Francis Joseph Collins (10 May 1893 – ?), was an Irish

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 ...

who briefly played as goalkeeper for Celtic during the 1920s. Collins was a dual internationalist and played for both Ireland teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI. He was born in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

, Ireland.

Club career

Collins first came to prominence while playing junior football with Jacobs and was subsequently spotted by Celtic while playing for Ireland Juniors. In May 1921 he joined Celtic in time for an end-of-season match in Paris against Cercle Athlétique. The following season Collins provided cover for regular goalkeeper Charlie Shaw, making his

Scottish League The Scottish Football League (SFL) was a league featuring professional and semi-professional football clubs mostly from Scotland.One club, Berwick Rangers, is based in the town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, which is located approximately 4 km sout ...

debut in a 4–0 win against

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

on 6 September 1921. At the end of the season however, Celtic made Collins available for transfer, and he returned to Jacobs to play in the newly formed

League of Ireland The League of Ireland ( ga, Sraith na hÉireann), together with the Football Association of Ireland, is one of the two main governing bodies responsible for organising association football in the Republic of Ireland. The term was originally use ...

. While with Jacobs, Collins also represented the

League of Ireland XI The League of Ireland XI, more recently referred to as the ''Airtricity League XI'' for sponsorship reasons, is the representative team of the League of Ireland, the national association football league of the Republic of Ireland. For much of its ...

. He remained with the Dublin club until they left the League of Ireland in 1932.

Irish international

When Collins began his international career in 1922, Ireland was represented by a single team, selected by the

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

-based

Irish Football Association The Irish Football Association (IFA) is the governing body for association football in Northern Ireland. It organised the Ireland national football team from 1880 to 1950, which after 1954, became the Northern Ireland national football team. ...

. However, during the 1920s, Ireland was partitioned into Northern Ireland and the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State ( ga, Saorstát Éireann, , ; 6 December 192229 December 1937) was a state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-year Irish War of Independence between ...

. Amid these political upheavals, a rival association, the Football Association of Ireland, emerged in

and from 1924 organised their own national team. As a result, several notable Irish players from this era, including Collins played for both teams – the IFA XI and the FAI XI.

IFA XI

Collins represented the IFA XI at both junior and senior levels. On 12 March 1921, while still playing for Jacobs, he played for the first IFA junior team to beat Scotland Juniors at home. ''The Boys In Green – The FAI International Story'' (1997): Sean Ryan
/ref> He kept a clean-sheet in a 1–0 win at

Celtic Park Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...

and impressed the host club. Collins made his one and only appearance for the senior IFA XI while playing for Celtic. Despite his lack of first-team action, Collins was selected for the match on 4 March 1922 with

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

. This time, however, the IFA XI lost 2–1 in a game also played at Celtic Park. His teammates that day included, among others, Mick O'Brien and Bill Lacey.

FAI XI

After returning to Jacobs, Collins also played twice for the FAI XI. On 14 June 1924 he kept goal against the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

in 3–1 win at

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 ...

. His teammates that day included, among others, Ed Brookes,

Paddy Duncan Paddy Duncan (1894 – 9 April 1949) was an Irish association football, footballer. At the Ireland at the 1924 Summer Olympics, 1924 Olympic Games he scored the Republic of Ireland national football team, Ireland (FAI)'s first ever goal in a sen ...

, Tommy Muldoon, Charlie Dowdall and Johnny Murray.United States results at Rsssf
Collins had to wait nearly four years before making his second appearance for the FAI XI. On 23 April 1927 he played against Italy B at

Lansdowne Road Lansdowne Road Stadium ( ga, Bóthar Lansdún, ) was a stadium in Dublin owned by the Irish Rugby Football Union (IRFU) that was primarily used for rugby union and association football matches. The stadium was demolished in 2007 to make way for ...

. His teammates that day included Mick O'Brien and Bill Lacey, both of whom had previously played with him for the IFA XI. The FAI XI lost the friendly 2–1 and Collins was blamed for conceding a soft second goal, allowing a poorly hit shot from 20 yards to slip under his body. However, a colleague later claimed that a war wound, which meant Collins was slow to get down on his right side, may have been to blame.

References

External links

Northern Ireland's Footballing Greats Irish Free State
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Frank Association footballers from Dublin (city) Irish association footballers (before 1923) Republic of Ireland association footballers Irish Free State international footballers Dual Irish international footballers Pre-1950 IFA international footballers Celtic F.C. players League of Ireland players 1893 births Year of death missing League of Ireland XI players Irish Free State association footballers Association football goalkeepers Irish Olympic Council international footballers