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Posted on July 23, 2020 By Robert Payne

For the American journalist, see Eric Black (writer).

Eric Black
Personal information
Full name John Eric Black[1]
Date of birth (1963-10-01) 1 October 1963 (age 61)
Place of birth Bellshill, Scotland
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
1980–1981 Aberdeen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1981–1986 Aberdeen 115 (45)
1986–1991 Metz 86 (26)
Total 201 (71)
International career
1982–1985 Scotland U21[3] 8 (2)
1987 Scotland 2 (0)
Managerial career
2001–2002 Motherwell
2003–2004 Coventry City
2007 Birmingham City (caretaker)
2011 Sunderland (caretaker)
2012 Blackburn Rovers (caretaker)
2015 Rotherham United (caretaker)
2016 Aston Villa (caretaker)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

John Eric Black (born 1 October 1963) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. Black played as a striker for Aberdeen and Metz, winning major trophies with both clubs, and earned two international caps for the Scotland national team. He was forced to retire from playing at a relatively early age and became a coach, working as a manager at Motherwell and Coventry City.

Playing career

Born in Bellshill, Lanarkshire, Black spent his early life in the Glasgow area before his family moved north to Nigg, Highland due to his father's job in the offshore oil industry, and he signed for Aberdeen in 1980 (a week after Bryan Gunn who came from the same part of the country).[4] He won the Scottish 2nd XI Cup with the reserves.[5] Black was heavily involved in the most successful era of Aberdeen's history under the management of Alex Ferguson, the pinnacle being their victory in the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983 with a 2–1 win over Real Madrid, in which the then 19-year-old Black scored the first goal.[6][7][8] Black's main assets were his strength in the air (despite not being particularly tall) and goalscoring instincts.[2][4] In February 1983, Black scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 win against Celtic,[9] as of 2020 still the last visiting player to score three at Celtic Park.[4][10] He made 180 appearances (30 as substitute) in all competitions for Aberdeen and scored 70 goals between 1981 and 1986, winning two Scottish Football League titles, three Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup as well the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup in 1983.[2] He missed out on a potential fourth Scottish Cup medal when he was overlooked for the 1986 final having already agreed to move abroad.[4]

In summer 1986, Black joined Metz in France.[11] He had initially agreed a deal in principle with Arsène Wenger to join Monaco, but this fell through when Wenger was not released from his previous club contract at that time as had been anticipated.[7] After five seasons (1986 to 1991) with Metz, during which he won the Summer Cup (forerunner of the League Cup) within weeks of arriving in 1986 and the French Cup in 1988 (and off the field became a father to two children),[7] Black was forced to retire from the game aged 27 due to a chronic back problem.[12] Alex Ferguson later admitted that injury problems suffered by Black and other young players he had managed at Aberdeen were due to them playing an excessive number of games at a young age.[12] In all, Black made 95 appearances for Metz, scoring 34 goals.[13]

Coaching career

Black was a coach and assistant manager at Celtic, leaving the club when head coach John Barnes was sacked in February 2000.[14] Black was appointed manager of Motherwell in October 2001.[15] He was appointed Coventry City manager in January 2004, following the resignation of Gary McAllister.[16] Black was sacked by Coventry for "being inconsistent", despite a 5–2 win against Gillingham.[citation needed] and 6-1 away to Walsall. This angered many fans who believed that Black had brought an attractive and highly effective style of football back to the club and was merely being moved on for a bigger name (he was succeeded by Peter Reid, who proved to be a major disappointment).[citation needed]

Black joined Birmingham City in July 2004 as assistant manager to Steve Bruce.[17] He managed one game as caretaker manager, after Bruce joined Wigan Athletic, before leaving St Andrew's in November 2007.[18][19] He was assistant manager to Bruce at Sunderland from June 2009 and was appointed caretaker manager following the departure of Bruce.[20] In his only game in charge, Sunderland were beaten 2–1 by Wolverhampton Wanderers.[21] Black left Sunderland on 6 December 2011.[22]

Black was appointed assistant manager to Steve Kean at Blackburn Rovers in January 2012.[23] He was caretaker manager at Blackburn after the departure of Kean.[24]

Black was an advisor at Blackpool to caretaker manager Barry Ferguson in 2014.[25] Black was appointed as a coach at Wigan in July 2014.[25]

In July 2015, Black was named as first team coach of Championship side Rotherham United.[26] Black was appointed caretaker manager of Rotherham in September 2015, after manager Steve Evans left the club.[27] Black left Rotherham in January 2016 and was then appointed first team coach at Aston Villa.[28] He was appointed Villa manager on a temporary basis after Rémi Garde left by mutual consent in March 2016.[29] Black left Villa in June 2016 following the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo.[30]

Black joined Southampton on 30 June 2016, as assistant manager to Claude Puel.[31] On 29 September, The Daily Telegraph alleged that Black had offered advice to a third-party player ownership consortium on how to bribe lower league clubs.[32] An investigation by Southampton FC cleared Black of any wrongdoing, as the newspaper refused to provide any evidence to substantiate their allegation.[33] He resigned in December 2017 for personal reasons, with the club citing ongoing back problems due to injuries sustained during his playing career.[34] 18 months after leaving that post, he confirmed he no longer wished to be involved in professional coaching and was happy to have left the intense football environment after nearly four decades.[10]

Career statistics

Club

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[35][36]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Aberdeen 1980–81 Scottish Premier Division 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1981–82 13 3 2 0 0 0 2 1 17 4
1982–83 31 12 5 1 8 3 8 3 52 19
1983–84 18 6 7 1 6 5 6 0 37 12
1984–85 27 16 6 1 0 0 2 2 35 19
1985–86 26 8 5 2 4 4 4 1 39 15
Total 115 45 25 5 18 12 22 7 180 69
FC Metz 1986–87 French Division One 19 10 0 0 - 6 0 0 19+ 16
1987–88 28 8 7 1 0 0 0 0 35 9
1988–89 12 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 13 2
1989–90 23 6 1 1 0 0 0 0 24 7
1990–91 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 86 26 9 2 - 6 0 0 95+ 34
Career total 201 71 34 7 18+ 18 22 7 275+ 103

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year[37]
National team Year Apps Goals
Scotland 1987 2 0
Total 2 0

Managerial record

As of 2 June 2016
Managerial record by team and tenure
Team From To Record Ref
P W D L Win %
Motherwell 16 October 2001 24 April 2002 27 7 4 16 025.9 [38]
Coventry City 11 December 2003 3 May 2004 26 12 4 10 046.2 [38]
Birmingham City (caretaker) 23 November 2007 27 November 2007 1 0 0 1 000.0 [18][19][38]
Sunderland (caretaker) 30 November 2011 5 December 2011 1 0 0 1 000.0 [20][38][39]
Blackburn Rovers (caretaker) 28 September 2012 31 October 2012 6 2 3 1 033.3 [38][40]
Rotherham United (caretaker) 28 September 2015 9 October 2015 1 0 0 1 000.0 [38][41]
Aston Villa (caretaker) 29 March 2016 2 June 2016 7 0 1 6 000.0 [29][38]
Total 69 21 12 36 030.4 —

Honours

Aberdeen[7]

Metz[7]

Southampton

References

  1. ^ Statutory registers - Births - Search results, ScotlandsPeople
  2. ^ a b c Eric Black, AFC Heritage Trust
  3. ^ "[Scotland U21 player] Eric Black". www.fitbastats.com. Retrieved 11 October 2012.
  4. ^ a b c d AFC FPS | In Conversation With Eric Black, Aberdeen FC RedMatchday Programme, 31 December 2019
  5. ^ "ABERDEEN 2 - 1 CELTIC (2nd XI Final 2nd Leg)". AFC Heritage. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  6. ^ Brocklehurst, Steven (9 May 2013). "Fergie's greatest triumph? - How Aberdeen conquered European football". BBC News. BBC. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Aberdeen's Eric Black on moving to Metz and how that night in Paris was as good as Gothenburg". Football Scotland. 16 April 2019. Retrieved 15 April 2020.
  8. ^ "The three kings: The footballers who transformed Britain". theneweuropean.co.uk. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2021.
  9. ^ "Aberdeen v Celtic: the history". www.afc.co.uk. Aberdeen FC. 30 January 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  10. ^ a b Aberdeen icon Eric Black on why he walked away from football, The Scotsman, 13 April 2019
  11. ^ Reporter. "Dons legend Eric Black resigns from Southampton over back issues". Evening Express. Retrieved 24 January 2019.
  12. ^ a b Michael Crick (2003). The Boss: The Many Sides of Alex Ferguson. Simon and Schuster. p. 224. ISBN 9780743429917.
  13. ^ Eric Black, FC Metz
  14. ^ "Barnes forced out". BBC News. BBC. 10 February 2000. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  15. ^ "Motherwell go for Black". BBC Sport. BBC. 16 October 2001. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  16. ^ "Black named Coventry boss". BBC Sport. 15 January 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  17. ^ "Black moves to Blues". BBC Sport. 7 July 2004. Retrieved 24 November 2007.
  18. ^ a b "Bruce confirmed as Wigan manager". BBC Sport. 23 November 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  19. ^ a b "Birmingham lose caretaker Black". BBC Sport. 27 November 2007. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  20. ^ a b "Sunderland sack Steve Bruce as manager". BBC Sport. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  21. ^ "Sunderland lose to Wolves". BBC Sport. 4 December 2011. Retrieved 4 December 2011.
  22. ^ "Black leaves Sunderland". 6 December 2011. Retrieved 6 December 2011.
  23. ^ "Eric Black to join Blackburn Rovers as Steve Kean's new assistant". BBC Sport. 19 January 2012. Retrieved 26 January 2012.
  24. ^ "Blackburn Rovers: Eric Black focused on first-team matters". BBC Sport. BBC. 18 October 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  25. ^ a b "Wigan Athletic: Eric Black returns as first team coach". BBC Sport. 4 July 2014. Retrieved 4 July 2014.
  26. ^ "Eric Black: Rotherham United appoint First Team Coach". BBC Sport. 8 July 2015. Retrieved 8 July 2015.
  27. ^ McCartney, Aidan (28 September 2015). "Former Coventry City boss Eric Black takes temporary charge at Rotherham United". Coventry Telegraph. Retrieved 29 September 2015.
  28. ^ "Aston Villa: Eric Black named as first-team coach". BBC Sport. 26 January 2016. Retrieved 2 February 2016.
  29. ^ a b "Remi Garde: Aston Villa manager leaves after 147 days in charge". BBC Sport. 29 March 2016. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  30. ^ "Eric Black: Aston Villa's former caretaker boss leaves club". BBC Sport. BBC. 21 June 2016. Retrieved 22 June 2016.
  31. ^ "Claude Puel: Southampton appoint Frenchman as manager on three-year deal". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 June 2016. Retrieved 3 July 2016.
  32. ^ Team, Investigations (29 September 2016). "How Southampton's Eric Black advised 'businessmen' how to bribe lower league staff to get players for fictitious agency". The Telegraph.
  33. ^ "Southampton clear assistant manager Eric Black of wrongdoing following internal investigation". Southern Daily Echo. 1 December 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
  34. ^ "Southampton first team coach Eric Black resigns due to personal reasons". Sky Sports. 21 December 2017. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
  35. ^ "Aberdeen Football Club Heritage Trust - Player Profile". afcheritage.org. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  36. ^ "Eric BLACK - Attaquant". Football Club de Metz (in French). Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  37. ^ "Eric Black | Scotland | Scottish FA". www.scottishfa.co.uk. Retrieved 21 March 2023.
  38. ^ a b c d e f g "Managers: Eric Black". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 27 March 2017.
  39. ^ "Martin O'Neill named Sunderland manager". BBC Sport. 3 December 2011. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  40. ^ "Blackburn Rovers: Henning Berg appointed manager at Ewood Park". BBC Sport. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
  41. ^ "Steve Evans: Rotherham United part company with manager". BBC Sport. 28 September 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2016.
source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eric_Black

    by Robert Payne

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