an apprentice cobbler at the time. He made his debut at outside-right against

Old Firm The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...

rivals Rangers on 13 August 1949, getting the better of

Jock Shaw John Shaw (29 November 1912 – 13 June 2000) was a Scottish professional footballer who played as a defender, most famous for his time at Rangers, where he was captain between 1938 and 1950. Career Rangers signed Shaw, known as 'Tiger' for h ...

he helped Celtic to a 3–2

Scottish League Cup The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...

victory. Despite being just about tall, Collins was a strong, hard-working midfield player who was in the Celtic team as a 17-year-old and stayed there for ten years, winning the

Scottish Cup The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

squad in the later stages of the decade. Collins also represented the

Scottish League XI The Scottish League XI was a representative side of the Scottish Football League. The team regularly played against the (English) Football League and other national league select teams between 1892 and 1980. For a long period the annual fixture be ...

16 times, scoring 12 goals.

Everton

In 1958 Collins joined Everton where he played until 1962.

Leeds United

Collins was an astute addition to the Leeds squad by manager

Don Revie Donald George Revie OBE (10 July 1927 – 26 May 1989) was an England international footballer and manager, best known for his successful spell with Leeds United from 1961 until 1974, which immediately preceded his appointment as England manage ...

in 1962, helping the club avoid relegation. Revie later described Collins as his best ever signing.Bobby Collins Obituary, The Guardian 14 January 2014
/ref> Leeds won promotion to the First Division in 1964, and Collins captained the side towards a potential League and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

double a year later; however, Leeds missed out on the League on goal average to

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

, and lost the 1965 FA Cup Final to

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

. Collins's achievements at Leeds were recognised when he was awarded the Footballer of the Year title in 1965. His sparkling form at Leeds also won him a recall to the Scotland squad after a six-year absence, and he earned three more caps. His international career ended with 31 appearances and ten goals. Collins continued to skipper Leeds until 1966, when he suffered a horrific broken

thigh In human anatomy, the thigh is the area between the hip (pelvis) and the knee. Anatomically, it is part of the lower limb. The single bone in the thigh is called the femur. This bone is very thick and strong (due to the high proportion of bone ...

bone in a

Fairs Cup The Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, sometimes referred to as the European Fairs Cup, Fairs Cities' Cup, or simply as the Fairs Cup, was a European football competition played between 1955 and 1971. It is often considered the predecessor to the UEFA Cup (no ...

tie against

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

. He briefly came back from the injury, but age and a struggle to reclaim previous form brought his Leeds career to an end.

Later playing career

Bury Bury may refer to: *The burial of human remains *-bury, a suffix in English placenames Places England * Bury, Cambridgeshire, a village * Bury, Greater Manchester, a town, historically in Lancashire ** Bury (UK Parliament constituency) (1832–19 ...

signed Collins and he stayed there for two years. During a short period back in his native Scotland with

Greenock Morton Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...

, he doubled up as a scout for Revie, and recommended

Joe Jordan Joseph Jordan (born 15 December 1951) is a Scottish football player, coach and manager. He is currently a first-team coach at AFC Bournemouth. A former striker, he played for Leeds United, Manchester United, and Milan, among others at club ...

. Jordan went on to become a respected and feared striker with Leeds, Manchester United, Milan and Scotland. Collins' last appearance for Morton was in August 1971, in a pre-season friendly against his former club

. In 1972 Collins was playing coach of Australian club

Ringwood City Ringwood City Soccer Club is an Australian soccer club from Ringwood, a suburb of Melbourne. The club was formed in 1953 as Wilhelmina by Dutch Australians. The club currently competes in Victorian State League Division 4 East, where it has b ...

but left after a disagreement with the club board. He then had a spell as player-coach with Oldham. Collins guested for

Shamrock Rovers Shamrock Rovers Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Ruagairí na Seamróige) is an Irish association football club based in Tallaght, South Dublin. The club's senior team competes in the League of Ireland Premier Division and it is the most su ...

in a friendly with

Dalymount Park Dalymount Park (Irish: ''Páirc Cnocán Uí Dhálaigh'') is a football stadium in Phibsborough on the Northside of Dublin, Ireland. It is the home of Bohemian F.C., who have played there since the early 20th century. Affectionately known as D ...

on 15 October 1973 and signed for The Hoops the following month making his début on the 11th at

Glenmalure Park Glenmalure Park, often simply known as Milltown, was a football stadium on the Southside of Dublin city in Ireland. Located in the suburb of Milltown, it was home to Shamrock Rovers from 1926 to 1987, when it was sold to property developers ...

. He played a total of 13 games, 11 in the league scoring once on his second appearance at Finn Harps.

Managerial career

Collins went into management, with spells at

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Kingston upon Hull, Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England, that compete in the . They have played home games at the MKM Stadium since moving ...

and

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. As the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. In Barnsley, the population was 96,888 while the wider Borough has ...

. He also coached within the Leeds youth set-up in the 1970s and then again in the late 1990s.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Collins goal.''

Managerial record

Honours

Notes

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Bobby 1931 births 2014 deaths Scottish footballers Scotland international footballers Association football midfielders Pollok F.C. players Scottish Junior Football Association players Celtic F.C. players Everton F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Bury F.C. players Greenock Morton F.C. players Scottish expatriate footballers Expatriate soccer players in Australia Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Expatriate association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Scottish expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Shamrock Rovers F.C. players Shamrock Rovers F.C. guest players League of Ireland players Scottish Football League players Scottish Football League representative players English Football League players 1958 FIFA World Cup players Scottish football managers Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers Hull City A.F.C. managers Barnsley F.C. managers English Football League managers Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff Leeds United F.C. non-playing staff Hull City A.F.C. non-playing staff Blackpool F.C. non-playing staff Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff People from Govanhill and Crosshill Ringwood City SC players Southern Suburbs F.C. players FA Cup Final players