Eric Black

Infobox Football biography
playername = Eric Black


fullname =
dateofbirth = birth date and age|1963|10|1
cityofbirth = Bellshill, Lanarkshire
countryofbirth = Scotland
dateofdeath =
cityofdeath =
countryofdeath =
height =
nickname =
position = Striker
currentclub =
youthyears =
youthclubs =
years = 1981–1986
1986–1991
clubs = Aberdeen
Metz
caps(goals) = 180 (70)
085 (26)
nationalyears = 1987
nationalteam = Scotland
nationalcaps(goals) = 002 0(0)
manageryears = 2001–2002
2003–2004
2007
managerclubs = Motherwell
Coventry City
Birmingham City "(caretaker)"

Eric Black (born 1 October, 1963 in Bellshill, Lanarkshire) is a former professional football player who played for Aberdeen and Metz. He played in attack. He won 2 international caps for Scotland. He was caretaker manager at Birmingham City following the departure of Steve Bruce. [Cite web
url = http://www.skysports.com/story/0,19528,11661_2892112,00.html
title = Blue's trio sad at Bruce's exit
publisher = Sky Sports
date = 2007-11-19
accessdate = 2007-11-19]

He was involved in possibly the best era ever for Aberdeen who, under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, won the 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. Black's main asset was his balletic heading ability and scoring goals. He made 180 appearances (30 as substitute) and scored 70 goals for Aberdeen between 1981 and 1986 before joining FC Metz in France.

After five seasons (1986–91) with Metz, during which he won the 1988 French Cup, Black was forced to retire prematurely from the game due to a chronic back problem. In all, he made 85 appearances, scoring 26 goals. It is from his time in France that Black became fluent in French.

Since then he has coached and managed most notably as assistant manager at Celtic and manager at Coventry City and Motherwell. Black joined Motherwell in October 2001. [Cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/scotland/1593921.stm
title = Motherwell go for Black
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2001-10-16
accessdate = 2007-11-24] He was appointed Coventry manager in January 2004 following the resignation of Gary McAllister. [Cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/coventry_city/3400079.stm
title = Black named Coventry boss
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2004-01-15
accessdate = 2007-11-24] Oddly, Black was sacked from Coventry on the back of a 5–2 win against Gillingham for "being too good for this club". Black joined Birmingham City in July 2004, as assistant manager to Steve Bruce. [Cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/birmingham_city/3873271.stm
title = Black moves to Blues
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2004-07-07
accessdate = 2007-11-24] He managed one game as caretaker manager, after Bruce joined Wigan Athletic, before leaving St Andrews in November 2007. [Cite web
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/b/birmingham_city/7115146.stm
title = Caretaker boss Black quits Blues
publisher = BBC Sport
date = 2004-11-27
accessdate = 2007-11-27]

References

External links

* [http://londonhearts.com/scotland/players/ericblack.html Eric Black's Scotland statistics]