Bobby Collins (footballer)

Robert Young "Bobby" Collins (16 February 1931 – 13 January 2014) was a Scotland international football player, best known for his successful spells at Celtic, Everton and Leeds United.^[1]

Playing career

He was born on 16 February 1931, the eldest of Tom Bella Collins's six children.^[2] He signed a contract with Everton from Pollok at the age of 17, but after a contractual dispute with Celtic he eventually ended up joining Celtic instead of Everton; he was also working as an apprentice cobbler at the time.^[3] He made his debut at outside-right against Old Firm rivals Rangers on 13 August 1949, getting the better of Jock Shaw he helped Celtic to a 3–2 Scottish League Cup victory.^[4] Despite being just about 5 ft 3 in (1.60 m) tall, Collins was a strong, hard-working midfield player who was in the Celtic team as a 17-year-old and stayed there for ten years, winning the Scottish Cup in 1951, and the Scottish cup double in 1954. He was also called up for international duty in 1950, and maintained a frequent presence in the Scotland squad in the later stages of the decade. Collins also represented the Scottish League XI 16 times, scoring 12 goals.^[5]

In 1958 he joined Everton where he played until 1962.^[6] He was an astute addition to the Leeds squad by manager Don Revie in 1962, helping the club avoid relegation. Leeds won promotion to the First Division in 1964, and Collins captained the side towards a potential League and FA Cup double a year later; however, Leeds missed out on the League on goal average to Manchester United, and lost the 1965 FA Cup Final to Liverpool. Collins's efforts in Leeds achievements were recognised as he was awarded the Footballer of the Year title in 1965. His sparkling form at Leeds also won him a recall to the Scotland squad after a 6-year absence, and he earned three more caps. His international career ended with 31 appearances and ten goals. Collins continued to skipper Leeds until 1966, when he suffered a horrific broken thighbone in a Fairs Cup tie against Torino. He briefly came back from the injury, but age and a struggle to reclaim previous form brought his Leeds career to an end.^{[7][8][9][10][11][12]}

Bury signed Collins and he stayed there for two years.^[6] During a short period back in his native Scotland with Greenock Morton, he doubled up as a scout for Revie, and recommended Joe Jordan. Jordan went on to become a respected and feared striker with Leeds, Manchester United, Milan and Scotland. In 1972 Collins was playing coach of Australian club Ringwood City but left after a disagreement with the club board.^[13] He then had a spell as player/coach with Oldham. Collins signed for Shamrock Rovers in November 1973 making his début on the 11th at Glenmalure Park. He played a total of 13 games, 11 in the league scoring once on his second appearance at Finn Harps.^[7]

Management career

Collins went into management, with spells at Huddersfield Town, Hull City and Barnsley. He also coached within the Leeds youth set-up in the 1970s and then again in the late 1990s.^[14]

Statistics

Club

Season Club Division League FA Cup Scottish Cup League Cup Scottish League Cup Other[15] Total Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals 1949–50 Celtic First Division 26 7 4 0 6 1 2 0 38 8 1950–51 27 15 7 2 8 3 5 0 47 20 1951–52 30 12 2 0 8 1 2 3 42 16 1952–53 14 3 5 0 0 0 2 0 21 3 1953–54 25 10 0 0 4 0 4 0 33 10 1954–55 20 5 7 1 2 1 1 0 30 7 1955–56 26 4 4 4 6 3 4 2 40 13 1956–57 20 5 6 2 11 4 2 0 39 11 1957–58 30 19 3 1 10 7 3 0 46 27 1958–59 2 1 0 0 7 6 1 0 10 7 Total 220 81 38 10 62 26 26 5 346 122 1958–59 Everton First Division 32 7 4 3 – – 0 0 36 10 1959–60 42 14 1 0 – – 0 0 43 14 1960–61 40 16 1 0 5 1 0 0 46 17 1961–62 19 5 3 2 0 0 0 0 22 7 Total 133 42 9 5 5 1 0 0 147 48 1961–62 Leeds United Second Division 11 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 11 1 1962–63 41 8 3 1 0 0 0 0 44 9 1963–64 41 6 2 0 1 0 0 0 44 6 1964–65 First Division 39 9 8 0 1 1 0 0 48 10 1965–66 10 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 12 0 1966–67 7 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 9 0 Total 149 24 13 1 2 1 4 0 168 26 1966–67 Bury Second Division 10 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 10 0 1967–68 Third Division 43 4 3 1 4 0 0 0 50 5 1968–69 Second Division 22 2 1 0 1 0 0 0 24 2 Total 75 6 3 1 4 0 0 0 84 7 1969–70 Greenock Morton First Division 28 2 2 0 0 0 0 0 30 2 1970–71 27 1 1 0 0 0 4 0 32 1 Total 55 3 3 0 0 0 4 0 62 3 1972–73 Oldham Athletic Third Division 7 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 9 1 Total 7 0 2 1 0 0 0 0 9 1 Career total[16] 639 156 68 18 73 28 34 5 814 207 Notes Statistics outside the United Kingdom unavailable.

International Scotland national team Year Apps Goals 1950 3 0 1955 5 0 1956 1 0 1957 8 4 1958 7 5 1959 4 1 1965 3 0 Total[17] 30 10 Collins – goals for Scotland # Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition 1 19 May 1957 St. Jakob-Park, Basel   Switzerland 2–1 2–1 WCQG9 2 22 May 1957 Neckarstadion, Stuttgart  West Germany 1–0 3–1 Friendly 3 22 May 1957 Neckarstadion, Stuttgart  West Germany 3–0 3–1 Friendly 4 13 November 1957 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Wales 1–0 1–1 BHC 5 1 June 1958 Dziesieciolecia Stadion, Warsaw  Poland 1–0 2–1 Friendly 6 1 June 1958 Dziesieciolecia Stadion, Warsaw  Poland 2–0 2–1 Friendly 7 11 June 1958 Idrottsparken, Norrköping  Paraguay 2–3 2–3 WCG2 8 18 October 1958 Ninian Park, Cardiff  Wales 3–0 3–0 BHC 9 5 November 1958 Hampden Park, Glasgow  Northern Ireland 2–0 2–2 BHC 10 27 May 1959 Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam  Netherlands 1–1 2–1 Friendly

Managerial statistics

Honours

References

Specific

General

• Saffer, David (2004), Bobby Collins: The Wee Barra, Tempus, ISBN 0-7524-3176-5 

Scotland squad – 1958 FIFA World Cup 1 Younger (c) 2 Brown 3 Parker 4 Caldow 5 Hewie 6 Haddock 7 McColl 8 Turnbull 9 Evans 10 Docherty 11 Mackay 12 Cowie 13 Baird 14 Leggat 15 Scott 16 Murray 17 Mudie 18 Coyle 19 Collins 20 Robertson 21 Imlach 22 Fernie Coach: Walker