Collins John has had more ups and downs in his life than most. From fleeing a war-torn Liberia as a child, to topping the scoring charts for Fulham and receiving international recognition, it’s fair to say his experiences have been far ranging.
But, speaking to fulhamfc.com over the phone from the balcony at his Dutch home, Collins believes that everything he’s been through has happened for a reason.
“I believe God has a plan,” he explains. “My life, everything that happened, there has to be a reason for it. There has to be something behind that, I’m a big believer. Jumping in a boat with my mother and two young brothers – one was two, one was newborn – just making sure we got out the country, just wanting to be safe. We end up in Holland, and the country ended up giving us a green card and a passport. We settled there, I played football, I made it to the Premier League, I scored in England, got called up to the national team, it’s a crazy story.”
Liberia’s first civil war raged for almost eight years, claiming the lives of around 250,000, including Collins’ father.
As the John family fled, they had no idea that the boat they boarded was bound for the Netherlands. But one can see why Collins believes there was a plan for him, as he went on to join FC Twente when he was 11.
He rattled through the age groups and made his first team debut just six years later with one thing at the forefront of his mind, scoring a first goal to dedicate to his father via a personalised top under his kit. It took a few matches to come, so you can understand his emotion when he did find the back of the net.
“I said to my strike partner, a Danish guy called Kim Christensen, that I don’t know why but I just feel that today’s the day,” he recalls. “I had that shirt under my jersey for about two or three weeks and didn’t score! So when I did I just exploded. Can you imagine the feeling that I had?
“Nobody knew, apart from Kim, because I was in the toilet and I was putting the shirt on underneath and he saw it. I told him the story and he agreed that was the day I was going to score. When I did, it was just an explosion, everyone was holding me, asking me questions about it after the game because they didn’t know the story. My mum was there as well, and my brothers, it was a great day, an amazing day.
“A couple of years ago a journalist told me that every time I score I look angry! I’d heard that before, and he had a point. Every time I scored there was just an emotion that pushed out of my gut, the frustration of everything that I’d been through, the pains, the pains of my mum, the pains of being poor. For me, scoring was a release. Everything just falls out. So there was definitely something there when he said I look angry when I score. It was a release, it was as though only then could I breathe as the tension had gone.”
John’s performances in the Eredivisie did not go unnoticed, and in January 2004 a move to the Premier League beckoned. He still had a decision to make, though, with Fulham and Manchester City both in for his services.
“The moment the phone rang from Fulham, I just knew that’s what I wanted,” Collins says. “I just felt in my gut that I had to choose Fulham. When Cookie, Chris Coleman, rang me, the things he said just made me feel like it was the club for me. He told me they’d sold [Louis] Saha to Manchester United and he wanted to bring me very slowly to the First Team. He told me I’d have time because there was [Brian] McBride who was more experienced, but that I’d still get playing time.
“Edwin van der Sar called me as well. Edwin was a big character in the dressing room, a big figure in the Holland national team. He said, ‘come here, I’m going to look after you. If you’re homesick we’ve got Dutch television so you can just come to my house and we can speak Dutch and be in that environment of being back home.’ I was like, ‘this is a no brainer.’ Man City never made that phone call. I knew of their interest, I knew they’d made a bid as well, but you want people to call you from the club, you want the gaffer to call you, for them to massage you. So for me it was an easy choice to make.”
Coleman didn’t blood the youngster for a few months, but as soon as he did, he had little option than to keep playing him after he scored both goals after coming off the bench in a 2-0 win at Leicester City, in what was only his second appearance in black and white.
“Well that was the intention of the Gaffer, but when he scores two against Leicester and you need points, you can’t drop the striker, you can’t kill his confidence, so he kept me on against Blackburn two days after and I scored two again, and that was an amazing feeling.
“I had a great relationship with Cookie. I spoke to him a couple of years ago actually before he went to China, just after he left Sunderland. One of the things I always felt with Cookie, yes he was the Gaffer, but he was one of us as well. His man management was very good. He was always telling us how to be confident, how to play with freedom, to express ourselves. He always gave you that boost to believe in yourself, and that’s what I needed. I wanted to hear the right things from my manager, telling me I was good enough to score at this level, and he was very good at that. He was brilliant to me. I remember my mum was not well, she was in hospital a few times, and he gave me time off to go back home. Say the squad had a day off, he’d give me two days so I could go and visit her. All these little things he was very good at, and I appreciated that so much.”
Two caps for the full Netherlands team were won before his first year at Fulham was out, and his stock continued to rise when he was our top scorer in 2005/06, despite making more substitute appearances than starts – (“It’s actually I pity I didn’t start more games because I was so confident that season that I’m sure I could have hit 20 goals easily.”)
The following term was a testing period for both Club and player. With the Whites battling against relegation, Coleman was relieved of his position. John’s mentor was gone.
“Cookie got the sack and the new gaffer comes in, Lawrie Sanchez,” he says. “I remember the first day when he came in, he told me he was going to sign [Diomansy] Kamara and [David] Healy and that I could go and find another club or fight for my place. I think I knew that my time at Fulham was nearly over, and that was painful but, you know, that’s football. You have to move on. I chose to stay another six months I think it was and then went to Leicester on loan.
“Fulham was the longest spell I had at a club, and the best spell. I was settled, I was in love with the city, I was in love with the Club, I was in love with the fans. Everything was great. But sometimes you make wrong choices, sometimes things happen on the way that you didn’t expect, but that’s football. Who knows, if Cookie had stayed maybe I’d have been there another five years. But it’s always if, if, if. But for sure Fulham was my best time.”
After bursting onto the scene in the manner he did, does he think he should have achieved more in SW6?
“It’s always hard to say. I’m very religious and believe that everyone has a plan. For me to appear in 100-plus games for Fulham, maybe that was God’s plan. I went to Leicester and really didn’t enjoy it, not to disrespect them as a football club, but my feeling at Fulham was completely different. Maybe that’s because I was disappointed at that time because I’d had to leave Fulham. Then I went to Watford and didn’t really enjoy my time either. Every player has a club where they feel more appreciated or more loved, and you feel more at home there. For me, I think God gave me a plan and a certain time, and just wanted me to make the best out of it. Of course you can always say, ‘what if?’ I think everything that happened was for a reason, but of course I wish I had scored more goals and played more games for Fulham.”
After leaving Craven Cottage, Collins became something of a nomad, taking in spells in the United States, Poland, and Iran, to name a few of the countries he plied his trade in. But it was a stint in Eastern Europe with a former England captain that he lists as the most bizarre.
“It would have to be Azerbaijan,” he states. “Tony Adams was the gaffer there and brought me in, but I just couldn’t settle. It was a totally different environment, the internet reception was bad so you couldn’t speak to your family, sometimes you’d make a phone call and it would just cut out. I was alone as well. At that time my mother was ill and I was so homesick. That was very strange. The gameplan would be at 3pm and then the kick-off would be at 4pm, but nobody would tell you! Everything was just all over the place there. Baku, the capital, is a great city, but we were a three hour drive out. There was just one hotel in our city, no supermarkets, no cars, and I just couldn’t settle. I told Tony that we had to sort something out with the contract and then I left.”
Living back in Holland has done little to quell Collins’ appetite for all things Fulham, and he now loves nothing more than sitting in the stands with his fellow fans.
“I went to Reading this season when we absolutely battered them 4-1. Fulham can absolutely disgrace teams when we’re on our game!” he beams. “I was at the Cottage this year for the Championship wins against Leeds and Middlesbrough, and walking up the stands you meet a lot of fans calling your name and asking for autographs. I really appreciate that every time I come to a Fulham game. Last year I came onto the pitch as well at half-time of the West Ham game in the Premier League and got a brilliant reception. I appreciate the fans, they’re great. It’s really a family club.
“I love Fulham. If a team gives me a chance to make my dream come true, then I owe them. I wanted to be in the Premier League, and for Fulham to sign me, surely I have to thank them for the rest of my life, because it meant so much to me. Now I bring my daughter to London, my mum, my girlfriend, and they feel what I was feeling back then. I want to spend the rest of my life in that city and support Fulham. They will stay in my heart for the rest of my life.”
It sounds as though if Collins gets his way, he’ll be in a position to become a Season Ticket Holder at the Cottage in the not too distant future.
“The moment I stepped foot in that city I just knew it was for me. And looking back, I still feel like a Londoner. I love everything about that city. I’d like to start another life there in the future, so let’s just see if I can get the missus to agree to that!”