Born: Galashiels, Scotland, 31 January 1968
Position: Central midfielder
International caps: 58
International goals: 12
Signed: 14 July 2000 from Everton (£2m)
Fulham debut: Fulham 2-0 Crewe Alexandra, 12 August 2000
Fulham appearances: 80
Fulham goals: 4
Honours: First Division champions (2000-01), InterToto Cup winners (2002).
Sold: 2 June 2003 (retired).
Everton captain John Collins dropped a division to be reunited with Jean Tigana at Fulham in July 2000 after the French maestro took over at Craven Cottage. The pair had won the French championship and reached the semi-finals of the Champions’ League, knocking out on Manchester United along the way, at Monaco and the experienced Scottish midfielder performed his player-coach role to perfection as the Whites cruised to the Division One title playing fabulous football.
Collins produced a glorious asset for Louis Saha on his debut as Fulham beat Crewe Alexandra whilst also acting as a translator and tactician on and off the pitch with the French trio that masterminded such a magnificent season (Christian Damiano and Roger Propos joined Tigana in the dugout). The former Hibernian and Celtic midfielder formed a tremendous triumvirate of his own alongside Sean Davis and Lee Clark in the middle of park and helped Fulham easily survive the step up to the Premiership and reach the semi-finals of the FA Cup the following season.
Collins was an integral part of the side that won the InterToto Cup in the summer of 2002 and progressed to the third round of the UEFA Cup, but lost his place when Tigana was replaced by Chris Coleman in April 2003. He opted to end his playing career and move into management, guiding Hibernian to the Scottish League Cup in 2006, and came close to returning to Craven Cottage after Lawrie Sanchez was sacked in 2007.
When Fulham’s board picked Roy Hodgson to revive their fortunes, Collins took over at Charleroi, leading them back to Belgium’s top flight, and spent a year as Livingston’s director of football before joining Celtic as assistant manager to Ronny Delia in 2014. He won two Scottish titles and the Scottish League Cup before leaving Celtic Park when the Dane decided to step down in May 2016.
Collins now works as a television pundit, coach and technical analyst for a number of leading clubs as well as UEFA.
