Francis John Patrick Collin (born 20 April 1987) is an English 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 striker for Faversham Town.

Career

Collin is a former England Schoolboy under 18 international. After having trials with various clubs during his youth, including

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

, he eventually signed professionally for Gillingham. He made his debut for the first team with a goal in Gillingham's 2–0 win over

Crawley Town Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...

in the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...

first round. In October 2005 he signed his first professional contract with the club and scored his first league goal against

Hartlepool United Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. They were founded in 190 ...

in a 3–1 defeat on 1 November 2005. Collin found first team opportunities at Gillingham limited and most of his appearances came as a substitute. Collin's spell at Priestfield was ended when Gillingham released him in May 2007. He was subsequently signed by former Gillingham boss

Andy Hessenthaler Andrew Hessenthaler (born 17 August 1965) is an English football manager and former player who is head of recruitment at club Gillingham. He began his career in non-league football and did not turn professional until he joined Watford at the ...

at Dover Athletic in June 2007, and signed a new one-year contract in May 2008. The following season saw Dover Athletic clinch the

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

Premier Division title with the help of Collin's 21 goals and he extended his stay at Dover in May 2009 by signing another contract with the Kent club. He left the club at the end of the 2009–10 season to join

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional association football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded as Tonb ...

. In his first season with Tonbridge, Collin bagged 21 goals in all competitions from 43 appearances, with 16 coming from 40 appearances in the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

. He was named Tonbridge Angels player of the year for the 2011–12 season and won the Golden Boot for the

Conference South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National Leagues and step 2 of the NLS and sixth-highest ti ...

in the same season with 29 league goals. In the 2013 close-season, Collin announced he was leaving

after three years at the club. After much speculation, which saw the player linked with

clubs

Sutton United Sutton United Football Club is a professional association football club from Sutton, South London, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth level of the English football league system. Sutton started out playing in junior, ...

Whitehawk Whitehawk is a suburb in the east of Brighton, England, south of Bevendean and north of Brighton Marina. The area is a large, modern housing estate built in a downland dry valley historically known as Whitehawk Bottom. The estate was originall ...

and Dover Athletic, Collin signed for Maidstone United, who had just been promoted to the

Isthmian League Premier Division The Isthmian League () is a regional football league covering Greater London, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, the league now consists of 88 teams in fo ...

. On 7 January 2022, he signed for Isthmian League South East Division side Ashford United, having been without a club for over a month following his departure as player/coach for divisional rivals Hythe Town. In June 2022, Collin returned to Hythe Town in the role of player-coach. In June 2024, Collin joined Southern Counties East Premier Division side Faversham Town.

References

External links

*
Dover Athletic profile

Ashford United profile (Nuts and Bolts Archive)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Collin, Francis 1987 births Living people Footballers from Chatham, Kent Men's association football forwards English men's footballers Gillingham F.C. players Dover Athletic F.C. players Tonbridge Angels F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Leatherhead F.C. players Hastings United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Hythe Town F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Faversham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Isthmian League players Southern Counties East Football League players 21st-century English sportsmen