‘IF WE WENT TO WAR, I WOULD WANT HE WAS AN ABSOLUTE WARRIOR WHO
PORT Vale players past and present have shared their memories of former Valiants defender Lee Collins.
Collins, who was Yeovil Town’s captain, passed away last month at the age of just 32.
Ex-vale players Anthony Griffith, Adam Yates, Marc Richards, Joe Davis, Louis Dodds, Rob Taylor, Lewis Haldane and John Mccombe, plus current striker Tom Pope, have now recorded a 15-minute video recalling their memories of their team-mate.
The tributes are tinged with emotion, but littered with laughs as they recall the times they shared in Burslem.
Collins was a hugely popular player at Vale Park, having joined the club from Wolves in 2008. He stayed until he was sold by the club’s administrators to Barnsley in 2012.
He was voted players’ player of the year in 2010 and into the supporters’ team of the decade in a poll held in 2020.
He scored four goals in 163 matches for Port Vale and also played for Mansfield, Forest Green and Northampton.
Former midfielder Griffith said: “He was a top drawer. If I was going into a battle he’s the first one I would bring because he was a leader and a warrior and that’s something I will hold dear to my heart.
“We shared many memories, especially overnight stays where he would tell me a lot of things that were on his mind.
“There was no-one better on the pitch than Lee because it just a battle. He was my idol and someone I looked up to.”
Club legend Pope revealed his first conversation with Collins broke the ice between the pair.
He explained: The first day I walked in, I knew of Lee Collins as a Vale fan, but didn’t know him to speak to.
“He just came up and said to me ‘Hey up, Collo... and I’m sorry about your teeth.” Straight away that breaks the ice.
“It’s very rare to see a defender who can play centre-half and also bomb forward from left-back. He had incredible fitness levels. He was probably a better left-back than he was centre-half, which says a lot.”
Former right-back Yates admitted there was nothing which fazed Collins - either on the pitch or in training.
He said: “You look at players throughout your career and we were a strong group, but Lee was one of the strongest ones anyway.
“We were put through it and we had a manager (Micky Adams) who demanded it, but he was above and beyond that. You would come in knackered from what we’d done the day before in pre-season and he would be fine.
“He would be laughing and joking and he kept pushing other people.
“He could play anywhere. His best position was left-back, but when he left Vale he played in midfield.
You looked at him and thought there isn’t anything he couldn’t do.”
Ex-striker
Richards added: “His selfless attitude towards football, nothing was ever too much of a problem. He didn’t like the spotlight.
“He was happy to go about his business and let 99.9 per cent of the other players take the plaudits and headlines.”
Davis was a youngster progressing through the Vale youth system during Collins’ time at the club.
He says he will always be indebted to Collins for helping him to break into the first team.
He said: My relationship with Collo is probably slightly different to the rest of the boys because I was coming through at that time - a 17-year-old trying to make it and make my pathway in the game and into the first team.
“Collo was always someone I looked up to and idolised in the sense that he epitomised everything that I wanted to be. “At the time he was a massive figure in the first team and a huge character. Everyone loved him and he was the rock in the heart of the defence alongside Gaz Owen and John Mccombe. “The changing room can be a ruthless environment for a young kid coming through, but Lee always went out of his way to make sure I was ok. “I remember running on for my debut at Morecambe. He was left-back, I was left-sided centre-half. And he made sure I settled into the game and told me I deserved to be there and gave me confidence. He didn’t have to do that.”
Dodds admitted that Collins was a shy character when he first joined the club, but soon became fully integrated into the dressing room.
And he revealed there were tears when Collins said farewell to move to Barnsley for £50,000, money which helped to keep the Valiants afloat.
He explained: “For me, when Lee first signed for Vale he was quiet, just had his head in the paper, didn’t really say anything to anyone, he just went about his business.
“As time went on he was the life and soul of the dressing room. “He’s the first person in that dressing room, if we went to war, I’d want to be in the trench next to him. He was an absolute warrior. He never used to shout and bawl at people, he was just a leader by doing.
“He’d bomb up and down the wing. I remember he said he didn’t like playing centre-half because it was boring and he couldn’t get up and down the pitch. We are a family and it’s cut everyone deep. What a guy he was.
“One Tuesday afternoon we all went for a few drinks... and a few drinks turned into quite a heavy evening.
“It was day the before Lee was going for a medical at Barnsley. I remember me, Lee and Yatesy in the car park crying because he didn’t really want to go because he was going to miss the lads.
“You can see how much the dressing room was like a family unit because Lee had a massive opportunity, but his heart was at Vale.”
Taylor was Collins’ travelling companion and admits there are “hundreds of stories” he could tell about the defender.
However he says it was the example he set on the pitch which stands out.
He said: He could play leftback, centre-half, midfield and technically was a very good player. He would drive the team forward. He was strong physically and probably the fittest at the club. No-one could touch him for running.
“Without fail every morning he’d buy a Mcdonalds breakfast - and it wasn’t the bog standard one, it was the large one. And it never touched him. He’d then go and smash everyone in training. He was just a great guy.”
The video also sees Griffith lift the lid about sharing a room on away trips with Collins, while Haldane and Mccombe also share their special memories of the former defender.
To watch the video, visit https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=sozi61litvc .