Patrick Collins

Who is Patrick Collins?

Patrick Collins is a professional footballer.

Six months of academy football and he earned his first of 20 England caps with the u’17′s. His first game was against Portugal in which they drew 1-1, with Collins scoring England's goal.

Chances of first team football were restricted at Sunderland and although Collins was named in the first team squad for an FA cup match against Blackburn, he had to leave in order to play in a first team environment.

In 2004 Collins left Sunderland and after trials with Birmingham City and Celtic, signed for Sheffield Wednesday with the ambitions of playing in front of 25,000 people every week. In his first season Collins played 34 games and played in the playoff final at Cardiff in front of 70,000 people. Promotion to the championship led to an influx of signings and first team chances were restricted. After a loan spell at Swindon Town Collins decided to return to the North East and sign for Darlington FC in 2006.

Collins played 37 games in his first season at Darlington but chronic calf cramps restricted him from staying fit and in his second season he went on loan to Oxford FC. However with calf cramps continuing to stop him playing he was forced to take time out from football.