Brentford defeated Queens’ Park Rangers 1-0 in their second preseason game of the season. The win came courtesy of their new captain, Nathan Collins who scored the goal in the third minutes of the game.
Brentford had needed to name a captain since Christian Norgaard joined Arsenal this summer for a deal around 20m. The Bees eventually announced Collins as new captain of the team just before the QPR game.
Collins proved himself a leader as he nodded the ball home in the opening minutes of his first game as captain. Brentford announced Collins as new captain via a statement on their Official Website.
You can watch the goal below
The club statement read:
“Nathan Collins has been named as the new Brentford captain.
“The armband was available after the departure of Christian Nørgaard to Arsenal this summer, and Bees head coach Keith Andrews has handed it to Collins ahead of the 2025/26 season.”
Collins became Stoke’s youngest-ever captain (18y 105d), and the Republic of Ireland international has also captained his country in the absence of Séamus Coleman.
Keith Andrews who is not new in the Brentford set-up but new as the head coach of the Bees had a lot to say about Collins.
The gaffer said:
“Nathan’s someone I’ve known since he was around 14 years of age, coaching some of the Ireland youth teams.
“He’s always been a natural leader, he’s gained a lot of experience considering the age that he is, and he’s developed his professionalism to a new level because he’s been involved in this environment for a couple of years and has learnt from some great people.
“He communicates very well, he’s got really good values, on and off the pitch, and, naturally, players gravitate towards him – he has respect from all the players and staff, which is a key attribute to have.
“Nathan is a brilliant fit, but he’s just one player and he needs the support of all of us and all the players within the dressing room.
“We’ve got some fantastic experience, which will include a leadership group that’s been selected around Nathan and they will all have a voice in how we do things, because I’m big on player involvement in the process, what we do, and how we do it.”
Last term, 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.
