Neill William Collins (born 2 September 1983) is a Scottish football manager and former player who is the head coach of USL Championship club Sacramento Republic.

He returned to England as the head coach of Barnsley in July 2023 and was sacked with one game left to play of the 2023–24 season with his team in the League One play-off places.

[4] He began his career with Scottish amateur club, Queen's Park, making his first-team debut in a 2–0 win at Stirling Albion on 24 March 2001.

With Sunderland back in the Championship in 2006–07, Collins was forced to play in the unfamiliar role of right-back after injuries to teammates Stephen Wright and Nyron Nosworthy.

In September 2009, Collins was loaned out to Championship side Preston North End, a move made permanent when he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal for an undisclosed fee in January 2010.

After some indifferent performances early on in the season, Collins scored an own goal in Leeds' 5–2 defeat by Barnsley and was dropped to the bench by manager Simon Grayson at the end of October.

He was a regular in defence for the remainder of the 2010–11 season, playing 14 games, but struggled as the team undertook an ultimately unsuccessful battle against relegation; he later said that "ill discipline was rife at the club on and off the pitch" and "I tried to be like Roy of the Rovers and Terry Butcher rolled into one and it didn't go well".

[25] Now in League One and under the stewardship of Danny Wilson, the 2011–12 campaign saw Collins establish an effective defensive partnership with fellow centre-back Harry Maguire, and he was awarded supporters Player of the Month for September 2011.

[28] With the club still in League One, Collins remained as first-choice in central defence alongside Maguire, captaining the side during Michael Doyle's absence.

During the first half of the 2012–13 season, Collins began to score regularly, netting five times by the start of December as United challenged for automatic promotion.

[29] His good form was halted when he fractured his cheekbone during a game against Scunthorpe United at the end of December, an injury that ruled him out of action for two months.

[35] Manager Rob Page signed him on transfer deadline day and Collins later said that "I had a difficult start... but I grew into the season, we stayed up and I really enjoyed it".

[37] He was named in the Football League Team of the Week after scoring a headed goal in a 2–0 victory at Swindon Town, winning praise for his centre-back partnership with David Edgar.

[44] The Rowdies went on to finish the 2018 season 12th in the USL Eastern Conference table under difficult circumstances, with Collins commenting that "We had players retiring for a variety of reasons, guys getting serious injuries, other off-field problems, it was one thing after another.

[46] The Rowdies finished top of the table in the 2020 season, which was brought to an early end and decided on points per game due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States.

However, the final was cancelled the day before it was due to be played because several Tampa Bay Rowdies players and staff tested positive for COVID-19; the championship would not be awarded.

[54] He oversaw a 7–0 victory over Port Vale in his first game in charge, the biggest opening day defeat for any team in the EFL since the 1962–63 season over 60 years ago.

[57] On 3 September 2024, Collins signed a three-year contract to become head coach of Scottish Championship side Raith Rovers,[58] replacing Ian Murray.

Writing in The Guardian in 2007, Steve Claridge compared Collins to Tony Adams, describing him as "strong and robust" with good positional and organisation skills.