Nathan Michael Collins (born 30 April 2001) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Premier League club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has diverse company headquarters buildings whi ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Early life

Collins was born in Leixlip,

County Kildare County Kildare ( ga, Contae Chill Dara) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the local authority for the county, ...

and attended secondary school at

Confey College Confey College is a co-educational interdenominational vocational school in Leixlip, County Kildare, Republic of Ireland. The school opened to 36 students in September 1986 and has approximately 900 students at present and about 80 staff members ...

Club career

Stoke City

Collins began his career with youth club Cherry Orchard, where his father David and uncle Eamonn both started their careers. He joined English club

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

in January 2016 after being scouted by Tony Bowen, assistant manager Mark Bowen's brother. Collins made his first team debut on 9 April 2019 away at

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. His first start came ten days later when he played the full 90 minutes of Stoke's 1–0 loss away to Middlesbrough at the Riverside Stadium. Collins signed a five-year contract with Stoke City in July 2019. Collins started the first few matches of the 2019–20 season and was given the captain's armband by Nathan Jones against Leeds United, becoming Stoke's youngest captain in the process. He was sent off for the first time in his career in an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

defeat at Crawley Town for a mistimed challenge on

Panutche Camará Panutche Amadu Pereira Camará (born 28 February 1997) is a Bissau-Guinean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder and forward for Charlton Athletic, on loan from Ipswich Town, and the Guinea-Bissau national team. Club career Early ...

. Collins remained on the fringes of the first team for the rest of the season under the management of Michael O'Neill, making a total of 17 appearances in the 2019–20 season. Collins played 27 times in the 2020–21 season before he suffered a season ending foot injury playing against Norwich City on 13 February 2021.

Burnley

On 24 June 2021, Collins joined the Premier League club Burnley for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract with the club. He scored his first two goals for the club in a pair of home game ties during April 2022, against Everton and Southampton. Collins became a key member of Burnley's club in the second half of the 2021–22 season as the team fought against relegation. Burnley was relegated after a 2–1 defeat against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on the final day of the season.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 12 July 2022, Collins signed with the Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers on a five-year contract for a fee of £20.5 million, an all-time record transfer fee for an Irish player. Collins made his competitive debut in a 2–1 defeat away to Leeds United on the opening weekend of the 2022–23 Premier League season, playing the full 90 minutes in central defensive pairing with

Max Kilman Maximilian William Kilman (born 23 May 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. Early life Kilman was born in Chelsea, Greater London, to a Ukrainian father, an arts d ...

. Collins received a straight red card for a high challenge on Jack Grealish during the first half of the Wolves' home Premier League game against

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 ...

on 17 September 2022, resulting in a three-match suspension. The game ended in a 3–0 loss.

Brentford

On 4 July 2023, Collins signed for

for a club-record £23 million transfer fee.

International career

Collins made his Republic of Ireland U17 debut against Kazakhstan on 17 October 2016 and was later made captain of the team. He made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut on 12 October 2021, coming on as a late substitute in a 4–0

friendly Friendly may refer to: Places * Friendly, West Yorkshire, a settlement in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, England * Friendly, Maryland, an unincorporated community in the United States * Friendly, Eugene, Oregon, a neighborhood in the United States * ...

victory against Qatar. On 14 June 2022, Collins scored his first goal for Ireland in a 1–1 draw against Ukraine in the UEFA Nations League.

Personal life

Collins' family includes a number of other footballers, including his grandfather, Michael Collins who captained Transport to the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

in 1950, his father Dave Collins who played with Liverpool and Oxford United among others. His uncle,

Eamonn Collins Eamonn Anthony Stephen Collins (born 22 October 1965) is an Irish retired association football, footballer and football manager, who is now a players' Sports agent, agent. In his playing career, he was the youngest player ever to turn out in a ...

, played with many sides including Southampton and Portsmouth before going on to manage

St Patrick's Athletic St Patrick's Athletic Football Club ( ga, Cumann Peile Lúthchleas Phádraig Naofa) is a professional Irish association football club based in Inchicore, Dublin, that plays in the Irish Premier Division. Founded in May 1929, they played origin ...

and later becoming a football agent, with his clients including Nathan Collins. His older brother Josh Collins previously played for UCD and Waterford in the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

. Nathan's uncle Mick Collins played for St Patrick's Athletic and Dundalk before later becoming a scout at

for 20 years, his son Mikey Collins (Nathan's cousin) is also an ex-footballer who played for Liverpool in his youth career before playing in Sweden, Italy, Cyprus and Holland, as well as representing Ireland up to U21 level.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

References

External links

Profile
at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website
Profile
at the Football Association of Ireland website {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Nathan 2001 births Living people People from Leixlip Association footballers from County Kildare Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football defenders Cherry Orchard F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Brentford F.C. players