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Bobby Collins on Bobby Collins and other Celtic greats

“I GREW up in Polmadie on the south side of Glasgow. It proved to be the perfect place for a young lad interested in football as it was situated between Cathkin Park and Hampden Park.

I used to go and watch lots of sides; Third Lanark, Celtic and Rangers. There were some wonderful players to see and guys like Jimmy Mason, Jimmy Carabine and Alex Venters were my favourites.

I started off playing in the Life Boys when I was just eight. Then I moved on to the Boys’ Brigade. As I became more interested and involved in the game, I started concentrating on how the top players did things at matches. I looked at how they moved and how they beat each other. Even then, every game I played I wanted to win. Indeed, in every game I ever played in my life I wanted to win.

Polmadie had a juvenile team and they asked me to play when I was just a teenager. You were pitted against experienced guys and it was a big step up. You had to get rid of the ball quickly or get clattered. I learned that pretty quickly.

I left school when I was 14 and became what was known as a scrap boy at the Empire Aluminium Company. I worked hard at it and did well. But I left after two years and became a shoe repairer. It was what a friend of mine was doing and it was a far better number.

I joined Pollok Juniors when I was 16. I was spotted playing for them by Everton and they soon tried to sign me when I was 17. I even went down to Liverpool to see the facilities and set-up there and was all set to move to England.

However, the day before I was due to leave, the Celtic manager, Jimmy McGrory, approached me and asked to sign me. I couldn’t believe it. But I had been something of a Celtic supporter – although I watched Third Lanark as well as Rangers – and agreed to join them. They all had great footballers and that was all that interested me. I joined when I was 17 in 1948.

I HAD never seen McGrory play. But my father had seen him in his heyday in the 1920s and 1930s and told me what a marvellous striker he was and about all the wonderful goals he scored. He was all right and we got on fine. But he was not what you would term a coach. He didn’t say an awful lot to his players.

Alex Dowdalls, on the other hand, was a very good physio and they left things up to him. We did plenty of ball work but it was all after official training. The sessions basically entailed a lot of laps of the stadium and sprints. We used to run up and down the terracing steps. It was tough but it kept you going when you were playing. In fact, I am over 70 now but can still run.

MY first game was a tough one – it was against Rangers. But we won it. I was up against Jock ”Tiger” Shaw and had a smashing game. I went out there thinking: ”I’m going to run that old so-and-so into the ground.” It was the perfect start to my career.

“I remember going through the middle and Willie Wood fouled me and we got a penalty. He moaned like hell, but he clipped me. Fortunately, we won 3-2 and I was never out of the team thereafter. When Celtic played Rangers you simply had to win and it didn’t matter how. If you didn’t win then you knew you wouldn’t be able to go out for a while!”

“My early games for Celtic went well and I soon settled into the team’s pattern of play … I was expected to play as a link man in attack as well as a striker who had to get his share of goals. It was a challenge, but if the manager thought I was capable of playing in that role then that was fine by me.

“There was no over complication in tactics. Talk never centred on 4-2-4, 4-3-3, diamond formations or sweeper systems, we believed in attacking football. That was our style of play. If we were on the attack we’d have five forwards and two wing-halves looking for opportunities and supporting each other. If we were on the defensive we’d track back to support our defenders.

“Of course, we had players who could control a game; intelligent footballers like Bobby Evans, Willie Fernie, Charlie Tully and John McPhail, and with players of this calibre in the side changing tactics came natural to us and we were able to adapt. If we had to battle we could and if we were able to play our natural game we did.”

I must be honest, the [Celtic v Rangers] game never meant anything to me. Not in the way it does with some fans. My father was a Catholic and my mother was a Protestant. I grew up as a Protestant. But there were more Protestants than Catholics at Celtic back then. Willie Fernie was another one. And Jock Stein, too. Rangers, of course, had a different attitude for many, many years.

I had attended Old Firm games as a supporter when I was a youngster and had been taken aback by how ferocious things could get off the park. Nothing ever really happened at the matches. But afterwards there were always unpleasant incidents away from the grounds.

I played against the likes of George ”Corky” Young, Ian McColl, Sammy Cox, and goalie Bobby Brown. Honestly, if these guys were playing the game today every one of them would be worth millions and millions of pounds. That is no exaggeration.

Although he was a Rangers man through and through, one of the best pals I ever had was the late, great George Young. I met him through the Morton manager, Hal Stewart. He used to run Co-Operative Cigarettes functions. As a payment for turning up, players got a few quid and as many fags as you could smoke. Hal was such a good fellow.

WHEN I turned 21 I was due to be called up for National Service. But I knew my football would be curtailed for two years. So, to get out of it, I went and worked down a coal mine just outside Dunfermline. I stuck that out for the time I was meant to be on service. The people I met down the pits were all terrific folk.

I used to train with Cowdenbeath during the week and then go back and train with my Celtic team- mates one night a week and meet up with them for the match at the weekend.

I weighed 9st 3lbs and was 5ft 4in high. I played in a variety of positions. But I was probably best as an inside forward. To my mind, nobody plays like I used to. I liked running forward and shooting at goal. Then I would chase back and defend. That just doesn’t happen now. I scored hundreds of goals that way as well.

“It was really disappointing to miss out on the [1954] Cup final, but I was delighted for the lads. I’d been injured for around ten weeks, but after battling back to fitness I’d hoped to be in contention. It wasn’t to be though, and I couldn’t complain because the team had played well and reached the final without me. I had to wait for my chance to get back into the first XI. I was just delighted to play and score in the final League game two days after the Cup final and enjoyed all the celebrations. Our fans were ecstatic. It was a wonderful achievement because the team had been in inconsistent form for a number of years so it was fantastic to put a run together. Overcoming Hearts was a great effort by the squad.”

Jock [Stein] was a great pal of mine. He would go on to become a brilliant manager and lead Celtic to years of unprecedented success. But he was an outstanding player as well. When he came into the side he rejuvenated us. He was left-footed and slotted in well on that side of the park, was excellent in the air and was a good passer. We fed off him and started to win things again.

Some supporters had threatened to boycott games if he was selected, which was incredible. Jock may have been turning professional at the age of 28, but you had to give him a chance. Fortunately the manager did give him an opportunity and Jock soon settled into the team.

Jock read the game well, could spot danger and opportunities quickly and as a player we all respected him, but it was as a captain that you really saw his credentials. He was always encouraging and demanding more effort, and got it. Nobody escaped praise when it was warranted or a sharp word where necessary.”

Sean Fallon worked as his assistant and he was a great bloke, too. He was a different kind of player altogether. When he went in for a tackle he really went in for a tackle. It was just the way he played. You have to have somebody who can look after themselves on your side.

WILLIE Fernie was a smashing player for both Celtic and Scotland. He was not what you would call ferocious. Fernie knew what he was going to do and how to beat men. He was very clever. He played at inside left or inside right or inside forward.

Bobby Evans and I were great friends, too. He came from Pollokshaws, where I lived for a long time, and we used to get the bus in to training. He was a smashing chap and a brilliant player for Celtic, Chelsea and Scotland. Indeed, he won a total of 48 caps. That was something else in those days.

We won the League Championship, the League Cup and the Scottish Cup during my time. But we weren’t allowed to represent Scotland in the European Cup. The Hibs chairman at the time was on the SFA Committee and they were put forward to play in it instead. And they reached the semi-final as well. It was a massive disappointment not being allowed to go and play over there.

The hardest game I ever played in was against European opposition in 1950. We played Lazio in Rome in what was meant to be a friendly. But they were just vicious. They kicked lumps out of me. We gave as good as we got. However, when we got them back to Parkhead we annihilated them.

THE first time I played for Scotland was against Wales down at Ninian Park back in 1952 when I was only 19 or 20. We won 2-1. There was no manager as such in those days. But I think that was the match that Matt Busby came in and took charge.

I scored quite a lot of goals for Scotland. In fact, one of the best goals I ever scored was against West Germany in 1957 when we triumphed 3-1. I also netted a beauty against a good Polish team. I think that, in total, I scored 12 goals in 31 games. That is not a bad ratio.

I LEFT Celtic after nine years there in 1957. The reason was simple – they wanted rid of me. I moved to Everton for about (pounds) 25,000. I wasn’t particularly happy about the transfer. They sold Willie Fernie around about that time, too. He went down to Middlesbrough for around (pounds) 20,000. With the money they got for us, they covered the Celtic end of the ground. Consequently, that proved to be a bad investment.

My last game in Scotland was against Rangers for Morton at Ibrox. We won 2-0 and I scored the second goal. I can remember their right-back got the ball. Their manager, Willie Waddell, was shouting at him: ‘Don’t pass it back! Don’t pass it back!’ But he obviously didn’t hear the instruction because he passed it back and I picked up the ball.

I rounded the keeper and had an empty net to put the ball into. I thought: ‘Will I just tap it in? Oh, what the hell!’ So I hammered it. It was a nice way to finish off my career here.

I HAVEN’T been back to see Celtic in a long, long time. There is no-one on board who would remember me. Sir Robert Kelly was in charge when I was a player there and he has gone now. He was a smashing bloke. But I still like to watch them on television. In fact, I like watching any game if the players are any good.

I watched the Old Firm game that finished up 3-3 down here in England this season [2002-2003]. Henrik Larsson is obviously a wonderful talent, but the guy I really like in the game today is Neil Lennon. He works tirelessly, always passes it to somebody in the clear and gets back well.

Bertie Auld on Bobby Collins: “Bobby Collins was a model footballer and a major influence on me during my career. He was in the Celtic team when I broke into first team football and was a member of the Scotland XI when I won my first cap against Holland.

“”Bobby made me feel so welcome at Celtic from the start. I remember him giving me his Adidas boots from the 1958 World Cup finals. They were slightly big for him at the time but they were my first major manufacturer’s pair. I was the envy of all the younger players breaking through in the squad! Bobby was great with the young kids at Celtic. In the late Fifties there were no full time coaches as such, we had a manager who selected the team, although he was influenced by the chairman, and we had a physio.

The coaches were the more experienced players. The club had a particular dress code and Bobby looked the part both on and off the pitch. He was always immaculately dressed and a model professional. Everyone admired him.

“We got on really well both on and off the park. Bobby made you feel so important because he realised that the reserves today were the first team players tomorrow. A number of us at the club, Billy McNeill, Steve Chalmers and myself, went on to become part of the Lisbon Lions. Others such as Pat Crerand starred at Manchester United. Bobby helped us all.

“On the park, if things were going wrong, he was always encouraging and a great source of inspiration. It was brilliant being in the same team as Bobby, but a nightmare for opponents! He never stopped you from expressing yourself, and if you had a bad game or made a mistake he would be the first to offer alternatives. You could not help but admire him.

“Bobby was a winner. He was also a manager’s dream because he could play in various positions, but in my opinion he was devastating at inside-right. Bobby was physical and a wee bit robust but he was not a dirty player. His all action game meant that he picked up injuries that would have finished most players, but Bobby always came back stronger, His strength of character was astonishing.

“There were so many games when Bobby had a major impact. I remember when Celtic won 4-1 at Rangers in a Cup match. Bobby controlled the game from start to finish; he was immense, and then in my first international against Holland he was again outstanding. One other game that has to be recalled was again against Rangers, this time in the 1957 League Cup final, when we won 7-1. Unfortunately for me after playing in all the earlier rounds, I missed out on that famous occasion and had to play in a reserve match against Queen of the South, but I’ve seen a film of the game and it was one of those days when everything went right and Bobby was at the hub of everything positive. He was incredible.

“Whenever Celtic supporters recall great stars from the Fifties, they nominate the Wee Barra. The term ‘legend’ is used far too much these days, but not in the case of Bobby Collins, both as a team player and as an individual. His name is up there with the very best, and I know it’s the same at both Everton and Leeds United where he was just as sensational.

“Bobby Collins could have graced a team in any era; he was one of British football’s greatest stars.”

Leeds United legend Bobby Collins has Alzheimer’s

Death of Celtic legend Bobby Collins

Celticfc.net

By: Paul Cuddihy on 13 Jan, 2014 19:37

It is with great sadness that the club has learned of the death of Celtic legend, Bobby Collins, who has passed away at the age of 82.

Bobby, known affectionately by supporters as ‘The Wee Barra’, was born in the Govanhill area of Glasgow on February 16, 1931 and he signed for Celtic in August 1948.

He made his debut for the Hoops in a 3-2 League Cup section victory at Celtic Park over Rangers on August 13, 1949. He would go on to make a total of 320 appearances, scoring an impressive 116 goals, one of only 28 players to have scored over a century of goals for Celtic.

He played for the club at a time when there a lot of great individuals but the team were unable to find a level of consistency that would have delivered success on a regular basis.

However, Bobby Collins was a central part of every one of Celtic’s post-war triumphs prior to Jock Stein’s arrival at the club as manager.

He was part of the team which won the Scottish Cup in 1951, beating Motherwell 1-0 in the final, while he helped the Hoops win the one-off St Mungo Cup in August of the same year, beating Aberdeen 3-2 at Hampden.

Another one-off trophy was secured in 1953 as Celtic unexpectedly won the Coronation Cup, beating Hibernian 2-0 in the final. On their way to Hampden, the Hoops beat Arsenal 1-0, with Collins scoring the only goal of the game direct from a corner, before seeing off Manchester United 2-1 in the semi-final

And in the subsequent season 1953/54, Celtic won the league and cup double, with The Wee Barra playing a pivotal role in the heart of the Celtic midfield.

He also played his part in Celtic’s first two League Cup triumphs. In 1956/57, he scored the first goal in the 3-0 replay victory over Partick Thistle, and a year later he was part of the legendary Celtic team which beat Rangers 7-1 to retain the trophy.

Bobby Collins was transferred to Everton in 1958 – there were rumours that the deal was done to finance new floodlights for Celtic Park – and he remained at Goodison for five years before joining Leeds United, then in the English Second Division.

As captain he helped them gain promotion to the old First Division, and was awarded the English Football Writers’ Player of the Year in 1965 in recognition of his contribution as Leeds finished runners-up in both the league and FA Cup that season, ensuring his place as a legendary figure with the Yorkshire club.

A serious injury the following season in a European tie effectively called time on his top-flight career. He was also capped 31 times for Scotland, scoring 10 goals,

Bobby Collins was a true Celtic legend and one of Scotland’s all-time great players. His contribution to the success of both Celtic and Leeds United is testament to that.

The thoughts and prayers of everyone at Celtic are with Bobby’s family and friends at this very sad time.

Bobby Collins: Tributes to former Celtic, Everton and Leeds player

BBC
Former Celtic, Everton, Leeds United and Scotland midfielder Bobby Collins has died, aged 82.

Standing at just 5ft 3in, Collins became known as “The Wee Barra” to Celtic fans during the 1950s.

He was sold to Everton for a club-record £23,500 in 1958 and present chairman Bill Kenwright says the Glaswegian helped transform the club.

Former team-mate Eddie Gray said he rates Collins as “the most influential player” in Leeds’ history.

“Bobby Collins was probably the most influential player in the history of Leeds United” Eddie Gray Former Leeds United defender

Having been signed by Don Revie for £25,000 in 1962, the Scot was pivotal, as captain, to their promotion to the old First Division.

Collins was named the English Football Writers’ player of the year in 1965 as Leeds finished runners-up in both the league and FA Cup.

However, he suffered a serious injury the following season in a European tie and he subsequently moved on to play for Bury, Greenock Morton, Ringwood City, Melbourne Hakoah, Oldham Athletic and Shamrock Rovers.

Collins, who was capped 31 times for Scotland, also managed Huddersfield Town, Hull City and Barnsley, as well as having two spells coaching with Leeds.

“In my opinion, Bobby Collins was probably the most influential player in the history of Leeds United,” Gray told Leeds’ website.
Bobby Collins in an Everton jersey

Collins signed for Everton from Celtic for a club-record fee in 1958

“He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and played with him.”

Collins made 167 appearances during his five-year stint at Elland Road, scoring 26 goals, having previously played 147 times for Everton, scoring 48 times.

Kenwright told Everton’s website: “I am extremely saddened to hear of the death of one of my idols, Bobby Collins.

“Bobby was very much a part of Everton’s life and helped transform the club from the minute he arrived at Goodison Park in 1958 as our record signing.

“He was pivotal and inspirational during his four seasons with the Blues and will never be forgotten by our fans and everyone at Everton Football Club.”

A statement on Celtic’s website said the club was saddened to hear the news that a man they considered a club legend had lost his long battle against illness.

Collins, from the Govanhill area of Glasgow, joined Celtic in August 1948, making his debut a year later in a 3-2 League Cup win over Rangers.

He went on to make a total of 320 appearances, scoring 116 goals, and enjoyed Scottish Cup and League Cup triumphs with the Parkhead club.

Leeds United legend Bobby Collins, 82, dies

Yorkshire Post
TRIBUTES were being paid tonight to Leeds United and Scotland football great Bobby Collins after his death at the age of 82.

Collins, a pivotal figure in the early years of the Don Revie revolution at United, passed away this afternoon following a battle with illness.

Fellow Revie era hero Eddie Gray tonight led the praise for a man who once said his transfer to Leeds was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

Gray said: “In my opinion Bobby Collins was probably the most influential player in the history of Leeds United.

“He will be sadly missed by all who knew him and played with him.”

Another Revie legend, Johnny Giles, said: “It’s very sad news on a personal level.

“On a professional level, Bobby was the crucial signing for Don at the time.

“First of all for his ability, but also because of his will to win and the example he set the younger players.”

Midfield dynamo Collins joined Leeds from Everton in 1962 and went on to make 167 appearances in five years for the Whites, scoring 26 goals.

The diminutive Scot was Revie’s on-field leader as they began their transformation from Second Division also-rans to a European soccer superpower.

He was voted Footballer of the Year in 1965 and in the same season captained United in their first FA Cup final.

Glasgow-born Collins stayed in Leeds after his retirement, spending some time coaching at schools in Hunslet.

In an interview just before his 65th birthday, he described his move to United as “the best thing that ever happened to me”.

He was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease in 2002. Speaking in 2008, his wife, Betty, said: “One thing [he] hasn’t lost is his football skill. If you kick a ball towards him he can still do a lovely little backheel.

“He also enjoys table tennis – he carries on playing when the rest of us are tired out, which is nice.”

Capped 31 times for Scotland, Collins’ playing career also included a long and distinguished spell with Celtic.

A tribute posted on the Scottish club’s official website tonight said: “Bobby Collins was a true Celtic legend and one of Scotland’s all-time great players.

“His contribution to the success of both Celtic and Leeds United is testament to that.”

Bury, Greenock Morton and Oldham Athletic were among the other clubs on Collins’ playing CV.

After moving into management, he had stints in charge at Huddersfield Town, Hull City and Barnsley

Bobby’s Obituary in the Guardian.

Bobby’s Obituary in the Guardian.

Bobby Collins, who has died aged 82, had a long and remarkable football career. Changing from a classical, quick and elusive Scottish right winger, he became in due course a notable playmaker, principally for Everton, then Leeds. An international career with Scotland brought him 31 caps, and appearances in all three Scottish matches in the finals of the 1958 World Cup.

At Leeds, he established a formidable partnership with the manager Don Revie, who signed him for £25,000 in March 1962. Revie later described him as “the best signing I ever made. Leeds can never thank him enough for the transformation he brought to the club.” Collins recalled: “Don knew that good pros had good habits and I think that’s what he was hoping to instil when he signed me. One of the great things about the boss was the way he built up a comradeship. We all loved him because he treated us properly and commanded our utmost respect. He also knew how to build a team.”

Within a year or two of Collins’s arrival, he said, “some of the kids were coming through who went on to become the nucleus of the great Leeds team. Billy Bremner had already made the first team when I arrived and looked a brilliant prospect.” Johnny Giles came from Manchester United as an outside-right and eventually succeeded Collins himself as a general of the midfield.

In the 1963-64 season, Collins captained Leeds to the championship of Division Two, missing just one League game, and scoring half a dozen goals. The following season saw Leeds make a spectacular return to the top division. They finished runners-up, as they also did in the FA Cup, and Collins was voted footballer of the year.

At little over 5ft 3in, but unrelentingly hard, Collins was as abrasive as he was creative. In the 1965 Cup final at Wembley, against Liverpool, he broke the collarbone of the Liverpool full-back Gerry Byrne, who somehow played on (substitutions were not then permitted). Leeds too were diminished by injury to the midfielder Jim Storrie. There was a thrilling climax in the first extra-time period played in a final since 1947. Byrne, despite his injury, pulled the ball back from the goal-line for Roger Hunt to head Liverpool into the lead. Leeds unexpectedly rallied, for Bremner to equalise, but another header, this time by Ian St John, deservedly gave Liverpool the Cup.

Later that year, in Turin, during a European Fairs Cup match against Torino, Collins was the victim of a vicious assault by the opposing defender Fabrizio Poletti, which broke a bone in his thigh. However, Collins managed to return after a complex operation for the last three matches of the season. The following season, he received another injury, and transferred to Bury in February 1967.

Collins was born in Glasgow and worked as a miner and cobbler from the age of 14. He recalled: “Football was a wonderful life, but I found working outside the game interesting and challenging too.” Going down the mine, he once remarked, had the further advantage of keeping him out of the army, in those days of conscription. Playing for Glasgow Boys, he was signed by Celtic, making his debut for them on the right wing in the 1949-50 season. His second season with Celtic saw him win his first three international caps. Altogether, he would play 220 League games for Celtic, scoring 80 goals. Crossing the border to join Everton in 1958, he had already modulated into an inside-forward.

In the Swedish World Cup of 1958, he was a member of a Scotland side which, as he later remarked, was bizarrely without managerial leadership, though it did not disgrace itself. Indeed, to draw their first game at Västerås with a Yugoslavia team which had recently thrashed England 5-0 in Belgrade was no small feat. Collins played at inside-left in that game, and inside-right in the second match in Norrköping, scoring Scotland’s second goal in a 3-2 defeat by Paraguay.

The third and last game came in Örebro against the powerful French side that would eventually take third place, inspired by the attacking combination of Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, both of whom scored in a narrow French victory. Collins that day played in his original role of outside-right.

He stayed productively at Everton until 1961-62, making 133 League appearances and scoring 42 goals. Midway through that season, however, he dropped down a division to join Leeds. He might well instead have moved across the city to Liverpool, whose manager, a fellow Scot, Bill Shankly, wanted him. But the first time Shankly phoned him, Collins was out and his brother-in-law couldn’t make out who it was. By the time Shankly phoned again, Collins had agreed to join Leeds.

After leaving Leeds, he helped Bury to reach the Second Division. Later there was a spell in Scotland with Morton, another in Dublin with Shamrock Rovers, and a stint at Oldham Athletic, as player-coach. His subsequent managerial career was varied, and somewhat ill-starred. In August 1974 he became manager of Huddersfield Town, then in the Third Division, but that ended in December 1975, by which time his job had been made impossible by the board’s intransigence. It was, he said, “a nightmare”.

After Huddersfield, he became chief coach, caretaker and manager, and finally, in October 1977, the manager of Hull City, but the job lasted only until the following February, when he was dismissed. In the interim he had returned to Leeds United as youth coach.

For the next couple of years he was forced on to the dole, then worked variously as principal of a coaching school, “in the rag trade, chauffeuring and being a bit of a messenger boy. I enjoyed that.” Finally, his former Leeds team-mate Norman Hunter made him youth and reserve team coach at Barnsley. When Hunter left, Collins became the new manager, after a spell as caretaker, in February 1984.

But, just back from taking the players for a holiday in Majorca in what seemed a fruitful spell for the club, he was dismissed once again, with a year of his contract left, in June 1985. “I thought I had done a good job,” he said. “At the time, the miners’ strike was having a bad effect on the local economy, gates were down, and if you spent £50,000 on a player, it was big money.”

Later, he worked with a friend in wholesale fashion, then for some years as a driver for Leeds University. In 2002, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

He had two children, Michael and Julie, with his wife, Betty.

Bobby Collins obituary

Scotland, Celtic, Everton and Leeds footballer described by Don Revie as ‘the best signing I ever made’

Brian Glanville
The Guardian, Tuesday 14 January 2014 16.40 GMT

Bobby Collins playing in 1955.
Bobby Collins playing in 1955. He won 31 caps for Scotland. Photograph: Popperfoto

Bobby Collins, who has died aged 82, had a long and remarkable football career. Changing from a classical, quick and elusive Scottish right winger, he became in due course a notable playmaker, principally for Everton, then Leeds. An international career with Scotland brought him 31 caps, and appearances in all three Scottish matches in the finals of the 1958 World Cup.

At Leeds, he established a formidable partnership with the manager Don Revie, who signed him for £25,000 in March 1962. Revie later described him as “the best signing I ever made. Leeds can never thank him enough for the transformation he brought to the club.” Collins recalled: “Don knew that good pros had good habits and I think that’s what he was hoping to instil when he signed me. One of the great things about the boss was the way he built up a comradeship. We all loved him because he treated us properly and commanded our utmost respect. He also knew how to build a team.”

Within a year or two of Collins’s arrival, he said, “some of the kids were coming through who went on to become the nucleus of the great Leeds team. Billy Bremner had already made the first team when I arrived and looked a brilliant prospect.” Johnny Giles came from Manchester United as an outside-right and eventually succeeded Collins himself as a general of the midfield.

In the 1963-64 season, Collins captained Leeds to the championship of Division Two, missing just one League game, and scoring half a dozen goals. The following season saw Leeds make a spectacular return to the top division. They finished runners-up, as they also did in the FA Cup, and Collins was voted footballer of the year.

At little over 5ft 3in, but unrelentingly hard, Collins was as abrasive as he was creative. In the 1965 Cup final at Wembley, against Liverpool, he broke the collarbone of the Liverpool full-back Gerry Byrne, who somehow played on (substitutions were not then permitted). Leeds too were diminished by injury to the midfielder Jim Storrie. There was a thrilling climax in the first extra-time period played in a final since 1947. Byrne, despite his injury, pulled the ball back from the goal-line for Roger Hunt to head Liverpool into the lead. Leeds unexpectedly rallied, for Bremner to equalise, but another header, this time by Ian St John, deservedly gave Liverpool the Cup.

Later that year, in Turin, during a European Fairs Cup match against Torino, Collins was the victim of a vicious assault by the opposing defender Fabrizio Poletti, which broke a bone in his thigh. However, Collins managed to return after a complex operation for the last three matches of the season. The following season, he received another injury, and transferred to Bury in February 1967.

Collins was born in Glasgow and worked as a miner and cobbler from the age of 14. He recalled: “Football was a wonderful life, but I found working outside the game interesting and challenging too.” Going down the mine, he once remarked, had the further advantage of keeping him out of the army, in those days of conscription. Playing for Glasgow Boys, he was signed by Celtic, making his debut for them on the right wing in the 1949-50 season. His second season with Celtic saw him win his first three international caps. Altogether, he would play 220 League games for Celtic, scoring 80 goals. Crossing the border to join Everton in 1958, he had already modulated into an inside-forward.

In the Swedish World Cup of 1958, he was a member of a Scotland side which, as he later remarked, was bizarrely without managerial leadership, though it did not disgrace itself. Indeed, to draw their first game at Västerås with a Yugoslavia team which had recently thrashed England 5-0 in Belgrade was no small feat. Collins played at inside-left in that game, and inside-right in the second match in Norrköping, scoring Scotland’s second goal in a 3-2 defeat by Paraguay.

The third and last game came in Örebro against the powerful French side that would eventually take third place, inspired by the attacking combination of Raymond Kopa and Just Fontaine, both of whom scored in a narrow French victory. Collins that day played in his original role of outside-right.

He stayed productively at Everton until 1961-62, making 133 League appearances and scoring 42 goals. Midway through that season, however, he dropped down a division to join Leeds. He might well instead have moved across the city to Liverpool, whose manager, a fellow Scot, Bill Shankly, wanted him. But the first time Shankly phoned him, Collins was out and his brother-in-law couldn’t make out who it was. By the time Shankly phoned again, Collins had agreed to join Leeds.

After leaving Leeds, he helped Bury to reach the Second Division. Later there was a spell in Scotland with Morton, another in Dublin with Shamrock Rovers, and a stint at Oldham Athletic, as player-coach. His subsequent managerial career was varied, and somewhat ill-starred. In August 1974 he became manager of Huddersfield Town, then in the Third Division, but that ended in December 1975, by which time his job had been made impossible by the board’s intransigence. It was, he said, “a nightmare”.

After Huddersfield, he became chief coach, caretaker and manager, and finally, in October 1977, the manager of Hull City, but the job lasted only until the following February, when he was dismissed. In the interim he had returned to Leeds United as youth coach.

For the next couple of years he was forced on to the dole, then worked variously as principal of a coaching school, “in the rag trade, chauffeuring and being a bit of a messenger boy. I enjoyed that.” Finally, his former Leeds team-mate Norman Hunter made him youth and reserve team coach at Barnsley. When Hunter left, Collins became the new manager, after a spell as caretaker, in February 1984.

But, just back from taking the players for a holiday in Majorca in what seemed a fruitful spell for the club, he was dismissed once again, with a year of his contract left, in June 1985. “I thought I had done a good job,” he said. “At the time, the miners’ strike was having a bad effect on the local economy, gates were down, and if you spent £50,000 on a player, it was big money.”

Later, he worked with a friend in wholesale fashion, then for some years as a driver for Leeds University. In 2002, he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

He had two children, Michael and Julie, with his wife, Betty.

• Robert Young Collins, footballer and manager, born 16 February 1931; died 13 January 2014

Why Celtic must never forget legends like ‘Wee Barra’ Bobby Collins

Wednesday 15 Jan 2014 2:57 pm
Metro.com

Why Celtic fans must not forget CollinsBobby

Celtic supporters have long had a tendency to talk in detail about players from the distant past who have appeared for the club.

Such a trait no doubt comes from the club’s unique Irish hinterland and a willingness to keep yesteryear fresh in the mind.

Foremost among those ‘Celtic Greats’ is John Thomson, the young Scotland goalkeeper tragically killed diving at the feet of a Rangers striker in the 1930s.

Then there’s ‘Peerless’ Patsy Gallacher, Charlie Tully and the incomparable Jimmy McGrory. There will also have been much discussion down the years of Bobby Collins who has died aged 82.

Known as the ‘Wee Barra’ because he stood only 5ft 3inches tall, Collins had the visage of a boxer, with a terrier-like character to match.

A native of Glasgow, he made his debut in August 1949, aged just 18, delighting the 70,000 crowd by tormenting the Rangers veteran Jock Shaw.

Collins, who would score over a century of goals in 320 appearances, never looked back.
Football Match 1965: Fulham v Leeds 2-2. Bobby Collins and Bobby Robson in action . His reputation was built on energy and endeavor and the undoubted fact that he carried an erratic Celtic throughout much of the 1950s.

Premier among his achievements was a Scottish Cup Final win in 1951 and a wholly unexpected triumph in the Coronation Cup two years later, with Collins scoring the only goal of the semi-final against Arsenal direct from a corner.

He also played a major part in the League and Cup double of 1954 and the back-to-back League Cup wins of 1956 and 57.

The latter of these was the record 7-1 ‘Hampden in the Sun’ defeat of Rangers; an appearance which by itself guaranteed eternal legend status.

With Arsenal also interested, Collins was sold in 1958 to Everton.

It was not a happy departure from the east end of Glasgow, with Celtic by all accounts cashing in their major asset in order to fund a new floodlighting system.

Their loss was to be the Toffees’ gain but it was with Leeds United, from 1963, that he really sparkled, helping them to win promotion to the old First Division.

Reflecting on his passing former team-mate Eddie Gray described Collins as the ‘most influential player in the history of Leeds.’

There were 31 Scotland caps too, the last three of these came in 1965 after a gap of six years. It was a comeback typical of the man and his considerable ability.

Small in stature he may have been, but big in the history of the game he will remain.