Biography of Bobby Collins

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 a Scottish League title and Scottish Cup "double" in 1954, three years after winning a first Scottish Cup. He won the first three of his 31 caps for Scotland in 1950 and maintained a frequent presence in the squad in later stages of the decade.

In 1958 he joined Everton and then became an astute addition to the Leeds squad by manager Don Revie in 1962, helping the club survive relegation. Leeds won promotion to the First Division in 1964 and Collins captained the side towards a potential "double" of League and FA Cup a year later. Sadly for Leeds, they missed out on the League to Manchester United and the FA Cup to Liverpool. Collins was, however, awarded the Footballer Of The Year title by the game's press. He also won a recall to the Scotland squad after a six year absence and earned three more caps. His international career ended with 31 appearances and ten goals.

Collins continued to skipper the team 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. Billy Bremner took over as captain and Leeds subsequently went on to be one of English football's dominant forces.

Bury signed Collins and he stayed there for two years. He joined two more clubs but didn't play for either, though during a short period back in his native Scotland with Greenock Morton, he doubled up as a scout for Revie, and recommended tough young striker Joe Jordan, among others. Jordan went on to become a respected and feared striker with both Leeds and Scotland.

Collins went into management, with spells at Huddersfield Town, Hull City and Barnsley. He also coached in Australia and the Republic of Ireland, and did some coaching within the Leeds youth set-up in the late 1970s.

He is now in quiet retirement.