James Frederick Arthur Collins (born 1903 in Brentford

Brentford

Brentford is a suburban town in west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It is located at the confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent, west-southwest of Charing Cross. Its former ceremonial county was Middlesex.-Toponymy:...

, Middlesex

Middlesex

Middlesex is one of the historic counties of England and the second smallest by area. The low-lying county contained the wealthy and politically independent City of London on its southern boundary and was dominated by it from a very early time...

, died May 1977) was an English

England

England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 footballer

Football (soccer)

Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a sport played between two teams of eleven players with a spherical ball...

 who played for West Ham United

West Ham United F.C.

West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

.

Collins, nicknamed "Lottie" after a music hall

Music hall

Music Hall is a type of British theatrical entertainment which was popular between 1850 and 1960. The term can refer to:# A particular form of variety entertainment involving a mixture of popular song, comedy and speciality acts...

 artiste of the era, made his first appearance at Upton Park

Boleyn Ground

The Boleyn Ground, more commonly referred to as Upton Park due to its location in Upton Park, London is the football stadium of West Ham United.-History:...

 as captain of East Ham Boys in 1917. He was called up to play for England Schools but missed out on a cap

Cap (sport)

In sports, a cap is a metaphorical term for a player's appearance on a select team, such as a national team. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of association football...

 after the game, against Scotland, was cancelled.

Playing as a forward

Striker

Forwards, also known as strikers, are the players on a team in association football who play nearest to the opposing team's goal, and are therefore principally responsible for scoring goals...

, Collins featured for Chelmsford, Clapton

Clapton F.C.

Clapton F.C. is an English association football club, who play in Forest Gate, in the London Borough of Newham, England.Founded by W.R. Davis at a meeting in his father's house at 11 Queensdown Road, Clapton in August 0f 1877. Downs F.C. started playing on Hackney Downs. They changed their name a...

 and Leyton

Leyton F.C.

Leyton Football Club are an English association football club based in Leyton, in the London Borough of Waltham Forest. As of January 2011, they are not in a senior league, after withdrawing from the Isthmian League Division One North...

 before signing amateur forms with West Ham in 1921. He made his professional debut two years later, against Spurs

Tottenham Hotspur F.C.

Tottenham Hotspur Football Club , commonly referred to as Spurs, is an English Premier League football club based in Tottenham, north London. The club's home stadium is White Hart Lane....

 on 9 February 1924.

Finding opportunities limited up front, Collins switched to wing half to gain regular football, where he once managed 160 consecutive appearances before a cartilage

Cartilage

Cartilage is a flexible connective tissue found in many areas in the bodies of humans and other animals, including the joints between bones, the rib cage, the ear, the nose, the elbow, the knee, the ankle, the bronchial tubes and the intervertebral discs...

 injury ended the run.

Collins was one of the few professional players to be retained after West Ham's relegation

Promotion and relegation

In many sports leagues around the world, promotion and relegation is a process that takes place at the end of each season. Through it, teams are transferred between divisions based on their performance that season...

 in 1932, and appeared in the FA Cup

FA Cup

The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 Semi-final defeat against Everton

Everton F.C.

Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 the following season.

In all, Collins made 336 appearances for West Ham, scoring three goals. He retired from football in 1936.

Collins also owned and trained greyhound

Greyhound

The Greyhound is a breed of sighthound that has been primarily bred for coursing game and racing, and the breed has also recently seen a resurgence in its popularity as a pedigree show dog and family pet. It is a gentle and intelligent breed...

s, and his 'Golden Hammer' finished second in the 1931 English Greyhound Derby

English Greyhound Derby

The English Greyhound Derby, also known as the williamhill.com Greyhound Derby for sponsorship purposes, is the most prestigious race on the UK calendar, with a history stretching back to 1927...

.

External links

• Jimmy Collins at westhamstats.info