Sky Sports 1, 2 & 3.
The Tony Collins Story
Friday 10:30 pm
Length 30 mins
Football’s Forgotten Master Spy.
A Sky Sports New Focus Fund documentary looking at the career of Tony Collins.
The life of English football’s first black manager is to be celebrated in a new Sky Sports documentary to be shown TODAY FRIDAY 4/10/2024
Tony Collins made history when he took charge of Rochdale aged 34 in September 1960. During his seven years in the Spotland dugout Dale reached the League Cup final – one of only two fourth-tier teams to do so.
To this day he remains the only black British manager to take his team to a major cup final. But despite that success Collins, who died in 2021 aged 94, never got another managerial job, although he always refused to countenance the possibility that was because of the colour of his skin. So, be sure to watch the telly tonight for a piece of History many fans will not be aware of.
The documentary will air this Friday (4th October) at 10.30pm on a number of Sky Sports channels, following the live match between Sunderland and Leeds United.
Long-term Dale fan Geoff Kindon has been involved in the filming of the documentary. We would like to thank Geoff and the numerous Dale fans who offered insight, imagery and footage of Mr Collins’ time at Dale towards the documentary.
