Collins, Bobby

Despite his short stature (about 160 cm), Collins was a strong and hard-working midfielder, who was part of Celtic at the age of 17 and remained there for ten years, winning the Scottish Cup in 1951 and 1954. In 1950, he was also called to the national team and was the main player of Scotland at the end of the decade ^[2] . Collins also played 16 matches for the Scottish League national team, scoring 12 goals ^[3] .

In 1958, he joined Everton, where he played until 1962. In 1962, he was a good acquisition of Leeds coach, Don Revie , and helped the club avoid relegation. Leeds won a promotion to the First Division in 1964, and Collins was captain of the team in the league and cup matches in England a year later, however, Leeds lost first place in Manchester United goal difference and lost the 1965 England Cup final to Liverpool ". Collins contributed to Leeds, and in 1965 they were recognized as the Football Player of the Year award by the Association of Football Journalists . His good game in Leeds also helped him return to the Scotland national team after a six-year hiatus, and he played three more matches. His international career ended with a total of 31 matches and ten goals. Collins continued to play for Leeds until 1966, when he suffered a severe fracture of the femur in the Fairs Cup match against Torino . He returned to the team after an injury, but age and difficulty returning to their previous form led to the end of his career at Leeds ^{[4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11]} .

In 1967, Collins signed Bury , and he stayed there for two years. Within a short time, he returned to his native Scotland to play for Greenock Morton , at the same time he became a Scout for Scout and brought Joe Jordan to Leeds. Jordan subsequently became the lead striker in both Leeds and Scotland. In 1972, Collins became the playing coach of the Australian club "Ringwood City", but left the club after disagreements with the leadership of ^{[12] [13] [14]} . Then he became the playing coach of Oldham Athletic . In 1973, Collins signed a contract with Shamrock Rovers , making his debut on November 11 at Glenmaler Park. He played a total of 13 matches (11 in the league) and scored one goal in his second match for Rovers ^[4] .

Collins continued his coaching career, under his leadership played Huddersfield Town , Hull City and Barnsley . He also coached the Leeds youth base, first in the 1970s and then in the late 1990s.

Bobby Collins was married to Betty. The couple have two children: Michael and Julie. In addition to football, Collins was fond of table tennis. In 2002, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer's syndrome ^[15] .

Collins passed away after a long illness at about 3:30 pm on Monday, January 13, 2014. That same evening, Bobby’s friend and former Leeds partner, Eddie Gray , said: