Barnsley Football Club is saddened to learn of the passing of former Reds defender Lee Collins.
Lee was born in Telford in 1988 and would embark upon his football career with Wolverhampton Wanderers, turning professional in 2007 before joining Hereford United on loan that year, making 22 appearances and helping the club to a League One promotion.
His next loan move saw him head to Port Vale and in the January of 2009 he made the switch a permanent one, making over 150 appearances for the Valiants over the next few years, alerting other clubs to his talent in the process.
In March of 2012 he was signed by Keith Hill for the Reds - initially on loan - and would make seven appearances in a Barnsley shirt towards the end of that second tier campaign.
Despite his early promise and featuring in pre-season, Collins never played again for the club and would join Shrewsbury Town on loan, teaming up again with his former Hereford boss Graham Turner.
After being released by Barnsley in 2013, he joined Northampton Town and was made captain by then-manager Chris Wilder before being released in the summer of 2015.
Next up for Collo was a move to Field Mill and Mansfield Town, snapped up by current Reds coach Adam Murray for the League Two outfit at the time. He was again made captain and would play 82 times in his two-year spell with the Stags.
He was Forest Green Rovers' first signing as a Football League club back in 2017 and enjoyed two years with FGR, playing alongside Reds' 'keeper Brad Collins and appearing in their playoff campaign of 2018/19.
Lee joined newly-relegated Yeovil Town for the 2019/20 season and made 30 appearances for the Glovers who were eliminated from the National League playoffs at the semi final stage. The versatile defender had suffered with injury this season but returned to the subs bench in last weekend's victory over Barnet.
At just 32-years-old, everyone at Oakwell is devastated by the news of Lee Collins' death and ahead of tomorrow evening's Sky Bet Championship fixture with Reading, there will be a moment to pay tribute to our former player whilst the first team squad will wear black armbands to pay their own respects.
Our thoughts as a Club are with Lee's family, particularly his partner and three children and with all of his friends and colleagues at Yeovil Town.
Once A Red, Always A Red.
