| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Colin Joseph Hawkins[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1977-08-17)17 August 1977 (age 47) | ||
| Place of birth | Galway, Ireland | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Position(s) | Centre back | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Salthill Devon | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1995–1997 | Coventry City | 0 | (0) |
| 1997–2000 | St Patrick's Athletic | 89 | (17) |
| 2000–2001 | Doncaster Rovers | 38 | (4) |
| 2001–2004 | Bohemians | 88 | (5) |
| 2004–2007 | Shelbourne | 52 | (3) |
| 2007–2008 | Coventry City | 13 | (0) |
| 2008 | →Chesterfield (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2008–2010 | Brighton & Hove Albion | 18 | (0) |
| 2010 | Sporting Fingal | 9 | (2) |
| 2011 | Dundalk | 25 | (4) |
| 2012 | Shamrock Rovers | 21 | (1) |
| Total | 358 | (36) | |
| International career | |||
| 1998–1999 | Republic of Ireland U21 | 8 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2013 | Shamrock Rovers (assistant) | ||
| 2014 | Shamrock Rovers B | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Colin Joseph Hawkins (born 17 August 1977) is an Irish retiredfootballer and current manager ofShamrock Rovers B. Hawkins was acentral defender withShamrock Rovers along with a number of other clubs in the League of Ireland and cross-channel in England. He has represented theRepublic of Ireland at youth andU21 levels.
Hawkins made his firstLeague of Ireland appearance as a schoolboy forSalthill Devon on 14 August 1994. He produced an impressive display despite his side losing 4–0 to Athlone Town in theLeague of Ireland Cup. After finishing his secondary education Hawkins was offered a 2-year contract with then EnglishPremiership side Coventry City after impressing in trials. Hawkins played for theRepublic of Ireland national under-19 football team in the1996 UEFA European Under-18 Championship finals in Luxembourg. After the 1996/97 season the Coventry management deemed Hawkins to be surplus to requirements and released him, having never played a senior game. That summer he played a starring role in theBrian Kerr managed Republic of Ireland under-20 side in the1997 FIFA World Youth Championships, helping Ireland to 3rd place.
Despite interest from several British sides Hawkins signed for Irish top flight clubSt Patrick's Athletic, where he linked up with fellow Bronze medallists from the FIFA World Youth Championships,Trevor Molloy andThomas Morgan. Hawkins immediately earned a starting spot alongside Packie Lynch and their solid base helped St Pats win the championship in his first season. Hawkins played in theChampions Leaguepreliminary round againstCeltic in 1998, in a 0–0 draw atCeltic Park. He was rewarded with thePlayers' Young Player of the Year Award. In November 1998 he was awarded theFAI national League player of the year award. St Pats also won the league in Hawkins second season. During these years he would represent Ireland many times at Under 21 level. Hawkins was injured at the start of the 1999/2000 season and on his return was played in a deep midfield role. He was not comfortable there and his performance levels dropped remarkably. Towards the end of the season it was announced that he would not stay with St Pats, but join EnglishFootball Conference sideDoncaster Rovers.
Hawkins was signed byIan Snodin, but within weeks Snodin was sacked and replaced by Steve Wignall. Wignall did not rate Hawkins as highly as Snodin did, and initially Hawkins had to be content with only substitute appearances. He broke into the starting line up in November 2000 and remained there for the rest of the 2000/01 season. Hawkins had firmly established himself in the side during the first half of the 2001/02 season but was forced to leave the club, after Doncaster were forced to cut their playing squad down due to financial restrictions.
November 2001 saw Hawkins return to Ireland to play forBohemians and he made his debut for the "Gypsies" against former club St. Pats on 30 November. In 2003 Hawkins won his third league winners medal as Bohemians won their second title in 3 years, though Hawkins was never a popular player inDalymount Park due to consistent poor performances.
At the end of the 2004 season, Bohemians Dublin rivalsShelbourne signed 3 out-of-contract players from Bohemians; Hawkins,Glen Crowe, andBobby Ryan. Hawkins won his fourth league title, and his first piece of silverware at Shelbourne, as they won their third title in 4 years in November 2006 defeating Bohemians 2–1 to clinch the top spot.
In January 2007 Hawkins made a free transfer back toChampionship sideCoventry City, the team where he signed his first professional contract. This time however Hawkins went on to make several very impressive appearances in his first season back, helpingCoventry City stay clear of relegation. A troublesome Achilles injury restricted Hawkins to just a solitary start in his second season (againstNotts County in theLeague Cup) and with the arrival of new managerChris Coleman he was deemed surplus to requirements and his contract was not renewed.
On 28 May 2008, it was revealed that Hawkins had become first signing by managerMicky Adams in his second spell as manager atLeague OneBrighton, agreeing a two-year contract. Hawkins andAdams had previously worked together atCoventry.[2] Following the completion of his two-year contract, Hawkins was released by Brighton.
Hawkins returned to Ireland in June 2010 when he signed forSporting Fingal as he wanted to return home for family reasons.[3] He was part of the team that bowed out the UEFA Europa league after losing 6–4 on aggregate toMarítimo. Hawkins found himself without a club three weeks before the start of the 2011 season after Sporting Fingal cancelled all their players contracts and later folded.
Two days afterSporting Fingal folded Hawkins followed his former teammateGreg Bolger and signed a one-year deal withDundalk.
On 13 January 2012 Hawkins signed for the League of Ireland Champions, and his fifth Dublin club, as a player-coach[4]