Roderick 'Roddy' Collins is a former professional football player and current manager of Monaghan United. He has also worked as a television pundit, and is the brother of acclaimed former boxer, Steve Collins.
He began his career at local club Bohemians making his debut in September 1979 away to Finn Harps and made 2 appearances in European competition for the club before suffering a serious leg injury which sidelined him for two years before going on to play for Home Farm F.C., Athlone Town, Drogheda United and Dundalk from where he joined Mansfield Town in December 1985 for a club record fee of £30,000.
He left to join Newport County in August 1987, playing seven times in an injury plagued season, their ill-fated 1987-88 season which would see them lose their place in the Football League amid a growing financial crisis. Collins then went on to play once for Cheltenham Town.
Noel King signed him then for Shamrock Rovers in September 1988 and he made a scoring debut against his first club on 30 September in a 3-1 derby win. He also scored in his last game for the club at Cork City on 21 April 1989. Despite being sent off in Derry on Halloween he was top scorer in that 1988-89 season.
He subsequently played for Dundalk again, Sligo Rovers, Crusaders, Glentoran, Bangor, Cliftonville, Larne and Home Farm F.C.. He made one Leinster Senior Cup (association football) appearance for Bohs in December 1995. His last club was St Francis where he played in their first ever game in senior football in a League of Ireland Shield game in September 1996.
Roddy the Manager
Collins' first foray into management came at Bangor in 1994/95 which despite saving them from relegation, was relatively brief. In 1998 He found himself thrust into the spotlight when he was surprisingly appointed as Joe McGrath's successor at Bohemians.
Bohemians
Bohemians were a side which, despite being tipped as outside contenders for the title at the start of the year, were facing a relegation dogfight when Collins arrived in the 1998–99 season. Collins' start to his reign as Bohs' manager was relatively impressive, and new signings such as Kevin Hunt eventually dragged the side out of relegation trouble and to safety.
However, a poor run of results at the end of the season saw the Gypsies, which has never been outside of the top tier of Irish football, plummet back into relegation trouble, and were forced to take part in a play-off with Cobh Ramblers. Bohemians won the play-off convincingly, 7–0 on aggregate. He remained as manager during the close-season, though he was under pressure from both the supporters and the committee at Bohemians.
During the close-season Collins oversaw a massive change in personnel at the club, with old stalwarts such as Brian Mooney, Tommy Byrne and Peter Hanrahan being released, and new signings such as Glen Crowe, Mark Dempsey, Wayne Russell and Avery John coming in. Bohemians started the season brightly, and it was evident that this side would not be fighting relegation. Bohemians eventually finished 3rd in the league, and were beaten in a replay of the final of the FAI Cup by Shelbourne FC.
The following season, 2000–01, was to become one of the most remarkable, and controversial, in the history of Bohemians. Collins again brought in several new players during the summer break, with Simon Webb, Dave Hill among others joining record signing Trevor Molloy at the club.
Bohemians' opening game was an away tie in the UEFA Cup against Aberdeen FC, which was to be the first time that the club had fielded a starting eleven consisting entirely of full-time professional players. Despite being written off by the local press, Bohs produced one of the all-time great Irish performances in Europe to come from a goal down to defeat the Scots by two goals to one. Bohemians were reduced to 10 men after 45 minutes and were beaten 1–0 in the return leg, due to an own-goal, but progressed on the away goals rule and faced German giants Kaiserslautern in the next round.
Despite putting in an impressive display, Bohemians who were again reduced to 10 men on the 43rd minute were beaten 3–1 in Tolka Park in the first leg, and suffered from some careless defensive lapses and a controversial red card. In Germany, Bohemians shocked the hosts by winning 1–0 thanks to a goal from Glen Crowe, and were unlucky not to score more (even having a goal ruled out for off-side). Bohemians were out of Europe, and had made history by achieving successive away victories in European competition.
In the league that season Bohs were showing good form, though with Glen Crowe emerging as a phenomenal goal-scorer and Kevin Hunt marshalling the midfield. Once out of Europe, results began to dip, and Collins found himself under pressure. Shelbourne were clear leaders at the top, and a huge investment in the Bohemians playing side looked set to fail to reap just rewards. In January 2001, Collins was under huge pressure as Bohemians travelled to Santry to take on fierce rivals Shamrock Rovers. At half time, Bohemians were trailing the game by 3 goals, as Rovers scored 4 to Bohs 1. It looked certain that a new manager would be appointed following the game. However, in one of the most remarkable come-backs in Irish football, Bohemians put 5 past a shell-shocked Rovers side in the second half and won 6–4. That result, coupled with a break for several weeks due to the foot and mouth outbreak in the UK and Ireland, gave Bohemians the momentum to mount a late challenge for the league.
Bohemians went into the last game of the season trailing Shelbourne by one point, as the Gypsies travelled to Kilkenny on the final day. Meanwhile, Shelbourne were hosting Cork City in a game which the hosts were expected to win comfortably. To win the league, Bohemians needed to win and hope that Cork could achieve at least a draw in Tolka. Bohemians won 5–0, while Cork shocked Shelbourne by defeating them on their home patch. Bohemians were crowned champions, and the aftermath of the result would shape the rest of Roddy Collins career.
The following weekend Bohemians beat Longford Town in the FAI Cup Final thus securing their first double in 75 years,a remarkable achievement.The club also recorded a profit for the first time in 20 yrs. After this Collins was supposedly set to discuss a new contract with the Bohemians committee. During this time the club announced that Pete Mahon would be taking over the reins at Bohemians.
This ended Collins' association with the club.
He managed the club for 96 league games - winning 46, drawing 23 and losing 27. They scored 136 times, conceded 81 and kept 41 clean sheets.
Carlisle United
Collins was appointed as manager of Carlisle United in July 2001 signing a five year contract. A club that was under financial embargo with only 8 senior professional players and bookies favourites for relegation , was 14th in the league by April their highest position in 5 seasons. ,Collins was sacked in April 2002 after stating that he would resign unless owner Michael Knighton completed the sale of the club as promised to the investor John Courtenay.
Courtenay finally took control of the club in July 2002 and instantly reappointed Collins as manager. Due to the long drawn out completion of the sale Collins worked with a weakened squad but yet again he retained their League status and took them to Cardiff's Millenium Stadium for the LDV Cup Final.
Collins was surprisingly sacked in August 2003 after Carlisle had lost their first four games of the season.
Dublin City
In July 2004 he took over as manager of Dublin City, but left in November 2004 three weeks from the end of the season, just hours before a crucial game, to manage Shamrock Rovers.
Shamrock Rovers
As manager of Shamrock Rovers, Collins struggled both on and off the pitch. Following a points deduction because the club presented fraudulent documents to the FAI licensing committee, after a season of poor results and in-fighting at the club, Shamrock Rovers faced relegation.. Collins later brought a claim of unfair dismissal against Shamrock Rovers to the Employment Appeals Tribunal in Dublin, the case was settled out of court in November 2006.
Floriana FC
On 30 June 2009 Roddy Collins was unveiled as the new Manager of Maltese Premier side Floriana F.C.. At the media conference, held in the Embassy of Malta in Dublin, Collins stated his delight at returning to the dugout and the large media presence was unheard of for a Maltese club.
A greater unveiling took place in Floriana itself the very next day. After meeting his players for the first time Roddy was part of Maltese football history. Never before had such an event taken place on the islands where a manager was introduced to the fans. Introduced by Tony Zahra he spoke alongside new President John Camillieri, John Borg and Alan Moore, receiving massive applause for pledging himself to making Floriana F.C. a force to be reckoned with.
Collins had a shaky start winning only 1 pre-season game and none of his first 3 competitive games including a major 6-0 loss to eternal rivals Valletta F.C. However just before he left the club he had guided the team to 7 unbeaten games.
Cork City FC
On December 15th, 2009, Collins suddenly announced his departure from Floriana FC and returned to the League of Ireland to take charge of Cork City, where it was announced that he had signed a 12 month contract.
In February 2010 the holding company Cork City Investments FC Ltd. was wound up and he was not reappointed. He didn't manage a single competitive game with City.
Monaghan United
In March 2011 Collins was appointed manager of first division Monaghan United
Pundit
Collins writes a weekly column for The Irish Daily Star Collins and is also retained as a pundit for the national broadcaster RTE, and their weekly league review television show, Monday Night Soccer.
Courtesy WikiPedia
