Friday, March 23, 2007
Paying to play
Ex-Scotland boss Craig Brown has revealed how midfielder John Collins loved turning out for his country so much he paid to play at Euro 96.
He said: "I'll never forget how John paid to take part in Euro 96.
"He had just agreed to go to Monaco on a Bosman and had three weeks to go before his contract at Celtic ran out, so he had big fears over the insurance implications of being injured in training or during a game.
"The SFA insured him but the policy only covered the remaining wages of his Celtic contract and a pay-out of around £2million to his club for a career-ending injury.
"I advised him to take out his own policy. For a month it cost him £3600 and he only got £1500- a-game appearance money for Scotland before tax.
"So in effect it ended up costing John to play for us against the likes of England."
He said: "I'll never forget how John paid to take part in Euro 96.
"He had just agreed to go to Monaco on a Bosman and had three weeks to go before his contract at Celtic ran out, so he had big fears over the insurance implications of being injured in training or during a game.
"The SFA insured him but the policy only covered the remaining wages of his Celtic contract and a pay-out of around £2million to his club for a career-ending injury.
"I advised him to take out his own policy. For a month it cost him £3600 and he only got £1500- a-game appearance money for Scotland before tax.
"So in effect it ended up costing John to play for us against the likes of England."
