Barnsley Football Club reveal Neill Collins as new head coach

Barnsley Football Club's new head coach has said he "can't wait to get started", as the Reds have revealed their newest appointment.

Neill Collins has signed a two-year deal to take on the Men’s First Team as Head Coach.

Barnsley FC CEO, Khaled El-Ahmad said he's "happy" to be able to bring Neill to Oakwell to "work with staff" and "continue upon the foundation" implemented at the start of the last campaign.

He said: “The primary focus is now allowing Neill to settle in and begin to build relationships with the staff and players at Oakwell and commence preparations for the upcoming season.”

South Yorkshire is an area not unfamiliar to Collins, having played 216 times for SheffieldUnited in a five-year spell at Bramall Lane.

A long and established playing career in the UK saw the Scot feature for clubs such as Wolverhampton Wanderers, Leeds United and Hartlepool United.

After a successful career across the leagues, Collins made the switch to the States tofinish his playing career with Tampa Bay Rowdies in the USL Championship.

Impressing the hierarchy with his work ethic and attitude, the Scotsman was appointedas Manager of the Florida-based outfit after deciding to hang up his boots in 2018.

In a Covid interrupted 2020 campaign, ‘The Rowdies’ finished top of the table and reachedthe final of the resulting play-off tournament, only for the final to be called off due toCovid infections amongst members of his side.

At the end of the 2021 season, Collins was awarded USL Championship Coach of the Yearafter guiding the team to 23 wins in the Eastern Conference, just missing out on a titlewhen losing in the final.

Upon joining the Reds, Collins spoke of his excitement towards the project that liesahead. He said: “First of all, I’d like to say a huge thanks to the Tampa Bay Rowdies for supporting me in exploring this opportunity.

"Without all the staff and players’ incredible hard work this would not have been possible.

“I am absolutely thrilled to be stepping back in to the EFL and even more so to be joining aclub of this stature.

"Everything I do will be aimed at repaying the faith shown in me by theowners and Khaled and of course giving the Barnsley faithful a team that they can beproud of.

“I am fortunate to be working with a squad that just achieved a play-off final butunderstand there is a lot of work to be done if we want to replicate that success and go astep further.

“I can’t wait to get started and work on getting this club back to where it belongs.”

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