THE LAST WORD: The mascot who has lived his dream and captained Castlehaven to county glory

ONCE described by his current club manager James McCarthy as ‘the dream player’, Mark Collins lived his own dream on Sunday.

When he was a baby-faced four-year-old Collins was the mascot for Castlehaven in the derby county senior football final that brought West Cork to a standstill. It was Haven v O’Donovan Rossa in 1994.

He should have been too young for it to resonate, but it still did.

‘I walked in the parade as a kid when we won the county in 1994, and I used to go home pretending I was captain of a winning Castlehaven team,’ Collins recalled after last weekend’s county final win against Nemo Rangers.

On the same Páirc Uí Chaoimh ground, albeit redeveloped since, the former mascot was now a county-winning captain. That was his dream, and he lived it.

‘Now that it’s happened, it’s just an incredible feeling,’ he beamed.

Just like Collins made front page news of The Southern Star on September 24th, 1994, in a photo of the Haven and Rossa mascots ahead of the derby final – the Skibb mascot would turn out to be Collins’ future Cork team-mate Colm O’Driscoll – the Castlehaven captain is on the front page of both this week’s Star and Star Sport covers. Still in the headlines in his beloved blue and white.

Back in 1994 Collins was decked out in his father Francis’s jersey, shorts and socks that were too big for him, but he has since grown and developed into one of the finest footballers to wear the Castlehaven jersey. This Douglas boy was always destined to play football for his father’s home club; it was in his DNA and the pull was too strong. His first game for Haven was a South-West U21A football championship tie against Dohenys in March 2016; he had turned 16 just a few months earlier and came off the bench as Castlehaven won. The Haven manager that day was James McCarthy – and the duo have had a strong bond since, so much so Collins is one of the reasons the club’s current senior boss broke one of his own rules.

Castlehaven captain Mark Collins raises the Andy Scannell Cup after their victory over Nemo Rangers. (Photo: David Ribeiro)

McCarthy’s latest stint as Haven manager is in its fourth season, but usually he stays two years before passing the torch on to the next man. But Mark Collins had a different vision in mind. He stepped back from the Cork football panel in early 2022 and wanted to focus his efforts on Castlehaven and winning another county title; he had two already, in 2012 when he was man-of-the-match in the final and in 2013. 

‘One of the reasons I stayed on was Mark Collins,’ McCarthy admits. 

‘He gave up his Cork career and he said to me that he wanted to win another county with Castlehaven. He was putting a bit of pressure on me and the backroom team to stay on, and he is such a gent that he is very hard to turn down. 

‘It was a joy to see him lift the cup on Sunday. He’s that good, if he wanted to play with Cork he’d be on the team in the morning, but his heart was with Castlehaven and he knew he couldn’t do both.’

McCarthy’s decision to stay on has paid off, for him, Collins and everyone involved, as Castlehaven retook top spot in the county after last weekend’s success against Nemo. Collins now has three county senior football titles, and hailed this one as ‘a little bit sweeter’ considering how close they had come in recent years. You’d struggle to find someone who would begrudge Collins his moment to captain Haven to glory.

‘To win one with him – and I’ll also say for him – is amazing. Ask anyone on our panel or in the greater Castlehaven community, they will all tell you he is just an amazing person. He has time for everyone. He is very genuine. So to win one for him being captain makes it extra special,’ county final man-of-the-match Michael Hurley says.

Collins is 33 years old now and is still a class act, able to knit the Castlehaven play like few others can. He still ticks so many boxes. A very intelligent footballer. Reads the game better than most. Superb passer. Consistent. Great awareness and vision. Can score. Leads by example. Rarely gives the ball away. An ever-present; between Haven’s county final wins in 2013 and’23, he didn’t miss a championship game.

As current Cork football manager John Cleary told the Star in 2019, ‘You can always depend on Mark. It’s rare that he has an off-day. He is very, very consistent. From a club point of view, he is always brilliant under pressure and has led by example. On the big occasion he always stands up.’

Last Sunday, Collins stood up again as Castlehaven reclaimed top spot in Cork club football, and it was a dream come true for their own captain fantastic. 

Back in 1994 when the photo of the mascots was taken in the garden at Ger ‘Blondie’ O’Brien’s house out the Tragumna Road in Skibbereen, Collins was a kid full of dreams wearing a kit far too big for him; his father forgot to pack Mark’s jersey, shorts and socks so he had wear his, and they almost swallowed him up. Look at him now: the county-winning Castlehaven captain. That’s as good as it gets.