Lee Collins

Lee Harvey Collins (28 September 1988 – 31 March 2021) was an English professional footballer who played as a defender.

He was more comfortable as a centre-back, but could also play as a full-back.

He scored eight goals in 470 league and cup appearances over the course of a 14-year professional career in the English Football League and National League.

He graduated through the Wolverhampton Wanderers Academy to turn professional in February 2007.

He spent much of the 2007–08 season on loan at Hereford United, helping the club to win promotion into League One.

Born in Telford, Shropshire, Collins was promoted to Wolverhampton Wanderers' first-team squad for the first time in January 2007, signing his first professional forms the next month.

Though regularly on the bench, he never made a first-team appearance.

However, he played regularly for the club at reserve level and with the under-18s, for whom he was captain.

He joined Hereford United on 14 November 2007 on an initial month's loan, and made his league debut on 17 November 2007 in a 3–2 win at Stockport County.

After impressing, his loan was extended to the end of the season, during which Hereford won promotion to League One.

He joined Port Vale on loan at the start of the 2008–09 season, and his loan stay was made permanent in January 2009.

Collins went on loan to League Two side Port Vale at the start of the 2008–09 season, and became a first-team regular.

He played 53 games for the club in 2009–10, and continued to be a key member of the defence in 2010–11.

Vale then signed him on a 2 1⁄2-year deal on 16 January 2009 after "Wolves" agreed to release him from the rest of his deal at Molineux.

He gained his first senior goal in a 1–1 home draw with Wycombe Wanderers on 25 April 2009.

With 42 appearances to his name in his first season with the club, he was described as the most consistent performer of the season.

He remained in the first-team for the start of the 2009–10 campaign.

He was transfer listed in late September, along with the entire Port Vale squad, after manager Micky Adams saw his team slip to a third consecutive defeat.

Despite this he remained a key member of the defence, alongside Gareth Owen and John McCombe.

Playing regular football helped Collins realize that he needed to 'bulk out' to become a more physically dominant player.

His solid performances attracted attention, as well as March 2010 rumours of a £200,000 move to Watford.

Rumours that Collins rubbished as "paper talk".

A candidate for Player of the Year, he instead picked up Chairman's Player of the Year and Players' Player of the Year awards, as well as the award for best assist "following his storming run from inside his own half to set up Marc Richards against Hereford at Vale Park".

He got the perfect start to the 2010–11 season by blasting in the only goal of the opening game of the season at Bury.

Anticipating interest from other clubs, in September Adams began negotiations to extend his contract by a further season.

Upon signing the deal Collins praised current and former training staff at the club, naming Dean Glover, Lee Sinnott, Mark Grew, Geoff Horsfield, and Micky Adams as people who helped his progress 'massively'.

His consistency over his 48 appearances helped Vale to boast one of the strongest defensive records in the division that season.

Collins was named as Port Vale's best left-back of the 2010s in a public poll taken in January 2020 by The Sentinel; he received 50% of the vote, ahead of Carl Dickinson (40%).

Collins was keen to extend his contract beyond its conclusion in the summer of 2011.

He missed a few weeks at the start of the 2011–12 season after undergoing a small operation to repair a hernia-related problem.

He was then sidelined for a further five weeks after he had to undergo surgery on an unrelated groin injury.

Vale conceded eighteen goals in the twelve games that Collins missed, before keeping a clean sheet on his return to the first-team on 12 November, a goalless draw with Grimsby Town in the FA Cup.

He again was sidelined in January, as he picked up an ankle injury.

In total he made 162 appearances for Vale, scoring four goals.

He joined Championship club Barnsley on loan in March 2012, with a view to a permanent deal in the summer.

From Barnsley, he was loaned out to Shrewsbury Town in September 2012.

On 15 March 2012, Collins joined Barnsley on loan for the remainder of the season, with the move becoming permanent at the end of the season.

He moved back into League Two with Northampton Town in February 2013, and spent over two years with the club before moving on to Mansfield Town; he captained both Northampton and Mansfield.

He signed with Forest Green Rovers in May 2017 and stayed with the club for two seasons before joining non-League Yeovil Town in June 2019.

He served Yeovil as club captain until his death, at the age of 32, in March 2021.