Kingsley Black
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 22 June 1968 | ||
| Place of birth | Luton, England | ||
| Playing position | Midfield | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1987–1991 | Luton Town | 127 | (26) |
| 1991–1995 | Nottingham Forest | 98 | (14) |
| 1994 | → Sheffield United (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| 1995 | → Millwall (loan) | 3 | (1) |
| 1996–2001 | Grimsby Town | 141 | (8) |
| 2000 | → Lincoln City (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | Lincoln City | 32 | (5) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 1988–1994 | Northern Ireland | 30 | (1) |
| 1994 | Northern Ireland B | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 14:48, 26 June 2006 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Kingsley Black (born 22 June 1968 in Luton, England) is an English-born Northern Ireland former professional footballer. He notably played for Luton Town, Nottingham Forest and Grimsby Town. He was active from between 1987 and 2002,[1] and also played as a professional for Sheffield United, Millwall and Lincoln City
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[edit] Career
[edit] Luton Town
Black started his career with his home town club of Luton Town where he notched up just under 150 appearances for the club in all competitions between 1987 and 1991.[2] He won the League Cup with Luton Town in 1988.
[edit] Nottingham Forest
Black was then signed for £1.5 million by Brian Clough for Nottingham Forest. While with Forest, he was loaned out twice, making appearances for Sheffield United and Millwall, he also played International football for Northern Ireland making 30 appearances and scoring one goal. Black managed over 100 appearances before his departure to Grimsby Town for £25,000.
[edit] Grimsby Town
Kingsley slotted into the Mariners midfield but was unable to stop the club losing their First Division status. Despite the relegation Black committed himself to the Mariners, even though the club strugged early in the 1997/1998 season, Town went on to finish 3rd in the league. Promotion was achieved via the play offs after the club beat Fulham and Northampton Town. The Mariners also saw success in the Auto Windscreen Shield in which they defeated Bournemouth at Wembley Stadium. Bournemouth led in the game before Black made the tie all square to send the game into extra time. Wayne Burnett scored the golden goal to send Grimsby home with the trophy. Kingsley went on to feature for Grimsby in the first division for the next three seasons. When manager Alan Buckley was sacked in September 2000, he was replaced by Lennie Lawrence who in turn brought in midfielders Menno Willems, Knut Anders Fostervold, Neil Murray and most notably Leicester City youngster Stuart Campbell. With this Kingsley found it hard to get a look in with the club, but avoided the chop unlike unfavoured utility man Adam Buckley. Black was instead put up for loan, and joined Lincoln City. The Imps would later appoint former Grimsby boss Alan Buckley as their new manager. Black returned to Blundell Park towards the end of the season and was deemed surplus to requirements by Lennie Lawrence. Despite being held in high regard by the clubs supporters, Black was released from the club.
[edit] Lincoln City
After his release from Grimsby, he joined other former Grimsby players Adam Buckley, Ian Hamilton and Andy Smith by joining Lincoln City. Black's spell at Lincoln was marred by the clubs overall poor performance,and the financial turmoil it was in, which would later see the club enter into administration towards the end of the season. Alan Buckley left the club by mutual consent, and in came another former Grimsby Town player Keith Alexander as the new manager. Financially, Lincoln were saved, and they escaped relegation to the Football Conference. Lincoln decided not to renew his contract at the end of the season, as Alexander cleared out the majority of Buckley's squad, including all of his former Grimsby signings. Kingsley decided to retire from the game at the age 34 despite being offered several contracts from other clubs.
[edit] Retirement
He returned to Grimsby to play in John McDermott's testimonial against Hull City in 2005 in which he was joined by the majority of his former team mates from the 1997/1998 season. In 2008 he played in an exhibition match with the players from the Luton League cup win in honour of the late David Preece. After retiring from the game, Black moved away from England and now lives in Bellresguard in Puerto Pollensa, Majorca, where he operates a small charcuterie selling cured meats and his famous sausages.
[edit] Honours
[edit] Luton Town
- League Cup Winner: 1988
- League Cup Runner Up: 1989
[edit] Nottingham Forest
- League Cup Runner Up: 1992
- Full Members Cup winner: 1992
[edit] Grimsby Town
- Auto Windscreens Shield winner: 1998
- Second Division playoff winner: 1998
[edit] References
- ^ Kingsley Black Newcastlefans. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
- ^ Kingsley Black Statistics National Football Teams. Retrieved 10 February 2010.
[edit] External links
- Kingsley Black at www.grimsbytown-mad.co.uk
- Kingsley Black career stats at Soccerbase
- Kingsley Black at electronicfishcake.com
- Northern Ireland at rsssf.com
- 1968 births
- Living people
- English footballers
- English people of Northern Ireland descent
- English people of Ulster-Scottish descent
- Association football midfielders
- Grimsby Town F.C. players
- Lincoln City F.C. players
- Luton Town F.C. players
- Millwall F.C. players
- Northern Ireland international footballers
- Association footballers from Northern Ireland
- Nottingham Forest F.C. players
- People from Luton
- Premier League players
- Sheffield United F.C. players
- The Football League players
