Bobby Collins dies at 82

Bobby Collins in his Scotland shirt in 1965

FORMER Athletic player-coach Bobby Collins has died at the age of 82.

The 5ft 3in midfielder joined Athletic in 1972 and stayed for a year at Boundary Park, helping manager Jimmy Frizzell develop a team which clinched the old Third Division title in the 1973/74 season.

He left Boundary Park to join Shamrock Rovers where he stayed for a year.

The Glasgow-born Collins was capped 31 times by Scotland and is revered at Leeds United, for whom he played for five years after joining them from Everton.

He was regarded as hugely influential in the early stages of the Don Revie era at Elland Road, and was named Footballer Of The Year in 1965.

Apart from Leeds and Athletic, Collins also had spells with Bury and Greenock Morton.

At the end of his playing career, he went into management and had spells as boss at Huddersfield Town, Hull City and Barnsley before returning to Leeds as a youth coach in the 1990s.