Michael Collins (referee)

Michael Collins is a Gaelic football referee from County Cork. He is from Clonakilty.

Collins first took up refereeing in 1985 when he officiated a West Cork Junior B Football League game in Barryroe.[1] After four years, he was part of the Cork GAA referees' panel.[1]

He made his inter-county debut in 1994,[2][1] overseeing a Munster MFC game between Waterford and Tipperary.[1] His first involvement at senior inter-county level saw him referee Limerick against Tipperary in the 1998 Munster SFC.[1] He later officiated the 2001 Ulster SFC final, an All-Ireland SFC quarter-final and the 2001 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final between Galway and Meath.[2] He also received a Celtic Ross Sports Star of the Year Award in 2001.[1]

Collins's inter-county refereeing career concluded in 2013, after he officiated the Division 2 game between Longford and Laois.[3] His last championship involvement was a Leinster SFC first round game between Wexford and Longford.[3] He was replaced by David Gough, who would become an All-Ireland SFC final recipient himself, though there was space on the panel after Pádraig Hughes injured himself against Eamonn Doherty when he was officiating the Dublin game in Ballybofey.[3][4]

Collins is married and has a son.[1] As of 2018, he was working in SuperValu in Clonakilty.[1]