Nathan Michael Collins (born 30 April 2001) is an Irish 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

or full-back for club

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and the Republic of Ireland national team.

Early life

Collins was born in Confey, Leixlip,

County Kildare County Kildare () is a Counties of Ireland, county in Ireland. It is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster and is part of the Eastern and Midland Region. It is named after the town of Kildare. Kildare County Council is the Local gove ...

and attended secondary school at Confey College.

Club career

Stoke City

Collins began his career with youth club Cherry Orchard, where his father

David David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the third king of the United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stele, an Aramaic-inscribed stone erected by a king of Aram-Dam ...

and uncle Eamonn both started their careers. He joined English club Stoke City in January 2016 after being scouted by Tony Bowen, assistant manager Mark Bowen's brother. Collins made his first team debut on 9 April 2019 away at Swansea City. His first start came ten days later when he played the full 90 minutes of Stoke's 1–0 loss away to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

at the

Riverside Stadium The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since its opening in 1995. It has an all-seated capacity of 34,742, although provisional planning permission is in place to expan ...

. Collins signed a five-year contract with Stoke City in July 2019. Collins started the first few matches of the 2019–20 season and was given the captain's armband by Nathan Jones against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, becoming Stoke's youngest captain in the process. He was sent off for the first time in his career in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

defeat at

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 ...

for a mistimed challenge on Panutche Camará. Collins remained on the fringes of the first team for the rest of the season under the management of Michael O'Neill, making a total of 17 appearances in the 2019–20 season. Collins played 27 times in the 2020–21 season before he suffered a season ending foot injury playing against

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

on 13 February 2021.

Burnley

On 24 June 2021, Collins joined the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

for an undisclosed fee, signing a four-year contract with the club. He scored his first two goals for the club in a pair of home game ties during April 2022, against Everton and

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. Collins became a key member of Burnley's club in the second half of the 2021–22 season as the team fought against relegation. Burnley was relegated after a 2–1 defeat against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

on the final day of the season, a game in which Collins gave away a penalty for handball.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 12 July 2022, Collins signed with the

club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

on a five-year contract for a fee of £20.5 million, an all-time record transfer fee for an Irish player. Collins made his competitive debut in a 2–1 defeat away to

on the opening weekend of the 2022–23 Premier League season, playing the full 90 minutes in central defensive pairing with Max Kilman. Collins received a straight red card for a high challenge on Jack Grealish during the first half of the Wolves' home Premier League game against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

on 17 September 2022, resulting in a three-match suspension. The game ended in a 3–0 loss.

Brentford

On 4 July 2023, Collins signed for

for a club-record £23 million transfer fee. Later that year, on 4 November, he scored his first goal in a 3–2 win over

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. Collins opened his

2024–25 Premier League The 2024–25 Premier League was the 33rd season of the Premier League and the 126th season of English football overall. Manchester City entered the season as four-time defending champions, but were dethroned by Liverpool, who emerged as P ...

goals account with the headed opener in his team's 5–3 home defeat of

Wolves The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, including the dog and dingo, though gr ...

on 5 October 2024, his second league goal for the club. He went on to become the only outfield player to play every minute of the 2024–25 season.

International career

Collins made his Republic of Ireland U17 debut against

Kazakhstan Kazakhstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a landlocked country primarily in Central Asia, with a European Kazakhstan, small portion in Eastern Europe. It borders Russia to the Kazakhstan–Russia border, north and west, China to th ...

on 17 October 2016 and was later made captain of the team. He made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut on 12 October 2021, coming on as a late substitute in a 4–0 friendly victory against

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

. On 14 June 2022, Collins scored his first goal for Ireland in a 1–1 draw against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

in the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

Personal life

Collins' family includes a number of other footballers, including his grandfather, Michael Collins who captained

Transport Transport (in British English) or transportation (in American English) is the intentional Motion, movement of humans, animals, and cargo, goods from one location to another. Mode of transport, Modes of transport include aviation, air, land tr ...

to the

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

in 1950, his father Dave Collins who played with

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

among others. His uncle, Eamonn Collins, played with many sides including

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

before going on to manage St Patrick's Athletic and later becoming a football agent. His older brother Josh Collins previously played for UCD and

Waterford Waterford ( ) is a City status in Ireland, city in County Waterford in the South-East Region, Ireland, south-east of Ireland. It is located within the Provinces of Ireland, province of Munster. The city is situated at the head of Waterford H ...

in the

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

. Nathan's uncle Mick Collins played for St Patrick's Athletic and

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

before later becoming a scout at

for 20 years, his son Mikey Collins (Nathan's cousin) is also an ex-footballer who played for Liverpool in his youth career before playing in Sweden, Italy, Cyprus and Holland, as well as representing Ireland up to U21 level.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Collins goal''

References

External links

Nathan Collins at Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.

Nathan Collins at the Football Association of Ireland

Nathan Collins
at Brentford F.C. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Collins, Nathan 2001 births Living people People from Leixlip Association footballers from County Kildare Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Men's association football central defenders Cherry Orchard F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players Burnley F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players Brentford F.C. players English Football League players Premier League players Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers Republic of Ireland men's international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England 21st-century Irish sportsmen