ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (March 22, 2017) — The long, distinguished career of Tampa Bay Rowdies defender Neill Collins features some truly eye-popping numbers.

Since making his debut for Scotland’s Queen’s Park on March 24, 2001 (16 years ago this week) at the age of 17, Collins has played in 552 competitive club matches. He’s represented 10 different clubs, including 212 appearances for England’s Sheffield United and 24 appearances for the Rowdies last season in his first year with the club.

His career has seen him play in 112 different stadiums across the United Kingdom and North America, from Al Lang Stadium to Manchester United’s vaunted Old Trafford and the home of English soccer, Wembley Stadium.

But upon a detailed inspection, perhaps the most astonishing number of Collins’ career is one...

As in one pair of shin guards.

One solitary, trusty set of hardened plastic shin guards that has carried Collins through all 552 games in 112 stadiums. Collins purchased his shin guards in the Spring of 2001 and has worn them in every match he’s ever played, plus innumerable training sessions, friendlies and scrimmages in the 16 years since.

“They’ve seen a lot of highs and a lot of lows. I’ve worn them twice at Wembley, two of the biggest games of my career and two of the biggest disappointments. It’s quite funny when you put the map together and see that they’ve been with me right from the very start when I was trying to make a career of this and they went to the heights of my career with me. If they could talk, they’d have a few good stories.”