Collins reflects on a decade of development

After an enjoyable chat with Colm Collins, his final words sums up the man’s continued desire to do what’s best for Clare football.
As he prepares to go about the rest of his day, Collins has one request before he hangs up the phone: “Could you mention somewhere in the paper that we have a golf classic for Clare football coming up this Thursday and Friday (at Woodstock Golf Club)? A team of four golfers is €300 while to sponsor a hole it’s €200.”
It’s a fitting note to end on for a man who continuously fought to improve the standards of Clare football.
When someone has made the profuse impact that Collins has on a county, the tributes will inevitably flow. However, the Cratloe club man admits the volume of well wishes that have been paid to him has been a surprise with people from across the county paying tribute to a football man.
“It’s a bit surreal to see all the tributes. People are very kind but I would emphasise that too much is made of the manager. You can’t have success without a talented group of players and a brilliant backroom team. They always did what was supposed to be done on time. Everyone had a job so I have to thank the County Board for their support and for the massive group that kept things together.”
The Kilmihil native stated that after his side’s relegation to Division Three this Spring he knew it was time to step aside.
Given that Clare should have got at least a point against Dublin and surrendered a six point advantage to Kildare, the end of seven seasons in Division Two was decided by fine margins. However, Collins always strived to be on the right side of those margins and when he wasn’t, he knew it was time to exit stage left.
“Once the league was finished, I knew it was time to step aside. For a long time results had gone our way but the results didn’t go our way. I felt it was time to go. At this level it’s all about getting results.
“We had a really good performance v Cork but we were disappointed with our Donegal performance. We were a lot better the last two games but the damage was done against Donegal.”
When discussing his best memories from his decade on the sideline with his county, Collins points to four games that stood out for him.
“I would have a lot of good memories. The best memories come when you’ve won big games. It was nice last year to win a game in Croke Park. Beating Cork in the Championship was special. The Roscommon game down in Salthill in ’16 was another. In the first year we beat Antrim (in Division Four), down in Creggan. That was a big result for us at the time.”
“I suppose we were underdogs in those Championship games. We never believed that we were inferior in any of those games. The players had plenty of ability, so it was about showing it.”
It is easy to forget the fact that Clare football was on a low ebb when Collins was appointed in November 2013.
Although the hurlers had memorably claimed All Ireland glory against Cork, the footballers were stuck in Division Four, trying desperately to generate any form of momentum. After the departure of Mick O’Dwyer, Collins stepped in and gradually got Clare football kicking again.
Not a man to hype himself up, Collins maintains that his role was simply to facilitate, even if players past and present will state he did a whole lot more than that.
“I would have been a supporter first. We were very unlucky the previous three years as promotion was well within grasp. I suppose to start off, the thing was to improve and see where that took us. Promotion was the obvious one. Could we give the players the best chance to succeed? That was always the aim.”
“It wasn’t a big job to motivate them or anything like that. Mother of God, we had some serious footballers. We had fellas who could mix it with any players in the country. I think we were just blessed to have very talented players who worked really hard. When the chips were down, they gave everything.”
There is no doubt that a useful way to gauge a manager’s legacy is to focus on the underage talent coming through. Do players coming up now see a pathway to success in a Clare senior football jersey and are they willing to make the sacrifices needed?
The answers to both questions certainly appear to be a ‘yes’ but Collins knows that alone guarantees nothing. However, the former Clare supremo is confident in where Clare football is right now and where it can go to next.
“I think we are in a really good place. We have a lot of talented young lads, so we are in a good spot. Whoever comes in will need time to consolidate but we will be fine.”
“There’s no ceiling for what the group can achieve. There are seriously talented players there right now. The work at underage and with development squads has been a big help. We can achieve whatever we want to. You have to give everything to achieve anything.”
That he certainly did.