Jack Collison

Early career

Born in Watford, Hertfordshire and raised in Shefford, Bedfordshire, Collison started out at the local club Shefford Saints as a schoolboy. He moved to Peterborough United, and later Cambridge United, but was forced to find another club when Cambridge announced their disbanding of the youth set-up after being relegated from the Football League, due to financial problems.

West Ham United

Early career

After leaving Cambridge United, the 17-year-old was offered a trial with West Ham and impressed Academy director Tony Carr enough to be offered a first year scholarship. Collison continued his development under Carr and his staff at Little Heath before being made reserve team captain at the start of the 2007–08 season. That summer, the teenager also featured in pre-season friendlies against Hornchurch and Milton Keynes Dons. He made his first-team debut on 1 January 2008, when he came on as a substitute for the injured Freddie Ljungberg in their 2–0 Premier League defeat away to Arsenal. Collison was handed his first league start in place of the injured Mark Noble in a 1–0 defeat away to Bolton Wanderers on 11 April 2008.

Rise to first-team

Collison joined the first-team squad on the pre-season tour of North America where he appeared as a 71st-minute substitute for Scott Parker in the 3–1 win over Major League Soccer club Columbus Crew, followed by a 3–2 defeat to the MLS All-Stars. The 2008–09 season began with Collison in…

Collison was eligible to play for Wales through his maternal grandfather and is related to John Gwilliam, a former captain of the Wales rugby union team. Born and brought up in England, Collison chose to play for Wales due to his Welsh ancestry. His then-West Ham teammate and former Wales captain Craig Bellamy had alerted Wales youth coach Brian Flynn about Collison's eligibility. After observing the 19-year-old, Flynn named him in the squad to face Bosnia and Herzegovina under-21 in a UEFA European U-21 Championship qualifier.

Under-21

In November 2007, Collison made his debut for the Wales under-21 team in that match and scored in a 4–0 rout. He made further appearances in a 4–2 win over France under-21 on 20 November 2007, and a 4–0 win over Malta under-21 on 5 February 2008, in which he scored Wales' third goal. He was in the squad that narrowly lost to England under-21 in the qualification play-offs and were denied a place in the 2009 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. While in the under-21s, he formed a burgeoning partnership with Aaron Ramsey of Arsenal in central midfield.

Senior team

Collison made his senior debut for Wales in a friendly win away at Iceland on 29 May 2008. Bellamy praised the young midfielder saying, "I've seen him every afternoon at West Ham and he does extra training. If you want to give this career a good go then you get the rewards and that seems to be how Jack is looking at it." After the death of Collison's father,…

Whilst still only 26 and a player at Peterborough United, Collison was confirmed as manager of their under-21 team whilst completing his coaching badges. Collison began managing the under-18 team in November 2015, and continued in the role after announcing his retirement from his playing career. On 20 July 2017, it was announced that Collison had returned to West Ham United as under-16 manager. He left the role in June 2019 to coach at MLS team, Atlanta United. He was named head coach of Atlanta United's Reserve team, Atlanta United 2 on June 3, 2021 On 18 January 2023, Collison was announced as the first-ever head coach for MLS Next Pro expansion club Huntsville City, which is the reserve side for Nashville SC. On 9 April 2024, Huntsville City announced that Collison had parted ways with the club with immediate effect.

Club

International