One of the most important players to
wear a Diamonds shirt, Darren's goal scoring record at None
Park is unlikely ever to be beaten. He arrived in the summer
of 1994, a £20,000 signing from Enfield of the Diadora
Isthmian League.
A former Cobbler, Collins scored 11 times in his 68 appearances
at Northampton Town before moving to Aylesbury and subsequently
to north London. His first competitive match for Rushden 6 Diamonds
was a pre-season 'friendly' against Northampton, in which he
opened what would prove to be a very large account with two
goals in a 3-2 victory.
He was, quite simply, a goal machine who had the happy knack
of finding the net when his, or the team's, all-round performance
was below par. You could never write him off and if, as a ‘pundit’
you dared suggest it might be sensible to substitute him, he
would often respond by scoring a solo goal of breathtaking quality.
 |
He netted many vital goals in his six
full seasons with the club, but his outstanding performance
was undoubtedly the virtuoso display in the F.A. Trophy Fourth
Round replay against Enfield at Nene Park on March 25th 1995.
In front of a then-record crowd of 3,007, Collins inspired a
Diamonds fight back, after they had trailed 1-3. He reduced
the arrears and, after an Adie Mann equaliser had taken the
game into extra-time, struck the winner to take his side into
the semi-final After finishing seven goals adrift of his striking
partner, Dale Watkins, at the end of his first season, he topped
the scoring charts for the next five campaigns. An England non-league
international, and widely acknowledged as one of the finest
strikers outside the Football League.
| Nominee |
Votes
|
| Tim Wooding |
72
|
| Darren Collins |
795
|
| Adie Mann |
126
|
| John Flower |
102
|
| Andy Kirkup |
95
|
|
|
|
|
