Jamilu Collins (born 5 August 1994) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for club

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Rijeka and loans

Born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade center and a major transportation hub as the gateway to northern state ...

, Collins spent his youth years with Abuja Football College Academy. He was one of several players who moved from Abuja to the HNK Rijeka youth team in mid-2012. In October 2012, Collins signed his first professional contract with

HNK Rijeka Hrvatski nogometni klub Rijeka (), commonly referred to as HNK Rijeka, is a Croatian professional association football club from the city of Rijeka. HNK Rijeka competes in Croatia's top division, Croatian First Football League, Supersport HNL, o ...

. In August 2013, he was loaned to

NK Pomorac NK Pomorac 1921 is a Croatian football club based in Kostrena, a suburb of Rijeka which currently plays in Croatian third tier 3. HNL West. Kostrena is known for its maritime tradition, which is reflected in the club's name, as the word " pomo ...

Druga HNL The Prva nogometna liga (), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second League. The 1. NL is ope ...

, where he collected 29 caps. In the following season, he played for HNK Rijeka's reserve side in Croatia's

Treća HNL The Croatian Second Football League (), commonly Druga NL or 2. NL, is the third tier of the Croatian football league system. The league was established in 1991, following the dissolution of the Yugoslav League. It is operated by the Croatian F ...

, where he was capped on 24 occasions. In May 2015, he signed a new one-year contract with the club, with an option to extend it for an additional year. In June 2015, Rijeka sent Collins on loan to

NK Krka Nogometni klub Krka (), commonly referred to as NK Krka or Krka, is a Slovenian football club based in Novo Mesto, that competes in the Slovenian Second League, the second tier of Slovenian football. The team play its home games at Portoval. Th ...

in the

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

, where he made 13 appearances before returning to Rijeka in January 2016. The following month, Collins was loaned to

HNK Šibenik Hrvatski nogometni klub Šibenik (), better known as HNK Šibenik or simply Šibenik (), is a Croatian professional association football, football sports club, club based in Šibenik. It competes in the Croatian Football League, SuperSport HNL, t ...

in Druga HNL, where he was a regular starter. Following return from the loan, Rijeka extended Collins' contract until June 2017. He was immediately loaned to fellow

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga (; ), abbreviated as HNL and also known for sponsorship reasons as the SuperSport HNL, is a professional association football league in Croatia and the highest level of the Croatian football league system. Establish ...

club

NK Istra 1961 Nogometni klub Istra 1961 (), commonly referred to as Istra 1961, is a Croatian professional football club based in Pula, that competes in the Croatian First League. It is a common opinion amongst many people that ''Istra 1961'' was founded i ...

SC Paderborn

On 6 September 2017, free agent Collins joined

3. Liga The 3. Liga is a professional association football league and the third division in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2. Bundesliga and the fourth-tier Regionalliga. The modern 3. Liga was formed for t ...

side

SC Paderborn 07 Sport-Club Paderborn 07 e.V., commonly known as simply SC Paderborn 07 () or SC Paderborn, is a Football in Germany, German association football club based in Paderborn, North Rhine-Westphalia. The club has enjoyed its greatest success since the ...

on a two-year contract following trials at the club. He scored his first goal for the club two years later with a 35-yard shot against Bayern Munich in a 3-2 defeat.

Cardiff City

On 20 May 2022, Collins signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

team

. Collins said “I’m really excited to be in Cardiff, and I can’t wait to get started. The Club has great history, and when I got the call to come to Cardiff, I was so excited, I couldn’t resist. I’m looking forward to the challenge of the new season. The goal is to fight for the Premier League. I can’t wait to meet the supporters and to fight for the jersey." On 7 June 2024, the club announced it had extended the player's contract.

International career

Collins received his first call-up to the Nigeria national team for an

Africa Cup of Nations qualification Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

match against

Seychelles Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (; Seychellois Creole: ), is an island country and archipelagic state consisting of 155 islands (as per the Constitution) in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, Victoria, ...

on 11 September 2018. He made his debut a day later in a friendly against

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. Coach

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football coach and former player who is currently the manager of the Benin national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, where they l ...

handed the 24-year-old his competitive debut in the next Afcon qualifying fixture against

Libya Libya, officially the State of Libya, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Egypt to Egypt–Libya border, the east, Sudan to Libya–Sudan border, the southeast, Chad to Chad–L ...

in Uyo. Nigeria defeated the visitors 4–0 and the left-back came close to marking his Super Eagles debut with a goal. He featured in the reverse fixture in

Sfax Sfax ( ; , ) is a major port city in Tunisia, located southeast of Tunis. The city, founded in AD849 on the ruins of Taparura, is the capital of the Sfax Governorate (about 955,421 inhabitants in 2014), and a Mediterranean port. Sfax has a ...

, Tunisia, which ended in a 3–2 victory for Nigeria to top

Group E Group E may refer to: * E-Group: E-Groups are unique architectural complexes found among a number of ancient Maya settlements * Group E (vase painting), a group of Attic vase painters of the black-figure style, active between 560 and 540 BC. * On ...

. On 25 December 2021, he was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by Caretaker Coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-man Nigeria squad.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Jamilu 1994 births Living people Footballers from Kaduna Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks HNK Rijeka players HNK Rijeka II players NK Pomorac 1921 players NK Krka players HNK Šibenik players NK Istra 1961 players SC Paderborn 07 players Cardiff City F.C. players Slovenian PrvaLiga players First Football League (Croatia) players Croatian Football League players 3. Liga players 2. Bundesliga players Bundesliga players Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Wales Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Wales 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players English Football League players 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen