John Collins (footballer)

Football player infobox
playername = John Collins


fullname =
height = height|ft=5|in=8
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1968|1|31
cityofbirth = Galashiels
countryofbirth = Scotland
currentclub =
position = Midfielder
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1984–1990
1990–1996
1996–1998
1998–2000
2000–2003
clubs = Hibernian
Celtic
Monaco
Everton
Fulham
Total
caps(goals) = 163 0(15)
221 0(47)
053 00(7)
053 00(3)
065 00(3)
555 0(75)
nationalyears = 1988–1999
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 058 0(12)
manageryears = 2006–2007
managerclubs = Hibernian
pcupdate = 21:26, 17 October 2007 (UTC)
ntupdate = 21:26, 17 October 2007 (UTC) John Angus Paul Collins (born January 31, 1968 in Galashiels) is a former Scottish international footballer and former manager of Hibernian.

Playing career

As a youngster he played both rugby and football before turning his attention entirely to football. At youth level, Collins played for Hutchison Vale between 1980 and 1984, captaining the side for four years, before signing as a professional with Hibernian. Collins played for six seasons with the club, appearing 195 times and scoring 21 goals.

Collins signed for Celtic in 1990, becoming their first million pound player. He generally played on the left side of midfield, scoring 47 goals in 217 appearances. He is unfortunate to have played in one of Celtic's most barren spells and won only one trophy, the 1995 Scottish Cup.

Collins moved to AS Monaco in the summer of 1996 on a free transfer under the Bosman ruling. Celtic, under the direction of Fergus McCann, attempted to obtain compensation for the loss of Collins. McCann argued that the Bosman ruling did not apply to this case because AS Monaco are based in the principality of Monaco and are outside of European Union jurisdiction.

Collins won the French championship in 1997 with Monaco, who then reached the semi-final of the 1998 UEFA Champions League, defeating Manchester United in the quarter-final. Collins returned to the UK in the summer of 1998 by moving to Everton, before ending his playing career with Fulham.

Collins won 58 caps and scored 12 goals for Scotland. He played for his country at Euro 96 and the 1998 World Cup. He scored in the opening match of that World Cup, with a penalty kick against Brazil. Collins retired from international football after the aggregate defeat in the Euro 2000 playoff by England in November 1999.

International goals

:"Scores and results list Scotland's goal tally first."

After playing

After retiring from club football in 2003, Collins spent time with his family while also obtaining coaching qualifications, including the UEFA Pro licence. Collins has retained links with his former clubs. When Fulham signed a new player in 2004, John Collins introduced Collins John.

Hibs manager

On October 31, 2006 he was named as manager of Hibernian. Collins led Hibernian to their first piece of silverware in 16 years when they defeated Kilmarnock 5–1 in the Scottish League Cup Final on March 18, 2007.

Despite the League Cup victory, Collins had a major bust-up with his players [ [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=hibs-revolt%26method=full%26objectid=18879262%26siteid=66633-name_page.html DailyRecord.co.uk] ] later in the same season. The players strongly criticised the manager for frequently changing the team and formation. It was claimed that almost all of the first team players attended a meeting with chairman Rod Petrie in the hope of removing Collins [ [http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/sport/football/tm_headline=col--i-won-t-walk-away%26method=full%26objectid=18892539%26siteid=66633-name_page.html DailyRecord.co.uk] ] .However, the chairman refused to yield to this pressure and gave Collins his full support. Hibs finished the season in 6th place in the Scottish Premier League.

On December 20, 2007, Collins resigned from Hibernian with immediate effect, having been recently linked to the vacant Scotland national team manager job [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/7153893.stm Collins resigns as Hibs manager] BBC Sport, December 20 2007] . Hibs' board of directors and their fans were angered that Collins' decision was taken just one day after announcing his delight at the opening of the club's new training facilities. Collins had also said in October 2007 that "I never broke a contract during my playing career and I've no intention of doing so now." [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/h/hibernian/7041077.stm Collins rejects approach by QPR] BBC Sport, October 2007]

The sacking of Lawrie Sanchez by English Premier League side Fulham on December 21 2007 led some to believe that Collins was being earmarked for the Fulham job [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/fulham/7155545.stm Manager Sanchez sacked by Fulham] BBC Sport, December 21 2007] . On December 28 2007, however, it was announced that Roy Hodgson had been appointed manager of Fulham [ [http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/f/fulham/7163374.stm Fulham appoint Hodgson as manager] BBC Sport, December 28 2007] . More recently John has been linked with the vacancy at West Ham United after the departure of Alan Curbishley. He was formally interviewed for the job but did not make it through to the final round of interviews.

Managerial stats

:"As of 20 December 2007."

Notes

External links

*soccerbase|id=1565|name=John Collins
*soccerbase (manager)|id=2082|name=John Collins