Colin Healy

Early career

Healy played local soccer with Ballincollig and then Wilton United. He attended the FAS/FAI course in Cork run by former Celtic and Cork City midfielder Mike Conroy and from here he was taken to Celtic Park. He would go on to score three goals for Celtic, his first coming in a league game against Dundee in February 2000. His other two goals came in Scottish League Cup ties against Hearts and Stirling Albion. With Celtic he won a Scottish League Cup medal, playing in the team that beat Kilmarnock 3–0 at Hampden on 18 March 2001.

Sunderland

Sunderland signed Healy from Celtic in 2003. In December 2003 he broke his leg in a match against a former loan club, Coventry City after a challenge by Moroccan international Youssef Safri. In October 2004, he broke his leg again soon after resuming training with Sunderland, after a tackle from then manager Mick McCarthy. In January 2006, it was announced that Healy's contract with Sunderland had expired, and the midfielder left the club.

Livingston and Barnsley

Healy joined SPL club Livingston on 10 March 2006 until the end of the season. On 10 August 2006 Healy signed a one-year contract with Barnsley. Having made only 10 appearances for Barnsley, he had his contract cancelled by mutual consent.

Cork City and FIFA case

On 20 February 2007 he signed a two-year contract with hometown League of Ireland club Cork City, alongside former international colleague Gareth Farrelly. FIFA ruled both…

After retirement from playing he was Cork City's "head of academy" for a number of seasons before being appointed "first team head coach" in December 2020. He resigned the post in May 2023. In February 2024, he was named as Eileen Gleeson's assistant manager of the Republic of Ireland women's national team alongside Emma Byrne on a permanent basis, having been in the role since 2023 while Gleeson was originally in interim charge of the team. Healy left this role in late 2024, when his contract was not extended by the FAI, in circumstances described in some sources as "controversial" and "disgraceful". On 5 May 2025, he was appointed as manager of League of Ireland First Division club Kerry.

Healy played and scored a goal against Australia at the FIFA World Youth Championship finals in Nigeria in 1999. He represented his country at the UEFA U-19 Championship in Sweden in 1999, and won a bronze medal. During the Saipan incident between Mick McCarthy and fellow Cork man Roy Keane at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Healy was called upon by McCarthy as the replacement should Keane be dropped from the squad. A succession of changes-of-heart by the Manchester United player led to the call-up being delayed and the deadline passing, with Healy unable to join the World Cup squad.

Healy was born in Ballincollig, County Cork. He came from a sporting family, with his grandfather Paddy Healy having been a Gaelic footballer and hurler who won All-Ireland Senior Football Championship and All-Ireland Senior Hurling Championship medals with the Cork inter-county football and hurling teams in 1945 and 1946. Married with two children, Healy's wife died in April 2024. His son, Arran Healy, signed with Cork City in mid-2024, later moving to Kerry FC.