James Michael Collins is a Welsh footballer who plays as a defender for West Ham United and the Wales national football team. Collins is in his second spell with West Ham. He started his career with Cardiff City and played for Aston Villa in between his two periods with West Ham.
Internationally, Collins played for the Wales under-21 team on several occasions and captained them in a match against Germany U21's. He made his debut for the senior Wales side against Norway in 2004 and scored his first goal for Wales in a 3–1 defeat to Cyprus on 13 October 2007. Ever present during 2010 World Cup qualifying, he captained Wales in the last qualifier against Liechtenstein and helped keep a clean sheet in a 2–0 win. Collins was given the captains armband for the senior squad for the first time for a friendly against Sweden on 3 March 2010. Collins scored his first international goal in the 21st minute of a Euro 2008 qualifying match against Cyprus in October 2007. On 7 September 2012 in a 2014 World cup qualifying against Belgium game he was given a straight red card for a two-footed lunge on Guillaume Gillet, Wales went on to lose the match 2–0. |
