Jamie Collins (footballer, born 1984)

James Edward Collins (born 28 September 1984) is an English semi-professional footballer who plays as a defender. He was most recently manager of Havant & Waterlooville. Collins captained Sutton United in 2016-17 when they reached the 5th round of the FA Cup for the first time ever.

This article is about the Sutton United defender. For other footballers, see James Collins.

Jamie Collins
Collins playing for Forest Green Rovers in 2012
Personal information
Full name James Edward Collins[1]
Date of birth (1984-09-28) 28 September 1984[2]
Place of birth Barking, England
Height 1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)[2]
Position(s) Midfielder, Defender[3]
Youth career
2001–2003 Watford
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2003–2005 Watford 0 (0)
2005–2009 Havant & Waterlooville 146 (12)
2009 Hampton & Richmond Borough 9 (0)
2009–2011 Newport County 69 (14)
2011–2012 Aldershot Town 25 (0)
2012–2013 Forest Green Rovers 33 (3)
2013–2015 Eastleigh 52 (5)
2015–2020 Sutton United 185 (25)
2021–2023 Havant & Waterlooville 23 (3)
Managerial career
2023 Havant & Waterlooville
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 14:57, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

Career

Collins began his youth career as a scholar at Watford, signing a professional contract with the club in June 2004.[3] However, he failed to impress and was released the following February. Collins joined Havant & Waterlooville for the rest of the season, quickly impressing the fans[4] and signing a full contract with the club in May 2005. Collins went on to play four seasons with The Hawks, becoming a first team regular and being rewarded with the captaincy for the 2007–08 season.[4] In his first season as captain, Havant made a memorable run in the FA Cup, knocking out Football League sides Notts County and Swansea City to earn a fourth round tie away at Liverpool, in which they twice took the lead before losing 5–2.

After a disappointing 2008–09 campaign, Collins joined division rivals Hampton & Richmond Borough for an undisclosed fee. He spent just three months at the club before being signed by Newport County manager Dean Holdsworth, where he went on to be a key player in the 2009–10 season, as Newport won the Conference South title with a record 103 points.[5]

In January 2011 Holdsworth became manager of League Two side Aldershot Town, and Collins followed his former boss five months later, signing on a free transfer at the end of the 2010–11 season.[6]

On January transfer window deadline day on 31 January 2012, Collins signed for Forest Green Rovers on an 18-month contract for an undisclosed fee.[7] Collins made his Forest Green debut on 18 February 2012 in a home win against Gateshead.[8] In July 2012, Collins signed an extension to his contract at Forest Green which would see him stay at The New Lawn until the end of the 2013–14 season.[9]

In May 2013, Collins and Forest Green agreed to the mutual termination of his contract and he moved to Eastleigh.[10]

After being released by Eastleigh, Collins signed for Sutton United at the start of 2015, making 19 league appearances in the second half of the 2014–15 season and scoring his first goal for the club in a 2–1 victory against Basingstoke Town on 11 April 2015.[11] Collins was appointed captain for the 2015–16 season, making 29 full and two substitute league appearances for the U's and scoring a further five goals, leading them to winning the National League South title.[12] He was named in the National League South team of the season.

Remaining as Sutton captain for the 2016–17 season, Collins scored his first goal in the National League when he headed in a corner in a 3–1 victory against Lincoln City at Sincil Bank on 13 August 2016, helping Sutton to earn their first win in English football's fifth tier in 16 years.[13] Sutton supporters unofficially voted Collins player of the month for September 2016[14] and again (now officially as a re-instituted award) for October 2016.

Collins made his 100th career appearance for Sutton on 3 December 2016 in a 2–1 win against League Two club Cheltenham Town in the 2nd round of the FA Cup.[15] In the 4th round on 29 January 2017, Collins scored a calmly taken penalty to knock out Championship side Leeds United 1–0 and send Sutton through to the 5th round for the first time in the club's 118-year history.[16] On 20 February, Collins captained Sutton when they were defeated 0–2 by Premier League team Arsenal.[17] He finished the season with a tally of eight goals in the league and was named Club Player of the Year.[18]

Collins scored his first goal in Sutton's 2017–18 campaign in their opening match, a 2–0 win against Leyton Orient,[19] going on to lead Sutton to a best ever league finish of third in England's fifth tier and a playoff semi-final.[20] The following season, Collins was captain as Sutton became the first English team to win a match in the Scottish Challenge Cup.[21] He retired from professional football in early 2020 to serve as a coach/assistant manager under Matt Gray. In 2020–21, Collins was part of Gray's managerial team as Sutton won the National League and promotion to the Football League for the first time in the club's 123-year history.[22] In June 2021 however, Collins stepped down from his coaching role.[23]

Coaching career

In June 2021, Collins came out of retirement to return to former club Havant & Waterlooville in a player-coach role, teaming up with his former Sutton manager Paul Doswell.[24]

Following Paul Doswell's move to Director of Football, Collins was appointed manager on 10 March 2023.[25] He was sacked by the club on 8 September 2023 following a poor start to the season that saw his side sitting bottom of the league with just four points from eight matches.[26]

Personal life

Before signing a professional contract with Aldershot, Collins worked as a primary school teacher.[27] He has also worked as a football coach, and received an FA level 3 coaching badge during his time at Watford.[28]

Career statistics
As of match played 26 November 2019
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Watford 2003–04[2] First Division 000000—00
2004–05[2] Championship 000000—00
Total 000000—00
Havant & Waterlooville 2004–05[29] Conference South 110——1[lower-alpha 1]0120
2005–06[29] Conference South 29120—1[lower-alpha 2]0321
2006–07[29] Conference South 34420—1[lower-alpha 2]1375
2007–08[29] Conference South 37261—1[lower-alpha 1]0443
2008–09[29] Conference South 35530—6[lower-alpha 3]2447
Total 14612131—10316916
Hampton & Richmond Borough 2009–10[30] Conference South 9040——130
Newport County 2009–10[30] Conference South 244——4[lower-alpha 2]0284
2010–11[31] Conference Premier 451010—2[lower-alpha 2]04810
Total 691410—607614
Aldershot Town 2011–12[31] League Two 25030401[lower-alpha 4]0330
Forest Green Rovers 2011–12[31] Conference Premier 122———122
2012–13[31] Conference Premier 21100—1[lower-alpha 2]0221
Total 33300—10343
Eastleigh 2013–14[30] Conference South 30221—5[lower-alpha 2]2375
2014–15[31] Conference Premier 22320—1[lower-alpha 2]0253
Total 52541—62628
Sutton United 2014–15[31] Conference South 191———191
2015–16[30] National League South 31540—5[lower-alpha 2]1406
2016–17[31] National League 43871—4[lower-alpha 2]0549
2017–18[31] National League 42220—3[lower-alpha 2]0472
2018–19[31] National League 33621—1[lower-alpha 2]0367
2019–20[31] National League 17300—1[lower-alpha 2]0183
Total 18525152—14121428
Career total 485593344037655969
  1. Appearance in Conference League Cup
  2. Appearances in FA Trophy
  3. Three appearances and one goal in FA Trophy, two appearances and one goal in Conference League Cup, one in Hampshire Senior Cup
  4. Appearance in Football League Trophy

Honours

Sutton United

References
  1. "Jamie Collins". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 January 2017.
  2. "Jamie Collins". 11v11. Retrieved 22 February 2017.
  3. "Aldershot Town profile". Aldershot Town F.C. Archived from the original on 28 October 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  4. "Havant & Waterlooville profile". Havant & Waterlooville F.C. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  5. "Dean Holdsworth offers Newport County duo new deals". BBC Sport. 28 April 2010. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  6. "Aldershot Town sign Jamie Collins and Ross Worner". BBC Sport. 2 June 2011. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  7. "Forest Green Rovers land Aldershot Town's Jamie Collins". BBC Sport. 31 January 2012.
  8. "Forest Green 2–1 Gateshead". BBC Sport. 18 February 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2012.
  9. "Forest Green Rovers hand Jamie Collins a contract extension". BBC Sport. 17 July 2012.
  10. "Forest Green's Collins joins Eastleigh". Stroud Life. 20 May 2013.
  11. "SuttonUnited.net – The official website of Sutton United Football Club". suttonunited.net. Archived from the original on 19 September 2016.
  12. "SuttonUnited.net – the official website of Sutton United Football Club". Archived from the original on 17 October 2016. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  13. "Lincoln City 1 Sutton United 3". BBC. 13 August 2016. Retrieved 2 September 2016.
  14. "September Player of the Month | Amber Planet".
  15. "Sutton United 2–1 Cheltenham Town". BBC Sport. 3 December 2016. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  16. "Sutton United 1–0 Leeds United". BBC. 29 January 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  17. "Sutton United 0–2 Arsenal". BBC. 20 February 2017. Retrieved 7 March 2017.
  18. "Player of the Year awards". Sutton United FC. 23 April 2017. Retrieved 25 April 2017.
  19. "Sutton United 2–0 Leyton Orient". BBC. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 20 August 2017.
  20. "Sutton United 2 Aldershot Town 1". BBC. 28 April 2018. Retrieved 28 April 2018.
  21. "Scottish Challenge Cup: Boreham Wood and Sutton United set for debuts". BBC Sport. 6 September 2018.
  22. "Sutton United 3-0 Hartlepool United". BBC. 23 May 2021. Retrieved 23 May 2021.
  23. "Jamie Collins stands down from coaching role". suttonunited.net. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 12 June 2021.
  24. "Former Sutton United defender Jamie Collins completes Hawks return 16 years after first moving to Westleigh Park". Portsmouth News. 25 June 2021.
  25. "Club Statement: Management Team Update". havantandwaterloovillefc.co.uk. 10 March 2023. Retrieved 10 March 2023.
  26. "Club Statement: Jamie Collins". www.havantandwaterloovillefc.co.uk. 8 September 2023. Retrieved 10 September 2023.
  27. Hassan, Nabil (24 January 2008). "Who are Havant & Waterlooville?". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 August 2011.
  28. Banks, Tony (31 January 2017). "Sutton FA Cup hero Jamie Collins celebrated into the night after scoring Leeds winner". Daily Express. London. Retrieved 31 January 2017.
  29. "Games played by Jamie Collins – Havant". Havant & Waterlooville Net. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  30. "Games played by Jamie Collins – Aylesbury". Aylesbury United FC. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
    "Fixtures & Results 2012/2013". Hampton & Richmond Borough FC. Retrieved 21 February 2017.
  31. "J. Collins". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 February 2017.
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