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John Collins:
Real name John Collins,
Height 5.07,
Weight 10.10,
Date of birth 31-01-1968,
Place of birth Galashiels,
Position Midfielder,
Nationality Scotland,
International Caps 58,
International Goals 12

John was SPFA young player of the year 1987-88 whilst with Hibernian.
John was won 58 caps for Scotland between 1988 and 2000.


Playing career

As a youngster he played both rugby and football before turning his attention strictly to football. At youth level, John played for Hutchison Vale between 1980 and 1984, captaining the side for four years, before signing as a professional with Hibernian. At the professional level, Collins played for Hibernian, Celtic, AS Monaco, Everton, and Fulham.

Hibernian

Collins played for Hibernian from 1984 until his million pound transfer to Celtic in 1990. During his 6 seasons with the club he played 195 times and scored 21 goals.

Celtic

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.

Monaco and later playing career

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.

Scotland

For Scotland, he scored 12 goals in 58 caps and 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 against Brazil. Collins retired from international football after the aggregate defeat in the Euro 2000 playoff by England in November 1999.

After playing

After retiring from club football in the summer of 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. An amusing case of this was 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.

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