Brentford and Ireland captain Nathan Collins on World Cup dreams

Kelly Somers: Nathan, what a time to sit down with you after what's been an incredible season so far. We'll come on to that very shortly, but let's firstly talk about your first memory of playing football.

Nathan Collins: One memory that always pops into my head... it was my first goal at like four or five and I took it around the keeper and I scored. I don't know if it actually happened! I don't think anyone knows if it actually happened, but it always just pops into my mind.

Kelly: There was no witness to this?

Nathan: Potentially not - I've never actually said it really openly... so I think it happened... I'd be surprised if it didn't!

Kelly: Take me back to that time in your life - was football a big thing?

Nathan: I grew up with a football, basically. Everything I have done throughout my whole life was with a football, or any kind of ball really. I played a lot of Gaelic football as a kid. I would have trained football twice with my team during the week, then I would have trained twice with my Gaelic team, then I had a football match on the weekend and then a Gaelic match on the weekend.

And so my parents would drive me to my match, watch that match, finish that match, go home, eat something really quick, straight back out the door for another match and then they'd go to the pub and relax.

They were finished with me then, they were happy!

Kelly: Was there ever a chance you could have gone into Gaelic football rather than football? Were you good? Go on, you can admit it!

Nathan: I was all right... I was not bad. When I was that age, I was bigger than everyone. I'd have been able to run over everyone, so I had that advantage. I'd love to go back and play one day or when I finish football. I really enjoy it.

Kelly: Talk me through your first football team then. You've told me about this goal that the jury's out on whether it got scored or not... what was the first proper team that you played for?

Nathan: The first proper team would have been Cherry Orchard. I think my grandad was a coach and at some time he might have played for them. My dad played for them, my uncle played for them, my cousin played for them, my other uncle played, my older brother played, my younger brother played...

Kelly: You were always going to be a footballer, weren't you? Gosh, when you talk through the list!

Nathan: Yeah, I probably had no choice really, did I? I started there fully like six, seven and I played there 'til 15. Basically, I did a lot of my growing up playing football there. There were times I trained with my brother's team and they'd be four years older than me - my dad would put me into that training session and I'd get bullied and battered... I think he kind of wanted me to get that feeling.

Kelly: Character-building?

Nathan: Yeah, I'd go back and I'd make sure I still had to do the best at my own age group, and then when I go with my brother's I'd have to do a lot more to be there, but it was a bit of character-building. I always just wanted to be the best player I could be.

Kelly: What was your big break then, or the moment?

Nathan: I guess my first break could be when I made my debut for Stoke away to Swansea. We were down to nine men. I think the game was kind of over with 10 minutes to go and the manager put me on. Maybe that was my big break of getting a chance and just putting my name into a first-team match.

Kelly: Going into a game where your team are down to nine men... that's character-building!

Nathan: It was, yeah! Thinking of it now, it's actually kind of mad.

Kelly: You came over to England when you were quite young, didn't you? How old were you?

Nathan: I was 15, yeah.

Kelly: What was that like?

Nathan: I loved it!

Kelly: Did you? Desperate to escape home were you?

Nathan: I left school and played football every day. I loved it!

Kelly: When you put it like that...

Nathan: Yeah, I loved it. Listen, it wasn't easy. You see all your mates growing up together and making that jump from a teenager to an adult and kind of enjoying life in a different way. Whereas I was in digs - just dedicated, just sleeping early, eating and just playing football and not really participating in life itself.

So, that was always tough to see that, but all I ever wanted was just to play football, so I wasn't really that bothered. I was just so happy to be able to be at an academy and enjoy my game.

Kelly: Well you've gone on to have a brilliant career over here in England at a few different clubs. Has there been any particular game that if you could relive it you would?

Nathan: My Ireland debut... maybe something like that. Maybe the Hungary game - relive that, enjoy that whole moment again, because stuff like that doesn't happen often.

Kelly: Go on... make the Ireland fans happy... talk us through your memories of that Hungary game.

Nathan: It's a blur!

Kelly: What it was like?

Nathan: All I remember is the last few minutes. That's all I really cared about at the end of the game. It was a bit of a nothing game. There wasn't a lot of chances either end. I don't think we were playing our best. I don't think they were playing great.

I think it got to, what was it, the 75th maybe and you're just like, 'I don't know... it's just not happening really - it's not clicking, we're not creating enough', and then a little bit of magic from Finn [Azaz] - he chipped a little pass through for Troy [Parrott] and I loved the finish and you're like, 'huh, there's a chance, there's a massive chance...'

And then, last kick of the game - he gets a toe on to it and you're like... you can't believe it! There's pictures and you just see 100 Irish players and staff just running - not in any direction, just randomly, and you're just like, 'how can this game sometimes just have this effect on you and on your body?'

And I think that's why you play football. I think that's what you want... them moments, to enjoy them and just to have them moments in life. It's something special.

Kelly: Have you allowed yourself to think about the possibility of winning that play-off and what the summer could look like?

Nathan: Not really, no.

Kelly: I knew you'd say that, from your whole demeanour!

Nathan: I can't, because then I won't be able to focus on what I have to do here now - on my job at the moment, of playing Premier League matches.

Kelly: Well, incredible times for Ireland and potentially even better. It's not been so bad at Brentford this season, has it?

Nathan: No, it's been an enjoyable season... really good.

Kelly: What's the secret? You'll know that the wider noise was that you've got a new manager in... he's never managed in the Premier League before... you've lost Thomas Frank... 'it's going to be a difficult season for Brentford'.

Well, you've dispelled any of those theories.

Nathan: When you're in football, you hear a lot of things but nobody knows what's going on in the building. No-one knows the quality of squad we have or players we're bringing in, or the staff... the hours they do. So when we came back from the summer off, it just felt like another day.

Kelly: What's Keith Andrews like as a manager? Because, understandably given what he's done, the whole world is now fascinated by him.

Nathan: I've known Keith a long time - before he was a manager. I've known him since I was, like, 16. I've known him a long time. I had him Under-17s Ireland, 18s, 19s, 21s.

Kelly: So were you pleased when you knew he was getting the job?

Nathan: Ah listen, I was buzzing!

Kelly: You can't really say no at this point can you?

Nathan: No, I was buzzing for him, because I know how hard he's worked to get to this stage of his career. He has that balance of when to shout at you and when to be your mate and that man-managing is really important.

Kelly: Let's try and get to know you a little bit more away from the pitch. Firstly, I always like asking: what were you like as a youngster?

Nathan: If you asked my mam or dad, they'd say I was a headcase! I was just a bit itchy, I always had to move. I could never sit still and relax. I always had to do something. So they had to burn me out. I always wanted to be in the grass or playing football, just running around to drain my energy. I think I was hard work for my parents, I'd say it like that!

Kelly: It sounds like maybe it was quite a chaotic household. How many siblings have you got?

Nathan: I've got an older brother, a younger sister and a younger brother. I think it was just a constant battle of me trying to beat my older brother. It was just so hard because the age difference. We all had training at different times and they'd be running out of the house and you'd forget your boots or they'd be taking two cars in different directions. It was a bit of a carnage, but you wouldn't have it any other way.

Kelly: Are you still close now?

Nathan: Ah yeah, of course. I talk to them more or less every day on the phone. Every chance I get to go home I will. My mam goes to every game - home and away. She watches them all.

Kelly: So she flies over? Are they still in Ireland?

Nathan: Yeah, they live in Ireland, so she flies over and she goes everywhere to be fair.

Kelly: Home and away?

Nathan: Yeah.

Kelly: That is some commitment!

Nathan: I know, I tell her, 'listen, you don't have to' and she's like, 'no, I want to'.

Kelly: Not everyone's got a son that's a Premier League footballer though... I kind of get the appeal!

Nathan: Yeah, I don't think that she watches the matches. I think that she just looks at me the whole game and sees what I'm doing. She'll come after, 'Why were you scratching your leg so much in the match?' ... 'I don't know. How do you know that?'

Kelly: Aw, bless her, that's really sweet. How would your best friend describe you?

Nathan: I'd like to think that they'd describe me as the same lad I was growing up. The first thing that would pop in their head... they wouldn't say I'm a footballer. I think they'd just say, 'ah Nathan, he's just a good lad like... he's a bit of craic and he comes out when he can' ... but I don't think that they'd look at me as a footballer, which I really enjoy. And it just means when I'm with them, I can just be myself and just enjoy being one of the lads.

Kelly: So if the manager gives you a day off, what would you do?

Nathan: It depends. If it's a weekday and it's good weather, I'll play golf with a few of the lads here and we'll get out in the sun.

Kelly: Are you any good?

Nathan: I'm all right. Listen, I can play. I'm not the greatest, but I'm not the worst.

Kelly: Who do you play with here?

Nathan: The group right now is me, Keane Lewis-Potter, Kris Ajer, Hakon Valdimarsson. It's a good crew because we have a lot of players and we do a little Ryder Cup-style.

Kelly: Oh nice!

Nathan: So it's staff v players.

Kelly: Wow!

Nathan: Yeah, because there's a lot of players. We did that last year. We did 18 holes in the morning, we went for some lunch, and then we did 18 holes in the afternoon and it was really good fun. Players won, so thank God!

Kelly: Oh, that was my next question. Have you got any secret hobbies?

Nathan: I like cooking, so that's something. When I cook, I think I just forget about everything. I'm just in my own little zone and my head kind of goes quiet, which is nice.

Kelly: Are you a good cook?

Nathan: It depends who you ask...

Kelly: If I was asking your girlfriend...

Nathan: Yeah, she's actually saying: 'Ah, you're getting better at cooking!'

Kelly: That's a bit patronising!

Nathan: Yeah, and I was like... 'Does that mean I was bad?'

Kelly: Fair enough. What do people get wrong about you the most?

Nathan: Maybe I get a bit of stereotypical: 'Ah, he's just a footballer.' Maybe they get that and then think, 'oh, he's actually pretty nice to talk to... he's all right... he's kind of relaxed... he's chill'.

I always want to be just a good person as well. That's important for me, just to be a nice person, a good person, a caring person. As much as I want to be the best footballer I can ever be, I also want to be the best person I can be and I think that's something that I always strive towards as well.

Kelly: What's the toughest moment of your career been? Has there been a tough moment?

Nathan: I had one game for Brentford against Wolves and I had two mistakes in the game. I gave away two goals, we lost 3-1 or something like that and I got battered off the Wolves fans because I'd just left Wolves and the fans had so much to go against me, so much stick. I was like, 'oh my God, this couldn't have got any worse'.

To be fair, that night Thomas Frank rang me and he was like, 'listen Nathan, that's probably the worst game you'll ever have in your career', and he's like, 'so it's only up from here'.

Kelly: That's a pretty good way of looking at it actually isn't it?

Nathan: You're not really wrong there!

Kelly: If you weren't a footballer, what would you have been?

Nathan: I don't know. I honestly don't have a clue.

Kelly: Probably a good thing you were a footballer then...

Nathan: I'd never thought of anything else - that's the scary thing. I never thought of doing anything else. I never thought of participating. It was always sports. If it wasn't football, it would be a different sport most likely.

Kelly: When you finish, could you see yourself as Nathan Collins the coach?

Nathan: I don't know. I'd like to just relax maybe and stay away from football for a little bit. I put a lot into it and I put a lot of effort into it. I try to learn and watch a lot about football, so maybe a bit of a break from there. I'd like to just relax for a few years, just play some golf, chill out with my family.

Kelly: Sounds like quite a good plan. If you can do that, why not?

Nathan: And then maybe I'll get into something. Maybe I'd like business a bit... I'm trying to get into that, but I just can't really. I'm struggling!

Kelly: You're trying to get into business, are you? What are you trying to get into?

Nathan: I don't know really... I'm just trying to get into it a bit.

Kelly: Saying 'I'm trying to get into business' is quite broad!

Nathan: Maybe become a crypto billionaire... that would be nice wouldn't it?!

Kelly: It would be quite nice. If you find out how to do that, let me know!

Nathan: Yeah, I will. As I said, I don't know. I'll see when that comes around the corner. I'll take it a bit more serious, but now I'm trying to enjoy football.

Kelly: What are you proudest of in your career?

Nathan: Probably playing for my country. Yeah, it was a big moment for me and my family. My family - my uncles, my cousins, we all had all the caps... under-15s, 16s, 17s, 18s, 19s, 21s. We never got a senior cap out of one, two, three, five who nearly played professionally. So for me to be able to get it was a good feeling for everyone in that journey - that my family name can have that senior cap to it. That was a really proud moment.

Kelly: If you could only achieve one more thing in your career what would it be?

Nathan: Win the World Cup. That would be unbelievable! Can I say that?

Kelly: That's every player's dream!

Nathan: I'd retire the next day!

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