James Michael Collins (born 23 August 1983) is a Welsh former 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 ...
who played as a
defender.
He started his career with
Cardiff City, progressing through the club's youth system before making his senior debut in 2000. He also played for two periods with West Ham.
At international level, Collins represented the
Wales national football team
)
, Association = Football Association of Wales (FAW)
, Confederation = UEFA (Europe)
, Coach = Rob Page
, Captain = Gareth Bale
, Most caps = Gareth Bale (111)
, Top scorer = Gareth ...
, making his debut in 2004. He went on to win 51 caps before announcing his international retirement in 2017. Collins was included in the
Great Britain Olympic football team shortlist for the
London 2012
The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...
Olympics, but he did not make the final 18.
Collins announced his retirement from football in October 2020.
Early life
Collins was born in
Newport and attended
St Joseph's Roman Catholic High School as a teenager.
He was a schoolmate of
Newport County player and manager
Michael Flynn, who is two years older than Collins.
Club career
Cardiff City
As a youngster, Collins played in the youth teams of local sides Shaftesbury and Pill before joining
Cardiff City at the age of 15.
He signed as a trainee in August 2000, after playing local football in his native city of
Newport.
He was one of two first-year apprentices offered a professional contract for the 2000–01 season along with
Martyn Giles.
He made his debut for Cardiff at the age of 17 in an
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 ...
match against
Bristol Rovers
Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been ...
on 19 November 2000, which Cardiff won 5–1, as a substitute in place of
Robert Earnshaw
Robert Earnshaw (born 6 April 1981) is a Welsh former international footballer who played as a forward. He is the only player to have scored a hat-trick in the Premier League, all three divisions of the English Football League, the League Cup, ...
.
However, a broken toe suffered soon after limited his appearances during his debut season.
In his early years with the club, Collins played as both a defender and a striker with manager
Lennie Lawrence
Robin Michael Lawrence (born 12 December 1947) is an English former football manager, player and football consultant who is non-executive director at EFL League Two side Hartlepool United.
Lawrence was a semi-professional at Croydon, Carshalto ...
stating that "it wasn't clear whether James was a centre-half or a centre-forward" when he was appointed manager. Collins' broke into the first-team playing as a forward, scoring in his first start for the club during a 1–1 draw with
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 ...
in November 2001. Lawrence and his coaching staff would settle on playing Collins as a defender and he went on to make 86 appearances in all competitions for Cardiff, scoring six goals.
He won the Welsh Young Player of the Year award in 2005.
West Ham United
Collins joined
West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
in July 2005, along with his centre-back partner at Cardiff,
Danny Gabbidon
Daniel Leon Gabbidon (born 8 August 1979) is a Welsh former professional footballer who played as a defender. He played for West Bromwich Albion, Cardiff City (two spells), West Ham United, Queens Park Rangers, Crystal Palace, and Panteg. He a ...
, in a £3.5 million deal for the pair as Cardiff attempted cut their wage bill and raise money.
West Ham had previously seen a £350,000 bid for Collins rejected. Cardiff chairman
Sam Hammam
Sam, SAM or variants may refer to:
Places
* Sam, Benin
* Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso
* Sam, Iran
* Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place
People and fictio ...
later stated that club could have received a better price for Collins from other clubs but West Ham were the only team to place a bid for Gabbidon and would only complete the transfer if it included both players.
Due to fitness problems as well as competition from more experienced players, Collins did not make his West Ham debut until the
League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
tie against
Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
on 20 September 2005, which West Ham won 4–2. He made his Premiership debut on 29 October 2005 in a 2–0 away defeat by
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 populat ...
. He scored his first goal for West Ham in a 1–1 draw with Portsmouth on Boxing Day 2005. Collins ended his first Hammers season with two league goals, after scoring again in a 4–1 defeat 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 ...
at
Stamford Bridge in April 2006.
Due to injuries to new signing
Matthew Upson
Matthew James Upson (born 18 April 1979) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Upson played for England at full international level including at the 2010 World Cup.
Upson started his career with Bedfordshire ...
and
2005–06 Hammer of the Year
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...
Danny Gabbidon, Collins was given the chance to form a centre-back partnership with
Anton Ferdinand
Anton Julian Ferdinand (born 18 February 1985) is an English former footballer who most recently played for St Mirren as a centre back. He was a product of the West Ham United academy and has also played for their senior team, Queens Park Ran ...
towards the end of the
2006–07 season.
On 28 January 2008, it was announced that Collins would be out for a year after suffering severe ligament damage in a West Ham reserve game against
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
. His injury kept him out for nine months and on 26 October 2008, Collins returned to first team action, starting in West Ham's 2–0 loss to
Arsenal at
Upton Park.
Aston Villa
Collins signed a four-year contract with
Aston Villa for an undisclosed fee on 1 September 2009, the last day of the
transfer window
A transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club can transfer players from other playing staff into their playing staff. Such a transfer is completed by registering the player into the new club through FIFA. "Transfer wi ...
. On his league debut for Villa, on 13 September, he helped them keep a clean sheet in the
Second City Derby
In English football, the Second City derby or Birmingham derby, is the local derby between the two major clubs in the city of Birmingham – Aston Villa and Birmingham City, first contested in 1879. Villa play at Villa Park while Birmingham pla ...
against
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Sin ...
.
His first goal for the club was the winner 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 victory, in which he was named Man of the Match. Collins played the full ninety minutes of the
League Cup Final at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
on 28 February 2010, which saw Aston Villa beaten 1–2 by
Manchester United.
Collins also played the full game when Villa returned to Wembley on 10 April 2010, in a 0–3 defeat to
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 the
FA Cup semi-final
The FA Cup semi-finals are played to determine which teams will contest the FA Cup Final. They are the penultimate phase of the FA Cup, the oldest football tournament in the world.
Location
The semi-finals have always been contested at neutr ...
. In March 2011, manager
Gérard Houllier
Gérard Paul Francis Houllier (; 3 September 194714 December 2020) was a French professional football manager and player. Clubs he managed include Paris Saint-Germain, Lens and Liverpool, where he won the FA Cup, League Cup, FA Charity Shield, U ...
fined Collins and fellow centre-back
Richard Dunne
Richard Patrick Dunne (born 21 September 1979) is an Irish former footballer and current television pundit for BT Sport, who played as a defender. He made 431 Premier League appearances, including 253 for Manchester City.
Dunne began his prof ...
two weeks' wages after what was reported as "a boozy row with club staff during a team-bonding exercise".
Return to West Ham United
On 1 August 2012, Collins signed for West Ham United for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. He was allocated the number 19 shirt, which he wore in his first spell with the club. On 18 August 2012, Collins started alongside
Winston Reid
Winston Wiremu Reid (born 3 July 1988) is a New Zealand professional footballer who last played as a defender for club West Ham United. He captained the New Zealand national team. He has also played for Midtjylland with loan periods at Sport ...
in a 1–0 home win against his former club,
Aston Villa on the opening day of the 2012–13 Premier League season. He was also awarded 'Man of the Match' for his performance on his second 'debut'. Collins first goals in his second spell with West Ham came on 5 January in an
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 ...
3rd round tie against
Manchester United. The game finished 2–2 with Collins scoring two headed goals from crosses by
Joe Cole
Joseph John Cole (born 8 November 1981) is an English football coach and former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or winger in the Premier League, Ligue 1, League One and United Soccer League. He is regarded as on ...
.
Collins signed a two-year extension to his contract on 24 December 2015, which could keep him at the club until 2018.
On 15 August 2016, Collins scored West Ham's first Premier League goal of the season, in a 2–1 defeat against London rivals,
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 ...
.
Following the end of the
2017–18 season, it was announced that Collins' contract would not be renewed and that he would leave the club on 30 June. Collins posted an
Instagram message in which he said he was "heartbroken" by the situation.
Second spell at Aston Villa
Collins had been training at Aston Villa following his release from West Ham United and impressed manager
Dean Smith
Dean Edwards Smith (February 28, 1931 – February 7, 2015) was an American men's college basketball head coach. Called a "coaching legend" by the Basketball Hall of Fame, he coached for 36 years at the University of North Carolina at Chapel H ...
, being offered a five-week contract in December. However, he injured his calf in his first training session after signing the short-term deal, potentially ruling him out for its duration, leading Collins to cancel the contract.
Ipswich Town
On 11 January 2019, Collins joined Ipswich Town, signing a contract until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 1–0 home win against
Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
on 12 January. He was released at the end of the 2018–19 season after making just 6 appearances for the club.
Collins retired from football in October 2020.
International career
Wales
Collins played for the Wales under-21 team on several occasions and captained them in a match against
Germany U21.
In 2004, Collins accomplishment what no other player did; his debut in the
Wales team against
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...
had him play at every level of football in Wales from youth to senior teams.
He scored his debut goal for Wales in a 3–1 defeat to
Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
on 13 October 2007. Ever present during
2010 World Cup qualifying, he captained Wales in the last qualifier against Liechtenstein and helped keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win.
Collins was given his debut
captain's armband for a friendly against
Sweden on 3 March 2010. On 7 September 2012, in a
2014 World Cup qualifying game against
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, he was given a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on
Guillaume Gillet
Guillaume Gillet (born 9 March 1984) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or defender for Anderlecht.
Club career
Born in Liège, Gillet has played for RFC Liège, Visé, Eupen, Gent, Anderlecht and SC Bastia who G ...
, Wales went on to lose the match 2–0. Collins was included in the Wales 23-man squad for Euro 2016. Having made 51 appearances for Wales, Collins announced his international retirement in November 2017.
Great Britain
Coach
Stuart Pearce had Collins included in the
Team GB Olympic football provisional 191-man long-list of players for the
2012 London Olympics football tournament. He did not make the final 18-man cut.
Personal life
Collins is a
redhead
Red hair (also known as orange hair and ginger hair) is a hair color found in one to two percent of the human population, appearing with greater frequency (two to six percent) among people of Northern or Northwestern European ancestry and ...
and is nicknamed "Ginge" and "Ginger
Pelé".
Career statistics
Club
International
International goals
:''Wales score listed first, score column indicates score after each Collins goal.''
[
]
Honours
Club
Cardiff City
*FAW Premier Cup
The FAW Premier Cup (until 1998 the FAW Invitation Cup) was a Welsh football cup competition, organised annually by the Football Association of Wales from 1997 to 2008. Since the FAW excluded clubs playing in English leagues (including six Welsh ...
: 2001–02
* Football League Second Division play-offs: 2002–03
West Ham United
*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 ...
runner-up: 2005–06
Aston Villa
* Football League Cup runner-up: 2009–10
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, James
1983 births
Living people
Footballers from Newport, Wales
Welsh footballers
Wales youth international footballers
Wales under-21 international footballers
Wales international footballers
Association football defenders
Cardiff City F.C. players
West Ham United F.C. players
Aston Villa F.C. players
Ipswich Town F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
UEFA Euro 2016 players