For the last few years Aston Villa are regarded has having one of the best academies in the country.
And this season that school of thought has been enhanced further with the likes of Ciaran Clark, Marc Albrighton, Nathan Delfouneso and Barry Bannan all making an impression when called upon for first team duties.
The aforementioned quartet of players have all been part of the club’s recent success at reserve and youth level, but at times these youngsters were overshadowed by another graduate – James Collins. Or as he was better known during his time at Villa Park, James Collins Jnr, to avoid any confusion with the club’s Welsh central defender of the same name.
During the 2007/2008 campaign, Collins was the academy’s leading goalscorer with 23 goals, also scoring one of the goals as the Villa youngsters went on to scoop the national award at the expense of Manchester City.
But with the likes of Emile Heskey, Gabriel Agbonlahor, John Carew, Darren Bent and Delfouneso all ahead of him in the pecking order at one time or another, Villa decided that Collins chances of making an impact on their first team squad were limited – something that left a number of the Villa supporters scratching their heads.
Collins understands the club’s decision though, unselfishly taking the time to praise the team-mates he has left behind rather than holding any bitterness.
“There are some fantastic strikers at Villa currently,” reveals the 20-year-old. “With players like Agbonlahor ahead of me I knew it would be difficult to break into the first team.
“I’m very happy for the likes of Ciaran and Marc. They are very gifted footballers and are showing everyone what they can do at the moment.
“It’s come as no surprise to me how well they have adapted to Premier League football.
“We won the league three times in a row at academy level and they were always the stand out players among a very good squad.”
While his friends continue to ply their trade in one of Europe’s top leagues, Collins is part of a Shrewsbury Town team battling for promotion from League Two. At the time of writing the Shrews are currently four points off an automatic promotion berth.
Collins, who linked up with the club in January via a loan spell with Burton Albion, is happy at a club he believes will go close to tasting success this season.
“Paul Peschisolido [Burton manager] was great to me and was keen for me to join Burton permanently,” says Collins. “But as soon as I knew of Shrewsbury’s interest I was sure of where I wanted to play.
“Shrewsbury were a club challenging at the top end of the table while Burton were struggling towards the bottom.
“It wasn’t an easy decision because Burton are a good club and I was settled there, but after meeting the manager [Graham Turner] my mind was made up.
“Ideally we will go up automatically this season. If not I’d like to think we can nail down a play-off position and go from there.
“With the squad we have at Shrewsbury we are more than capable of mounting a serious challenge.”
Collins has already made a positive impression on the Greenhous Meadow stadium faithful, finding the net on four occasions as the business end of the season approaches.
Such form has led to Republic of Ireland under-21 coach Noel King requesting his services for an up and coming trip to Portugal. Should the centre forward make an appearance, it will be his seventh at that level, a fact that fills Coventry-born Collins with pride.
“It is a great honour to represent the Republic of Ireland,” says Collins. “I qualify to play for them because my mother is Irish.
“Being involved at that level is fantastic because we are then regarded as the best players at our age group in the whole country.
“It looks brilliant on your CV and I’m hoping that my international career is only beginning.”
For senior manager Giovanni Trapattoni to come calling, Collins is only too aware that he will have to be scoring goals at a higher level than he is currently playing at. While harbouring ambitions of returning to the top division at some stage, Collins maintains he is happy at Shrewsbury for now.
“Some would see dropping from the Premier League down to League Two as a negative but I don’t,” insists Collins. “There are a lot of creative players at Shrewsbury and we set out with a good philosophy.
“Obviously I want to play at the highest level, but for that to happen I have to produce decent form week in, week out for Shrewsbury.
“If a club in the Championship or Premier League show some interest then great, but right now I will do everything possible to help Shrewsbury gain promotion.”
Whether Shrewsbury gain that promotion this season remains to be seen, however, if they don’t, you get the impression Collins could be moving up without them.