ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. – The chant from Ralph’s Mob rang around Al Lang Stadium in the minutes that built up to the final whistle.

“Super, Super Neill,
Super, Super Neill,
Super, Super Neill,
Super Neilly Collins.”

A final win in hand, the tribute began on the video board, highlighting Neill Collins’ exploits as a player, and then as the club’s Head Coach for the past five years.

In the center circle, Collins’ players elevated him into the night sky before Collins himself went around the group giving massive hugs to all.

There was the tribute to the fans as Collins walked toward the supporters’ section applauding as Ralph’s Mob applauded and sang its appreciation back.

A photo for the scrapbook in the goalmouth, more hugs, a send-off for assistant coach Jon Stead, and a group of family and friends to thank as they all converged onto the field.

No-one seemed to want it to end.

Why would they? The man who had brought an unprecedented consistency of success had coached his last game for the Rowdies, and they wanted to make the moment last as long as they could.

A hat trick by Cal Jennings in a 3-0 victory to send Collins on his way to his new position as manager of Barnsley FC in England was maybe the ideal parting present. A league-leading 10th win of the campaign earned, an 11-game undefeated streak maintained, first place in the USL Championship’s Eastern Conference secured at the end of the night.

“This week, it’s not been an easy week,” said Collins. “The players had all the excuses in the world to come out tonight and feel sorry for themselves. They do the opposite. So, to be sitting top of the table, considering the MVP [[Leo Fernandes] is out, Lewis Hilton, our top midfielder is out, Zach Herivaux, an All-League player is out, the players just don’t know when to stop.

“I can go away with the satisfaction that I know they can go on from here.”

If there’s anything that’s changed in the five years since Collins took the helm on the sideline – stepping from his final league appearance as a player seven days prior to his first game as Head Coach on May 19, 2018 – it’s been the accountability Collins has instilled, and the results that have come through collective work at tactical acumen, that has led the Rowdies to becoming a perennial title contender. 

“It’s meant everything,” said Fernandes. “He’s completely changed the club around since when I got here. Now we have an amazing culture because of him, because of all the players. He’s bought the winning mentality and he’s completely changed everything.”

Collins and the Rowdies couldn’t manufacture a turnaround to get into the postseason in the aftermath of his appointment. Since then, however, the side has not missed a postseason and has become a team for which the expectations have been set at winning the USL Championship Final at the end of every campaign. From the start of the 2019 regular season, Tampa Bay has won more regular season games than any side in the league (79), sits second in goals scored (246) and first in fewest goals conceded (119).

With the victory on Saturday night, Collins moved into fourth place in the USL Championship’s history with 86 regular season victories, an accomplishment achieved in just 159 regular season games. In that time, his players have earned 10 Championship All-League selections, four individual USL Championship awards, and lifted the Eastern Conference title twice.

Collins himself claimed the 2021 Championship Coach of the Year award after guiding one of the finest campaigns in the league’s history, and while the USL Championship title remained elusively out of reach, what may matter more is the belief and values he’s instilled within the club.

“We all know what Neill has done for the club as a player, as a coach,” said defender Aaron Guillen, an All-League selection in the past two seasons. “Since I’ve been here, he’s treated me as part of the family. He just wants the best for everyone. The best for the club, trying to make the club better every day he was here, and obviously he’s done that, he’s been successful here.

“He’s left some big shoes to fill. So hopefully the next person that comes in has the same work ethic, the same love for the club. It’s going to be hard to replace him, but obviously, we wish him the best. We know what he can do, and he’s going to be successful wherever he goes.”

As the crowds began to disperse, the final question from local media answered, there was one thing left for Collins to do.

With a broad smile on his face, he moved gradually around the ring at the base of Al Lang Stadium’s main stand. Every autograph was signed, every selfie snapped, before disappearing down the tunnel for the last time.

In the end, it was somehow all about everyone else and all about Collins at the same time.

“It’s quite overwhelming, to be honest,” he said. “I feel it’s me that should be thanking the owners, the players, the staff, the fans. The thanks should be coming from me to them for everything that we’ve done together, it just means so much.

“I think as well – as a group, not just me – but like me, Lee Cohen, Nico [Castillo], the owners, our aim was to put this club at the top, and of course you can’t be at the top every week, but you look at the standings today, you look over the past four years.

“If you’ve finished ahead of the Rowdies, you’ve done something.”