If anybody set Leeds on the road to the top, it was Bobby Collins. He was 31 when he pitched up in West Yorkshire from Everton, not having got Bill Shankly's covetous phone messages until too late, and he proved the forerunner of a timeline of diminutive, hard-boiled Scots who punched above their weight. Collins helped Leeds to survive dropping down to the old third division on the last day of the 1962 season and three years later was there as they lost the first division title on goal average.
His career suffered an inexorable shift when he was brutalised in a Fairs Cup match away to Torino. He broke his femur. Jack Charlton recalled that he ended up with a bolt through his leg like something from a scrapyard. "He thought it was funny," Charlton said. He also added: "Bobby would kill his mother for a result." When times were hard, it was Bobby Collins who was the difference.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Robert Young Collins | ||
| Date of birth | 16 February 1931 (1931-02-16) | ||
| Place of birth | Govanhill, Scotland | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Polmadie Hawthorn Juveniles | |||
| Pollok | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1949-1958 | Celtic | 220 | (80) |
| 1958-1962 | Everton | 133 | (42) |
| 1962-1967 | Leeds United | 149 | (24) |
| 1967-1969 | Bury | 75 | (6) |
| 1969-1971 | Greenock Morton | 54 | (3) |
| 1972 | Ringwood City | ||
| 1972 | Melbourne Hakoah | ||
| 1972-1973 | Oldham Athletic | 7 | (0) |
| 1973-1974 | Shamrock Rovers | 12 | (1) |
| National team | |||
| 1957-1959 | Scotland national football team | 10 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals). | |||