Bill Collins (footballer, born 1920)

For other people with the same name, see Bill Collins.

Bill Collins
Personal information
Full name William Hanna Collins
Date of birth (1920-02-15)15 February 1920
Place of birth Belfast, Ireland
Date of death 3 November 2010(2010-11-03) (aged 90)
Position(s) Wing half
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1942–1945 Belfast Celtic
1945–1948 Distillery
1948–1949 Luton Town 7 (0)
1949–1951 Gillingham 51 (0)
1951–1956 Snowdown Colliery Welfare
Managerial career
1975 Gillingham (caretaker)[1]
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

William Hanna "Buster" Collins (15 February 1920 – 3 November 2010)[2] was an Irish professional footballer. His clubs included Distillery, Belfast Celtic, Luton Town[3] and Gillingham.[4]

He later became reserve team manager at Gillingham, and in 1965 was appointed by manager Freddie Cox as the head of the club's newly organised youth scheme, a post he held for nearly twenty years.[5] He served as first team trainer and kitman for a further ten years, finally retiring in 1993 at the age of 73. He has been cited as a major influence on the careers of future stars Micky Adams and Steve Bruce.[6]

He died in 2010 at the age of 90.[7]

  1. ^ Bradley, Andy (12 October 1985). "10 Years Ago". Gillingham F.C. Official Matchday Magazine.
  2. ^ Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 93. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  3. ^ Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database
  4. ^ Post War English & Scottish Football League A – Z Player's Database
  5. ^ Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 94. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  6. ^ Patrick Barclay (6 March 2004). "Adams and Bruce were Buster's premier pupils". Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 18 November 2007. Retrieved 27 September 2007.
  7. ^ "Gillingham stalwart Bill Collins dies". BBC. 3 November 2010. Retrieved 4 November 2010.