From burgers and chips to Wembley – the promotion-hungry Welshman

Ten years ago, he worked at the cash register at a fast-food restaurant – and played for Merthyr Town, in the eighth division of English football.

Now Aaron Collins is at Wembley, one championship win away and, he hopes, a first-ever Wales senior call-up.

The Newport-born striker hopes Wales manager Rob Page will be on the phone if he helps Bolton Wanderers beat Oxford United in Saturday’s League One play-off final.

“It would be an honor to play for my country. It’s frustrating that I haven’t had the opportunity yet, but I hope it happens,” said 26-year-old Collins.

“I never spoke to anyone from [Wales] setup, which is hard because I like to think I’m doing enough to get my name out there and have a chance.

“Obviously there are staff there who don’t think I’m right at the moment or that I’m not ready for international football. That’s their opinion, but all I can do is keep playing… and if I get a chance at some point, it will be.” It would be a great honor.”

Wales have two friendlies in June – against Slovakia and Gibraltar – in which former Under-19 international Collins could make his senior debut.

His goalscoring exploits over the last two seasons seem to give him a strong case – 14 goals in total for Bolton and Bristol Rovers this season, and 16 for Rovers in 2022-23.

Not bad when you consider there have been calls for the likes of Newport County’s Will Evans and Wrexham’s Paul Mullin to gain Wales recognition whilst playing in League Two.

For Collins, however, it wasn’t exactly a quick path from the fast-food chain to a potential international call-up.

He has bounced around around 10 different clubs since leaving the Newport academy in 2014. There was a big move to Wolves in 2016 but he never made an appearance in the Championship and dropped back down to the bottom division.

Now dreaming of a return to the second division with Bolton, he is a long way from working at the till at that Malpas restaurant just to cover travel expenses.

“I was working at McDonald’s while I was at the academy in Newport, and at that time I was also taking a college course,” Collins said.

“I had to bring money to get back and go back to school. I worked there for three or four months before they finally offered me a professional contract (in Newport).

“I never ran out of food, which was a good thing! ​​I was always good at math, so they threw me at the cash register.

“We got a free meal at every break, which I had to do – even though I was trying to be a professional football player!

“At the time I might have thought, ‘Is professional football really going to happen? Maybe it’s not for me’, but I got that professional contract and my life changed from there.”

There were other twists, however. Before Collins’ Newport career took off, he was loaned to Merthyr Town in the Southern League Division One South and West.

His only appearance was as a substitute at Clevedon Town – in front of just 240 people.

A far cry from Wembley, where he will play in front of more than 50,000 fans as part of a Bolton team looking to return to the Championship for the first time since 2019.

He will face another higher-scoring Welshman – Oxford United’s Welsh international Mark Harris, who has scored 19 goals since signing from Cardiff City in the summer of 2023.

“This will be my first time playing at Wembley – I was on the bench there [with Forest Green Rovers] but he never got on the pitch,” said Collins, who scored in the 3-2 defeat to Barnsley that earned Bolton a 5-4 aggregate victory in the play-off semi-finals.

“I also went to Wembley when Newport played Spurs in the FA Cup but were cup-tied (on loan from Wolves).

“It’s going to be a great moment and I’m looking forward to it.”

What if he scores? Well, he certainly hopes Page notices and perhaps offers that first call back to Wales.

“The last two seasons I’ve reached double figures for goals and assists in League One, and the season before that I managed to score 18 goals in League Two,” Collins said.

“I would like to say that I am introducing myself and getting my name out there.

“The main objective now is to get promoted on Saturday, prove myself in the Championship and wait for the Wales call-up to arrive.”