Stan Collymore

Early career

Collymore was born at Groundslow Hospital, Tittensor, Staffordshire to a Barbadian father and English mother. He first took an interest in football as a child, and grew up supporting Aston Villa. He started playing soon after as a centre forward for Cannock Peelers and Penkridge Juniors, before starting his professional career as an apprentice with Walsall, and later Wolverhampton Wanderers, before being released and signing for then Conference team, Stafford Rangers.

Crystal Palace (1991–92)

While playing for Stafford Rangers, Collymore was spotted by a scout from First Division side Crystal Palace and signed with the club on 4 January 1991, when he was 19 years old. He made his first team debut for Palace on 23 April, coming on as a 76th minute substitute in a match against Liverpool. Collymore would remain with Palace for nearly two years, but struggled to find a place in the first team ahead of the prolific goalscoring partnership of Mark Bright and Ian Wright, and left the club in November 1992.

Southend United (1992–93)

Collymore joined First Division strugglers Southend United for £150,000 on 20 November 1992, as the club was stuck firmly in the second tier relegation battle with the likes of Birmingham, Oxford and Peterborough. Collymore would score 15 goals in 30 league appearances that season, with his goalscoring record and form helping Southend to claw their way out of the bottom three and finish the season in 18th, after…

After an impressive debut season in the Premier League, Collymore was called up to Terry Venables' England squad for the Umbro Cup in June 1995. The 24-year-old made his début at Wembley Stadium against Japan, partnering Alan Shearer in a 2–1 win. He won his second cap as a 90th minute substitute against Brazil. Collymore made his third and final appearance for England as a substitute in a 4–0 win over Moldova during qualification for the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

Collymore contributed to his biography Stan: Tackling my demons with Oliver Holt. In 2005, he played the character Kevin Franks in the film Basic Instinct 2 alongside Sharon Stone. On 20 October 2008, Collymore won more than £1.5 million in damages from his financial advisers, for the poor investment advice he had been given since retiring from professional football in 2001. The judge ruled that Collymore had been given advice that was in breach of statutory obligations. Collymore worked as a football pundit and presenter on the Talksport radio station for eight years between 2008 and 2016. He also worked as a commentator for BT Sport, he was released from his contract in 2015 for criticising their lack of action regarding sectarian chanting during a game between Rangers and Raith Rovers. He writes a column for caughtoffside.com.

Collymore has talked openly about his mental health issues. He began to seek counselling after he was diagnosed with clinical depression, stress and anxiety in 1999 while playing for Aston Villa. He also stated in his autobiography that he has been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder (BPD). Since retiring, he has continued to struggle with depression, and uses his Twitter account to raise awareness of the condition. He is a supporter of Republic, a British republican pressure group advocating the replacement of the monarchy of the United Kingdom with a de jure parliamentary republic. He supported the Labour Party before leaving them for the Scottish National Party (SNP) in December 2015 after a notable minority of Labour MPs supported airstrikes in Syria.

Incidents

In early 1998, Collymore was accused of assault by the mother of his child, Michelle Green; she alleged he had punched her in the face and caused injury after an argument regarding their son on 22 December 1997. Collymore denied the accusations, and was found not guilty and cleared of any charges at a court hearing on 28 April 1998. Around the same time, he was in a relationship with the Swedish-British television presenter and model Ulrika Jonsson, which ended after he assaulted her in a Paris bar on 9 June 1998. He later apologised for the incident. Collymore made front page news in February 2000 while playing for Leicester City, when, during a team break in Spain, he set off a fire…