Roddy Collins is the new Derry City manager, the club has confirmed.
Roddy Collins.
Collins (52), who quit Athlone Town at the end of last season, succeeds Declan Devine and will be assisted by former Brandywell captain and favourite, Peter Hutton.
Collins has had a long playing and managerial career on both sides of the border before moving to the Brandywell hotseat.
Collins enjoyed a wide ranging playing career including spells with Bohemians, Shamrock Rovers, Dundalk, Crusaders, Mansfield and a string of other clubs.
He took charge as player manager at Bangor, avoiding relegation in the 95/96 season before finishing his playing career with St Francis.
After a couple of years away for the game, he returned to the League of Ireland to replace Joe McGrath at Bohemians.
After stabilising the club over several years, he led Bohs to the double in 2000/01 as well as famous victories against Aberdeen and Kaiserlautern.
His prominence increased further when he moved to Carlisle United and starred in a fly-on-the-wall documentary “The Rod Squad” which detailed his time at the club.
Derry men John Cunningham and Paul Kee were also part of the management set up at the club but the Cumbrians consistently struggled near the foot of the table, with Collins eventually dismissed.
Spells at Dublin City and Shamrock Rovers followed, with Collins responsible for bringing Paddy McCourt to play for the Hoops.
With financial troubles, Stephen Kenny brought the talismanic midfielder to the Brandywell .
A foreign adventure was the next with Collins managing Floriana of Malta for a brief period before returning to take over at Cork City.
However, this was during the last days of Tom Coughlan’s troubled tenure at the club and Collins eventually left as the club were denied a licence and therefore he never managed a game.
He replaced Mick Cooke at Monaghan and won promotion.
However, financial difficulties saw them exit the League in June 2012, which saw Collins snapped up by Athlone later that year, leading the Midlanders to the First Division title last season.
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