Former Barnsley manager Bobby Collins has sadly passed away at the age of 82.
Collins arrived at Oakwell as youth team coach in 1980 and graduated to first team manager in February 1984 following the departure of Norman Hunter.
It was a particularly difficult time to have hold of the Oakwell reigns as it was the middle of the miners strike with the financial implications of this seeing the club’s attendances dwindle dramatically.
When Collins took over the club were 16th in the Canon Second Division and they finished that 1983-84 season one place higher in 15th. He then led The Reds to a respectable 11th place finish despite having to recruit on a shoestring budget in 1984-1985 before departing that June for Allan Clarke.
Bobby Collins really made his name as a player and had an illustrious career with Celtic, Everton and Leeds.
He won both the Scottish Cup and Scottish League Cup with Celtic before becoming Everton’s record signing in 1958 who forked out £23,500.
He moved to Leeds for £25,000 in 1962 and was captain when they won promotion to the old First Division in 1964. He was then named Football Writers Player of the Year in 1965, as the West Yorkshire outfit were runners up in both the league and FA Cup.