A riddle wrapped up in an enigma

Collymore plans return

When Stan Collymore quit football at the shockingly young age of 30 it should not have been a surprise.

For all his undoubted ability - and Collymore was one of the biggest talents of his generation - he found it difficult to settle at clubs and went through a series of big-money moves before finally chucking it in while still in his prime.

The end came less than five weeks after he joined Spanish side Real Oviedo.

He struggled for fitness and form in Spain and, out of the first team, decided that enough was enough.

Collymore had moved to Spain after his up-and-own career in England finally ran its course.

Prior to his ill-fated Spanish sojourn, Collymore spent 10 weeks with Bradford.

But even in his short time at Valley Parade, he had continued to hit the headlines that had dogged his career for the previous five years.

COLLYMORE'S CAREER 1990: Signs for Crystal Palace from Stafford 1992: Moves to Southend 1993: £2.2m switch to Nottingham Forest 1995: Joins Liverpool in £8.5m deal and wins first England cap 1997: Transfers to Aston Villa for £6m 1998: Involved in an altercation with girlfriend and television presenter Ulrika Jonsson in Paris. Collymore "deeply regrets everything that occurred" and "is beside himself with remorse" before publicly apologising 2000: Plays for first Leicester and then Bradford 2001: Moves to Spain before retiring five weeks later

Collymore's stay at the Bantams began in a blaze of glory as he scored with a spectacular overhead kick on his debut against Yorkshire rivals Leeds, but he was soon on his way after having his nose broken in a nightclub incident.

It was a familiar plot-line that invariably went something like this.

The enigmatic striker arrived at a new club to fevered expectation, briefly showed his undoubted skills on the pitch, only to leave acrimoniously and move on to pastures new.

Collymore, who began his career with non-league Stafford Rangers, first came to the attention of the wider footballing public starring for Southend.

From there he moved to Nottingham Forest and soon established himself as one of the most-feared strikers in the English game.

However, by the time he left for Liverpool for £8.5m in the summer of 1995, he had become so unpopular with his Forest team-mates that they refused to congratulate him when he scored.

He marked his Liverpool debut, against Sheffield Wednesday at Anfield, with the customary stunning goal.

He went on to score 19 goals for Liverpool, but eventually exhausted manager Roy Evans' patience by refusing to move to Merseyside from Staffordshire, missing training and continually carping in the press.

Anfield staff were not unhappy when the divisive player moved to Aston Villa for £6m in 1997.

He started his Villa Park career in unspectacular fashion, and when John Gregory took over in March 1998 the Cannock-born player was told he was again drinking at the last chance saloon.

Collymore responded by scoring both goals in a 2-1 win over Liverpool, but soon fell out of favour and was placed in the reserves.

This, combined with several off-the-field problems, led to him being admitted to the Priory clinic for treatment for depression.

Once that was finished he moved on to Leicester City, scoring a brilliant hat-trick on his Filbert Street debut.

Collymore said he adored the club and the fans, but when Peter Taylor took charge the love-in ended, the final straw coming when Collymore had a half-time bust-up with Trevor Benjamin during a reserve match.

New beginning

He moved on to Bradford and once again earned rave reviews on his debut, only to fall out of favour when a new manager - in this case Jim Jefferies - took over.

And with that he was gone, first from the English game, and almost immediately from the whole of football.

At the time of his move to Spain he declared: "I am now 30 and that should mean a new beginning for me. I think I can live a quiet life here in Oviedo."

In the end he decided the only way to live a quiet life was to stop playing entirely, but now it seems he may be ready to step back into the spotlight.