Collins John (born 17 October 1985) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Buitenboys. Born in Liberia, he has represented the Netherlands national team. John notably played in the

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

where he notched up 23 goals in 111 appearances, in all competitions, in a five-year stay at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football ground in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 22,384; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game against M ...

. He also played in the English

football league The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

, and

Barnet Barnet may refer to: People *Barnet (surname) * Barnet (given name) Places United Kingdom *Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below. *East Barnet, a district of the borough below; an ...

, in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

for

FC Twente Football Club Twente () is a Dutch professional football club from the city of Enschede, sometimes known internationally as Twente Enschede. The club was formed in 1965 by the merger of 1926 Dutch champions Sportclub Enschede with Enschedese Bo ...

and

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion fr ...

, in Belgium for

K.S.V. Roeselare Koninklijke Sport Vereniging Roeselare, abbreviated to KSV Roeselare (),''V.'' in isolation: ., also known in French as KSV Roulers, was a Belgian football club from the city of Roeselare in West Flanders. Its matricule was 134. It last played ...

, the United States for Chicago Fire,

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

for

Gabala FC Gabala Football Club ( az, Qəbələ Futbol Klubu ), also spelled Qabala, is an Azerbaijani association football club representing Qabala in the Azerbaijan Premier League since 2006. Gabala has been the runner up in the Premier League three times ...

and in

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

for Mes Sarcheshmeh F.C.

Career

Club

John started his professional career at Dutch first division side

as a 17-year-old, going on to score 11 league goals during one-and-a-half seasons combined. He was signed by

on 31 January 2004, cited by manager Chris Coleman as a way to expand attacking options in the future. He signed for a fee thought to be in the region of £600,000 where he was introduced at Loftus Road by John Collins, his reverse namesake. His debut for the club came as a substitute for

Mark Pembridge Mark Anthony Pembridge (born 29 November 1970) is a Welsh retired footballer who played as a midfielder, and a current coach at the academy for Fulham. He played 333 matches in England's top division for Luton Town, Sheffield Wednesday, Evert ...

against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

in a 2–1 defeat at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

on 20 March. Following an auspicious start, John scored 11

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

goals in 2005–06, despite only starting 15 of the 37 in which he appeared. With a further two goals in other competitions, he was Fulham's top goalscorer that season. A goal against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

on 20 November 2005, a volley from his weaker foot, was later to be named "Goal of the Month" by the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

, and was in the running for "

Goal of the Season In English football, the Goal of the Season is an annual competition and award given on BBC's ''Match of the Day'', in honour of the most spectacular goal scored that season. It is typically contested between the winners of the preceding ten Goa ...

". John started six of the first seven Premiership games of 2006–07, but then lost his place and started only three more times in 2006. Coming on as a second-half substitute, and having had two goals disallowed earlier in the match, he scored his twentieth league goal at

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

, in November 2006. John signed for

on 23 October 2007 on a three-month loan deal. He made his debut in a 1–0 defeat to

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

a few hours later, and scored his first league goal in a 2–0 win over

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 ...

on 27 October. John scored his last goal against

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

six days later, in a 1–1 away draw. He returned to Fulham after making a total of eleven league appearances for Leicester. On 25 January 2008, John joined Watford on a loan deal until the end of the 2007–08 season, with the option of a permanent move after that. He struggled with his fitness during his time at the club, making only three starts and two substitute appearances. In April 2008 he returned to Fulham after tearing a thigh muscle. On the 2008 transfer deadline day, John moved to

on a one-year loan deal, with the Dutch side also obtaining a transfer option. In

Nijmegen Nijmegen (;; Spanish and it, Nimega. Nijmeegs: ''Nimwèège'' ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and tenth largest of the Netherlands as a whole, located on the Waal river close to the German border. It is about 6 ...

John suffered with continual problems. Although he was important as a substitute in two

UEFA Cup A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store Solid, solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, porcela ...

matches, he failed to make an impression in the Dutch league. In January 2009 he went on trial at

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

but wasn't offered a contract. Back in Nijmegen he was suspended to the reserve squad by manager

Mario Been Marinus Antonius Been (born 11 December 1963) is a Dutch football manager and former professional player. As a footballer, Been played for Feyenoord, Pisa, Roda JC, Heerenveen, FC Tirol Innsbruck and Excelsior. He played in an attacking midfiel ...

. On 3 March John returned to Fulham after both NEC and John didn't see any reason for continuing the loan. In March, John requested to train with Dutch side

Heracles Almelo Heracles Almelo is a Dutch professional football club based in Almelo, founded in 1903. The club has won the Dutch national title twice, in 1927 and 1941. Heracles won the Eerste Divisie title during the 2004–05 season, gaining promotion to th ...

, alongside his brother

Paddy Paddy may refer to: People *Paddy (given name), a list of people with the given name or nickname *An List of ethnic slurs#P, ethnic slur for an Irishman Birds *Paddy (pigeon), a Second World War carrier pigeon *Snowy sheathbill or paddy, a bird ...

, till the end of the 2008–09 season. The request was denied because John had no intention to play for Heracles in the next season. He chose to sign for

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

side

Roeselare Roeselare (; french: Roulers, ; West Flemish: ''Roeseloare'') is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The ...

signing a 2-year contract. On 3 December, John was suspended and demoted to the reserve squad for disciplinary reasons by manager

Dennis van Wijk Dennis Johannes van Wijk (; born 16 December 1962) is a Dutch football coach and former football player. He is currently unemployed after most recently managing Oostende in the Belgian First Division A. Van Wijk was a left-back who began his c ...

. On 14 December Roeselare terminated John's contract. John joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club Chicago Fire during their pre-season training camp on 29 January 2010 with a view to signing before the start of the 2010 MLS season. On 11 March 2010, Chicago Fire hired him on a free transfer. After a disappointing season in MLS, John was released by Chicago on 24 November 2010. John joined

in Azerbaijan on 25 January 2011. After failing to revive his career in Azerbaijan, John handed in a transfer request. John went on trial with

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

and flew to Portugal with them for a pre-season break. He signed a one-year contract with

Iran Pro League The Persian Gulf Pro League ( fa, لیگ برتر خلیج فارس, ''Lig-e Bartar-e Xalij-e Fârs''), formerly known as the Iran Pro League ( fa, links=no, لیگ برتر ایران, ''Lig-e bartar-e Irân''), is the highest division of profe ...

side Mes Sarcheshmeh on 20 December 2011. In the summer of 2012, John agreed to sign for Gençlik Gücü S.K. in Northern Cyprus, but the transfer fell through. On 22 September 2012, John joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

. On 12 October 2012 John was joined at the club by fellow former Dutch international

Edgar Davids Edgar Steven Davids (; born 13 March 1973) is a Dutch-Surinamese former professional footballer and current coach. After beginning his career with Ajax, winning several domestic and international titles, he subsequently played in Italy for AC Mi ...

. John made his debut against

Plymouth Argyle Plymouth Argyle Football Club is a professional football club based in the city of Plymouth, Devon, England. As of the 2021–22 season, the team are competing in League One, the third tier of English football. They have played at Home Park, ...

, but was substituted after just 15 minutes due to a thigh injury. He also played in the

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 ...

against

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

, but he was to make only two appearances for the club, and after a string of injuries, had his contract terminated by mutual consent in January 2013. On 25 June 2013 John joined

side

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

on trial. After failing to win a contract with Go Ahead Eagles, John held talks with Polish

Ekstraklasa Poland Ekstraklasa (), meaning "Extra Class" in Polish, named PKO Ekstraklasa since the 2019–20 season due to its sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is the top Polish professional league for men's association football teams. Contested by 18 cl ...

side

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2022–23, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. History The club wa ...

, and later claimed on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

that he had signed a two-year deal, but in fact was only training with the club until he had proven his fitness. He eventually made his debut in the

on 1 September against

Śląsk Wrocław Wrocławski Klub Sportowy Śląsk Wrocław Spółka Akcyjna, commonly known as WKS Śląsk Wrocław, Śląsk Wrocław () or simply Śląsk, is a Polish football club based in Wrocław that plays in Ekstraklasa, the highest level of the Polish fo ...

as an 82nd-minute substitute. In March 2014 it was announced the John had signed for the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1999 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American so ...

of the

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a professional men's soccer league in the United States that began its inaugural season in 2011. The USL is sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation (U.S. Soccer) as a Division II league since 2017, pl ...

, the third division of the

United States soccer pyramid The United States soccer league system is a series of professional and amateur soccer leagues based, in whole or in part, in the United States. Sometimes called the American soccer pyramid, teams and leagues are not linked by the system of prom ...

. John debuted for the club in their second matchday of the season against the

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL-1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

on 5 April 2014. After coming on as a 65th-minute substitute for Jason Johnson, John scored his first goal for the club in his debut, the Riverhounds' only goal in the 1–3 defeat. In the Riverhounds' next match, John scored again during his first game at Highmark Stadium against

Wilmington Hammerheads FC Wilmington Hammerheads FC was a semi-professional American soccer team based in Wilmington, North Carolina. Founded in 1996, the team last competed in the Premier Development League, the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid in 2017. History ...

, for a total of two goals in two matches. Following that match, John was suspended for three matches for "violent conduct". After making thirteen appearances and scoring four goals for the Riverhounds, John and the club mutually terminated the player's contract in July 2014, citing John's desire to return his family to Europe. John joined

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team co ...

on trial in July 2014, scoring in a friendly against

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...

. From the 2016–17 season, John coached the under-19 team of SC Buitenboys. He joined their first team as a player in mid-2019, competing in the

Derde Klasse The ('Third Class') is the eighth tier of football in the Netherlands and the sixth tier of Dutch amateur football. The league is divided into 44 divisions, 20 played on Saturday and 24 on Sunday. Each division consists of 14 teams. The champion ...

International

John was part of the Netherlands under-21 squad that won the 2006 European Championship in Portugal. Previously, he had already made his main team debuts, appearing in a 2–2 friendly match against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

, on 18 August 2004. He then made his second appearance for the Netherlands when they played in a friendly match against

Liechtenstein Liechtenstein (), officially the Principality of Liechtenstein (german: link=no, Fürstentum Liechtenstein), is a German-speaking microstate located in the Alps between Austria and Switzerland. Liechtenstein is a semi-constitutional monarchy ...

Club statistics

Personal life

John was born in

Zwedru Zwedru is the capital of Grand Gedeh County, one of the 15 counties in Liberia. Zwedru is located in Tchien District of Grand Gedeh County, near the Cavalla River in the country's south-eastern region and near the border with Côte d'Ivoire. It ...

Liberia Liberia (), officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to its north, Ivory Coast to its east, and the Atlantic Ocean ...

, but his family emigrated to the Netherlands after the murder of his father, during the Liberian Civil War. His two brothers

and Ola are also footballers.

Honours

* Netherlands U21: **

UEFA U-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

References

External links

* * *
Holland stats
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:John, Collins 1985 births Living people Liberian emigrants to the Netherlands Association football forwards Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Netherlands international footballers Liberian footballers Dutch people of Liberian descent Sportspeople of Liberian descent Dutch expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate footballers in Azerbaijan Expatriate footballers in Iran Expatriate footballers in Poland FC Twente players Fulham F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Watford F.C. players Barnet F.C. players NEC Nijmegen players K.S.V. Roeselare players Chicago Fire FC players Gabala FC players Mes Sarcheshme players Piast Gliwice players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Eredivisie players Premier League players English Football League players Belgian First Division A players Major League Soccer players Ekstraklasa players People from Grand Gedeh County