Jamilu Collins

Jamilu Collins

Personal information
Date of birth	(1994-08-05) 5 August 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth	Kaduna, Nigeria
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
Position(s)	Left-back
Team information
Current team	Cardiff City
Number	17
Youth career
0000–2012	Abuja Football College Academy
2012–2013	Rijeka
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2017	Rijeka	0	(0)
2013–2014	→ Pomorac (loan)	29	(0)
2014–2015	→ Rijeka II	24	(0)
2015	→ Krka (loan)	13	(0)
2016	→ Šibenik (loan)	14	(0)
2016–2017	→ Istra 1961 (loan)	11	(0)
2017	→ Šibenik (loan)	12	(2)
2017–2022	SC Paderborn	127	(2)
2022–	Cardiff City	40	(1)
International career‡
2018–	Nigeria	25	(0)
Medal record Africa Cup of Nations 2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:55, 8 October 2022 (UTC)

Jamilu Collins (born 5 August 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for EFL Championship club Cardiff City and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Rijeka and loans

Born in Kaduna, Collins spent his youth years with Abuja Football College Academy. He was one of several players who moved from Abuja to the HNK Rijeka youth team in mid-2012. ^[2] In October 2012, Collins signed his first professional contract with HNK Rijeka.

In August 2013, he was loaned to NK Pomorac in Druga HNL, where he collected 29 caps. In the following season, he played for HNK Rijeka's reserve side in Croatia's Treća HNL, where he was capped on 24 occasions. ^[3] In May 2015, he signed a new one-year contract with the club, with an option to extend it for an additional year. ^[4]

In June 2015, Rijeka sent Collins on loan to NK Krka in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, where he made 13 appearances before returning to Rijeka in January 2016. ^[5] The following month, Collins was loaned to HNK Šibenik in Druga HNL, where he was a regular starter. Following return from the loan, Rijeka extended Collins' contract until June 2017. He was immediately loaned to fellow Prva HNL club NK Istra 1961. ^[6]

SC Paderborn

On 6 September 2017, free agent Collins joined 3. Liga side SC Paderborn 07 on a two-year contract following trials at the club. ^[7] He scored his first goal for the club two years later with a 35-yard shot against Bayern Munich in a 3-2 defeat. ^[8]

Cardiff City

On 20 May 2022, Collins signed for EFL Championship team Cardiff City. ^[9] Collins said “I’m really excited to be in Cardiff, and I can’t wait to get started. The Club has great history, and when I got the call to come to Cardiff, I was so excited, I couldn’t resist. I’m looking forward to the challenge of the new season. The goal is to fight for the Premier League. I can’t wait to meet the supporters and to fight for the jersey."

On 7 June 2024, the club announced it had extended the player's contract. ^[10]

International career

Collins received his first call-up to the Nigeria national team for an Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Seychelles on 11 September 2018. ^[11] He made his debut a day later in a friendly against Liberia. ^{[12] [13]} Coach Gernot Rohr handed the 24-year-old his competitive debut in the next Afcon qualifying fixture against Libya in Uyo. ^[14] Nigeria defeated the visitors 4–0 and the left-back came close to marking his Super Eagles debut with a goal. ^[15] He featured in the reverse fixture in Sfax, Tunisia, which ended in a 3–2 victory for Nigeria to top Group E.

On 25 December 2021, he was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by Caretaker Coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-man Nigeria squad. ^[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 28 October 2023 ^[17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Rijeka	2013–14	1. HNL	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2014–15	1. HNL	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2015–16	1. HNL	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	2016–17	1. HNL	0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
	Total		0	0	0	0	—		—		0	0
Pomorac (loan)	2013–14	2. HNL	29	0	1	0	—		—		30	0
Rijeka II	2014–15	3. HNL	24	0	—		—		—		24	0
Krka (loan)	2015–16	Slovenian PrvaLiga	13	0	1	0	—		—		14	0
Šibenik (loan)	2015–16	2. HNL	14	0	0	0	—		—		14	0
Istra 1961 (loan)	2016–17	1. HNL	11	0	1	0	—		—		12	0
Šibenik (loan)	2016–17	2. HNL	12	2	0	0	—		—		12	2
SC Paderborn	2017–18	3. Liga	19	0	1	0	—		—		20	0
	2018–19	2. Bundesliga	34	0	4	0	—		—		38	0
	2019–20	Bundesliga	30	1	2	0	—		—		32	1
	2020–21	2. Bundesliga	24	0	1	0	—		—		25	0
	2021–22	2. Bundesliga	20	1	1	0	—		—		21	1
	Total		127	2	9	0	—		—		136	2
Cardiff City	2022–23	EFL Championship	4	0	0	0	0	0	—		4	0
	2023–24	EFL Championship	12	0	0	0	1	0	—		13	0
	Total		16	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	17	0
Career total			246	4	12	0	1	0	0	0	259	4

International

As of matches played on 9 October 2022 ^[18]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2018	4	0
	2019	10	0
	2020	1	0
	2021	9	0
	2022	1	0
Total		25	0

References

1. "Jamilu Collins: SC Paderborn 07". Bundesliga. Retrieved 22 December 2022.
2. "Abuja Football College". Archived from the original on 15 February 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
3. "HNK Rijeka". Archived from the original on 5 July 2018. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
4. "HNK Rijeka". Archived from the original on 25 February 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
5. Goal.com
6. Regional Express
7. "Nigerianer Collins kommt aus Kroatien zum SC Paderborn". Neue Westfälische (in German). 6 September 2017. Retrieved 6 September 2017.
8. "Jamilu Collins ends 24-month SC Paderborn wait with stunner against Bayern Munich | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 2 October 2019.
9. "Jamilu Collins is a Bluebird | Cardiff". www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk. Retrieved 20 May 2022.
10. "2023/24 Retained List | Cardiff". www.cardiffcityfc.co.uk. Retrieved 7 June 2024.
11. "Collins' Aufstieg: Über Paderborn in Nigerias Nationalelf". kicker Online (in German). 7 September 2018. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
12. Abayomi, Tosin. "Rohr hands Super Eagles debut to 2 players". Pulse.ng. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
13. Dede, Steve. "Super Eagles win shitshow of a friendly with 51-year-old president Weah in action". Pulse.ng. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
14. Olasoji, Tolu. "'Perhaps Jamilu Collins will start' - Rohr hints at new left-back ahead of Libya game". Goal. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
15. Olasoji, Tolu. "'Suprised'[sic] Paderborn defender Jamilu Collins keen on making Nigeria's left-back slot his". Goal. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
16. Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Eguavoen announces Nigeria final TotalEnergies AFCON squad". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
17. Jamilu Collins at Soccerway
18. Jamilu Collins at National-Football-Teams.com

External links

• Jamilu Collins at Soccerway
• Jamilu Collins at Croatian Football Statistics (archived) (in Croatian)