A Republic of Ireland international, Nathan Collins comes from a footballing family.
His father, David, was on the books at Liverpool and played alongside Roy Keane for Ireland Under-21s.
His uncle Eamonn Collins was an Ireland youth captain, while his cousin Mikey also represented his country up to U21 level.
Collins came through the youth ranks at Cherry Orchard in Ireland before joining Stoke City aged 15.
He spent two years in the Stoke Academy with his debut coming in a 3-0 defeat to Swansea City in April 2019, aged 17.
10 days later he made his first start for Stoke away at Middlesborough in a 0-0 draw.
The following season, Collins became Stoke’s youngest-ever captain (18y 105d) when Nathan Jones handed him the armband for a Carabao Cup tie against Wigan Athletic.
Collins made 27 appearances in his final year at Stoke before being sold to Burnley in June 2021 and beginning a new challenge in the Premier League.
He received his first Republic of Ireland call-up later that year and made his debut in a 4-0 win over Qatar at Aviva Stadium, Dublin.
“We had every cap up to the U21s, but we were always missing the one senior cap for our family name,” Collins recalled.
“It was an emotional moment for me and my family. I was coming on at 4-0 up but it was unbelievable. My dad, my mam and my brother were very emotional; it was a massive deal for us.”
Despite Burnley’s relegation, Collins was one of the Clarets’ key players and was picked up by Wolverhampton Wanderers in July 2022.
He played 26 Premier League games for the Black Country side and moved to Brentford the following summer.
In his first season with the Bees, he made 35 appearances in all competitions and scored his first league goal for the club in a 3-2 win over West Ham United at Gtech Community Stadium.
During the 2024/25 campaign, Collins was the only outfield player in the Premier League to play every single minute of the season, in which time he put in 38 impressive displays at centre-back.
Following the departure of Christian Nørgaard to Arsenal, the Irishman was named Brentford's club captain in August 2025.