Eric Black

For the writer, see Eric Black (writer).

Eric Black

Personal information
Full name	Eric Black
Date of birth	1 October 1963 (1963-10-01)
Place of birth	Bellshill, Scotland
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1981–1986	Aberdeen	180	(70)
1986–1991	Metz	85	(26)
Total		265	(96)
National team
1987	Scotland	2	(0)
Teams managed
2001–2002	Motherwell
2003–2004	Coventry City
2007	Birmingham City (caretaker)
2011	Sunderland (caretaker)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Eric Black (born 1 October 1963 in Bellshill, Lanarkshire) is a Scottish former footballer who is the currently the assistant manager at Blackburn Rovers. He played for Aberdeen and Metz as a striker and won two international caps for Scotland. He was caretaker manager at Birmingham City following the departure of Steve Bruce. He was assistant manager to Bruce at Sunderland from June 2009 and was appointed caretaker manager for one game on 4 December 2011, again following the departure of Bruce. Black left Sunderland on 6 December 2011.He is currently Assistant Manager at Blackburn Rovers.

Club career

He was involved in possibly the best era ever for Aberdeen who, under the management of Alex Ferguson, won 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. Black's main asset was his balletic heading ability and scoring goals. He joined George Hamilton and Billy Williamson, becoming the third Aberdeen player to score three or more goals in a single game against Celtic. He made 180 league appearances (30 as substitute) and scored 70 goals for Aberdeen between 1981 and 1986.

That same year, Black joined Metz in France. After five seasons (1986–91) with Metz, during which he won the 1988 French Cup, and had two children, 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.

Managerial career

Since the, Black has coached and managed most notably as assistant manager at Celtic and manager at Coventry City and Motherwell. He joined Motherwell in October 2001. He was appointed Coventry manager in January 2004, following the resignation of Gary McAllister. Black was sacked from Coventry for "being inconsistent", despite a 5–2 win against Gillingham. Black joined Birmingham City in July 2004, as assistant manager to Steve Bruce. He managed one game as caretaker manager, after Bruce joined Wigan Athletic, before leaving St Andrew's in November 2007. Black was appointed caretaker manager of Sunderland on 30 November 2011, following the departure of Bruce. In his only game in charge, Sunderland were beaten 2–1 by Wolverhampton Wanderers. He left Sunderland on 6 December 2011, but quickly found a new job as he was named assistant manager to Steve Kean at Blackburn Rovers in January 2012.

Manager

As of 21 December 2011.

Team	Nat	From	To
				G	W	D	L	Win %
Motherwell		16 October 2001	24 April 2002	&1000000000000002700000027	&100000000000000070000007	&100000000000000040000004	&1000000000000001600000016	&1000000000000002592999925.93
Coventry City		11 December 2003	3 May 2004	&1000000000000002600000026	&1000000000000001200000012	&100000000000000040000004	&1000000000000001000000010	&1000000000000004614999946.15
Birmingham City (caretaker)		19 November 2007	28 November 2007	&100000000000000010000001	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000010000001	&0&100000000000000000000000.00
Sunderland (caretaker)		1 December 2011	4 December 2011	&100000000000000010000001	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000000000000	&100000000000000010000001	&0&100000000000000000000000.00

External links

Eric Black's Scotland statistics