From Chester to Premier League captain - the rise of a Sunderland hero in his own words

In the fourth edition of our ‘My Defining Sunderland games’ series, Danny Collins charts his rise from League Two to captain of the club.
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An immensely popular figure throughout his time on Wearside, Collins was twice named player of the year.

He was a consistent and dependable presence in the XI right through to his surprise and controversial exit on deadline day in 2009.

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Here, he talks through the three games that best sum up his time at the club that remains closest to his heart….

Danny Collins in action at Old TraffordDanny Collins in action at Old Trafford
Danny Collins in action at Old Trafford

Luton Town (A) 6th May, 2007

A breathtaking win against Burnley, followed by Derby County’s defeat days later, meant that Sunderland went into the final day of the campaign with automatic promotion secured.

It had been a remarkable turnaround under Roy Keane, and a key season for Collins, who had emerged as a regular under the new manager.

Sunderland were level on points with Birmingham as they travelled to already relegated Luton Town; Steve Bruce’s side boasting a superior goal difference.

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Birmingham fell to a shock defeat at home to Preston, while Sunderland ran out 5-0 winners in an outstanding display.

There was no trophy for Sundeland at Kenilworth Road, which Keane branded a ‘disgrace’, but it remains one of Sunderland’s most memorable recent away days….

We’d been bottom after the first four or five games of the season.

Roy came in, started to bring in a lot of his own players and they just picked us up really.

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When you bring in eight or nine players it’s not always going to work out. Thankfully for us, everyone seemed to just get straight into their stride and we just kicked on up the table.

We went on a good run through the middle of the season and going into this one we were right up there at the top of the table with Birmingham.

We were already promoted but it was a case of who was going to win the title.

The season before had been a tough one and there were still a few of us there from that campaign.

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You don’t want to leave the club and almost be tarnished by that.For me at least, I wanted to roll my sleeves up and put things right.

Roy had come in after those first few games and might have looked at a few things. I had a couple of chats with him but said that I wanted to stay and fight for my shirt.

He put me straight back in the team and I played a lot of games under him.

I enjoyed working with him, I know people have their opinions on Roy and the way he works but from my point of view, I got on well with him.

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I liked the way he worked in that he wanted everything done right around the place and had that professionalism.

He is a very different character behind the scenes to when he’s in public, I got on well with him and his assistant Tony [Loughlan] had some good ideas on the training pitch.

We were happy that we’d won promotion but we wanted to go on and win the title at Luton. I think we were sat on 85 points alongside Birmingham going into the last game.

Birmingham were at home so I think everyone probably thought that they would go on and win it.

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We didn’t actually have the trophy down at Luton, they had it at St Andrews so it was a bit of a strange day.

We went into it wanting to put on a bit of a performance as we had the end sold out behind the goal.

Within 10 minutes we’re 2-0 up and you just enjoy the day. It was a nice, sunny day and we were playing good football.

Confidence and momentum are two very important words and at that stage, we were going out there thinking that we were going to win games.

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We were playing some good stuff and those early goals helped us relax.

I was defending the other end from the Sunderland fans in the second half so I wasn’t really sure what was happening at St Andrews.

We did our job so it was just waiting then at the final whistle to see.

It was a bit of a strange one with not having the trophy but I just remember us celebrating down by the goal, Nyron jumping around with some silly hat on.

They’re great memories.

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Sunderland: Fulop, Wright, Evans, Collins, Leadbitter, Edwards (Wallace 75), Whitehead (Connolly 57), Nosworthy, Murphy (John 57), Stokes, Yorke.

Subs Not Used: Varga, Miller

Goals: Stokes 4, Murphy 6, 46, Wallace 77, Connolly 86

Newcastle United (H) October 25th, 2008

A game that needs no introduction.

A first derby win on home soil for 28 years, and one of best goals in the club’s modern history.

One of the finest days at the Stadium of Light, though it proved to be the disappointing final high of Keane’s time at the club…..

I was on the halfway line right behind Kieran when he hit it.

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He could always strike a ball in training could Kieran and I think the week before he’d scored one against Fulham, but Pascal had rolled someone in the wall and it was disallowed.

That one was more of an up and down one but here he was right on the edge of the box so he’s got to go for power and he’s caught it sweetly.

He’s just absolutely drilled it, with that little bit of swing to take it away from Shay Given.

My ears were ringing when it flew in.

He sprints towards towards the halfway line and we all just ran towards him, our ears popping because of the noise.

You could feel the relief in the stadium I think.

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That’s the one game for me in terms of the atmosphere at the Stadium of Light that I played in, it sticks out by a mile for me to be honest.

We started the game well, Steed is running down the right and had a sort of cross/shot that Cisse has slid in.

Shola Ameobi scored at the back post with a header to make it 1-1 at the break and because we’d had a couple of draws with them since getting promoted, you are thinking ‘not again’ a little bit.

I think on the day we just shaded the game.

It was a nervy 10 or 15 minutes after Kieran’s free-kick but I just remember the mad scenes after and in the following days.

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We did seem to have a good blend then in that we had talented players who could turn a game, and on our day we could mix it with us most.

So it was a bit of a shock to the boys and a bit disappointing when Roy decided to leave the club a few weeks later.

Sunderland: Fulop, Chimbonda, Ferdinand, Collins, McCartney, Malbranque (Tainio 87), Whitehead, Yorke (Jones 57), Richardson, Cisse, Diouf (Reid 90)

Subs Not Used: Colgan, Bardsley, Chopra, Leadbitter

Goals: Cisse 20, Richardson 75

Bolton Wanderers (A) August 15th, 2009

Collins was named club captain at the start of the 2009/10 season and with Steve Bruce making some exciting additions, the future looked bright.

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It all came to a sudden halt as Bruce eyed up moves for Michael Turner and John Mensah….

We’d played in the Amsterdam tournament pre-season, Steve Bruce had called me in and made me captain and I was delighted.

I’d been at the club for five years and it meant a lot with what I’d achieved on a personal level.

From coming into the club and having to fight my way into the side, going on to have a couple of good seasons in the Premier League from coming in and fighting my way into the team, to having a couple good seasons in the Premier League, and then to this, it was a real honour.

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I’d come to the club from Chester in League Two. The likes of myself and Dean Whitehead had to prove ourselves because we weren’t big-name players from abroad or the Premier League.

It took time because when I joined we were fourth in the Championship anyway. Stephen Wright, Gary Breen, Stephen Caldwell and George McCartney were already a settled back four.

After a year or two you feel you’ve earned the right to be there, getting that experience.

Going into this season, I felt I’d earned the right to be one of the first names on the teamsheet. To then be named captain then was a real honour.

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It was a good performance, Darren Bent scored early on and if it had been 4 or 5 at half time, no one could have argued.

They had a couple of moments in the box in the second half, they had Kevin Davies playing up top and he was always a handful.

Marton Fulop had to pull off a great save late on. For all we’d dominated the play and the ball, when it’s only 1-0 the opposition always have a chance and thankfully Marton was on his game.

As a defender, getting back on the bus with a dirty 1-0, it doesn’t really get any better and spirits were high.

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It felt like it was going to be a good season, though obviously things changed for me a couple of weeks later and I was out of the club.

I was told the manager was looking to bring his own players in and I could look elsewhere.

I was happy at the club, we’d taken six points from nine at the start of that season.

Steve wanted to bring his defenders in and it was a bit of a strange feeling because usually when you hear that, you’re out of the squad, sat on the bench and looking to get away yourself anyway.

I was settled, happy, loved my time, then that was that.

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We played Stoke ironically on the day I was down there, so I was on the bench, stayed down and signed on deadline day.

It came out of the blue.

I played on for ten years, had some great memories at some great clubs, but Sunderland will always be my number one.

It gave me that platform and opportunity to test myself against the best, real household names.

Gerrard, Lampard, Van Nistelrooy….

Sunderland XI: Fulop; Bardlsey, Ferdinand, Collins, McCartney; Malbranque (Henderson, 46), Cana, Cattermole, Richardson (Campbell, 76); Bent, Jones

Subs Not Used: Gordon, Nosworthy, Healy, Leadbitter, Edwards

Goal: Bent, 5

You can read previous editions of the ‘My defining Sunderland games’ series below…