Three stories that chart the sensational rise of new Ireland captain Nathan Collins

Brentford and Ireland defender Nathan Collins will wear the captain’s armband against Finland on Thursday night in Helsinki

Nathan Collins is just 23 years of age, but the Leixlip native is tailor made for the role of Ireland captain.

He spoke on Wednesday of the pride both he and his family felt when he wore the armband for the very first time, after Seamus Coleman limped against England, and again in the game against Greece three days later.

Collins will skipper his country again on Thursday when the Boys in Green take on Finland in Helsinki, in their latest Nations League game.

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He won’t be overawed by the job and says he has plenty of help from his teammates, with “six or seven boys who would help me out, chip in, talk, motivate.”

We have picked out three reasons why Collins is perfect for the job - and one reason why we should all feel very old as the young centre-half prepares to once again lead out his country in battle.

‘This fellow is a bit different’

Dad David Collins is an ex-Liverpool, Oxford United and Shelbourne defender, who coached his son through the age levels at famous Dublin schoolboy club Cherry Orchard.

He revealed how Nathan pushed him to extraordinary lengths during his schoolboy days, in his effort to make it as a footballer.

From his eagerness to get to training to demanding analysis of his performances, the young Leixlip native got the most out of his time at Cherry Orchard.

“He was putting me under pressure, asking me for video analysis, strength and conditioning, this and that, whether our style of play was good enough,” said David. “I’d say, ‘Woah, hang on a minute, we’re only training here a couple of nights a week, it’s not a full-time job’.

“Nathan was very driven at a very early age. I’d be coming home (from work) and I might have to ring and say, ‘Nathan, I’ll be late getting home’. At a very early age, he’d say, ‘That’s okay, I’ll get the bus down’.

“‘The bus down to Ballyfermot?’.

“He’d say, ‘I’ll meet you at the West County [Hotel]’.

“So he used to get the bus and I’d have to rush to meet him. He’d be walking up the road and he’d say, ‘Listen, I can’t be late for training, I can’t afford to miss any of this’.

“This kid was only a baby. He was nine or 10 at that stage. You have a nine-year-old now and you wouldn’t let them on the bus by themselves, but Nathan just wasn’t having it. He was very determined very early.

“He’d be in his gear and he’d be walking out into the garden. I’d say I’ll be ready to go in a few minutes, but he’d say, ‘Grand, I’ll walk on ahead’. I’d say, ‘Why are you walking ahead, I’m driving you’. But he was just making sure I wouldn’t have him late. He didn’t want to miss a minute.

“They were the quirky things about him that made you think, this fellow is a bit different.”

Record breaker

Nathan Collins wrote his name into the Stoke City record books when he captained the Potters to a 1-0 League Cup win over Wigan at the age of just 18.

By that stage, in August 2019, he had played four times in the Championship.

He reacted to the achievement by saying: “I’m delighted to be fair. But I’ll just take it on the chin and keep on moving forward. It's something to build on. I couldn’t let it affect me. I just took it on the chin and played my own game.

“I don’t really think about age, I just want to play my game, play football. That’s what I do every time.”

His boss at the time was Nathan Jones and he said: “Nathan’s temperament is top drawer, he doesn’t get fazed or carried away by anything and I really believe he is going to go on and enjoy a wonderful career.”

Eye on the prize

David Collins revealed how his son reacted to his wondergoal against Ukraine in June 2022 by getting straight on the phone to Burnley’s strength and conditioning coaches.

“He was asking, ‘What’s my plan for the next two or three weeks? Do I take a full week’s rest, do I start back running?’. He was already planning,” David told the Irish Daily Star at the time.

“After a match like that you’d think he’s out drinking champagne, but that’s not him. He was getting his plans in place for pre-season - what date he’s back, how long does he take off, does he take a complete rest? He wanted his programme sent to him.”

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