 Black withHeart of Midlothian in 2010 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Ian Kenneth Black[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1985-03-14)14 March 1985 (age 40) | ||
| Place of birth | Edinburgh, Scotland | ||
| Height | 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Central midfielder | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Tranent Boys Club | |||
| Tynecastle Boys Club[3] | |||
| Hibernian[4] | |||
| 2003–2004 | Blackburn Rovers | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2004–2009 | Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 132 | (8) |
| 2009–2012 | Heart of Midlothian | 87 | (4) |
| 2012–2015 | Rangers | 83 | (5) |
| 2015–2017 | Shrewsbury Town | 49 | (4) |
| 2017 | Blackpool | 10 | (0) |
| 2017 | Skelmersdale United | 1 | (0) |
| 2017 | Chorley | 2 | (0) |
| 2018–2020 | Tranent Juniors | ||
| 2020–2021 | Dunbar United | ||
| International career | |||
| 2005–2009 | Scotland B | 2 | (0) |
| 2012 | Scotland | 1 | (0) |
Medal record | |||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Ian Kenneth Black (born 14 March 1985) is a Scottish former professionalfootballer who played as acentral midfielder. His clubs includedInverness Caledonian Thistle,Heart of Midlothian,Rangers,Shrewsbury Town andBlackpool. Black made one appearance for theScotland national team in August 2012, despite playing in theScottish Third Division for Rangers at that time.
Black began as a youth player with Tranent Boys Club. He was also a youth player atHibernian, where he played alongsideScott Brown.[4] Black first signed a professional contract with English Premier League clubBlackburn Rovers,[5] but he did not play for their first team.
After being released by Blackburn, Black joinedInverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2004.[6] Black made his debut as a substitute on 7 August 2004 againstLivingston,[7] with his first start coming on 9 April 2005 against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park.[8] In his first season, he made 13 appearances.[9]
He scored his first goal for the club on 5 November 2005 with a fifth-minute strike againstDunfermline.[10] The following season on 30 December 2006 he was sent off for a second bookable offence againstFalkirk.[11]
He made 132 league appearances forCaley, and scored eight goals.[12] His last game for Inverness was against Falkirk in a 1–0 loss for Inverness, which saw them relegated to theScottish First Division.[13]
It was reported inThe Scotsman newspaper on 24 December 2008 that Black had agreed in principle to sign a pre-contract agreement to join boyhood heroes[14]Heart of Midlothian in the summer of 2009.[15] Hearts confirmed that he had signed the agreement on 28 December and would join up with the club for the 2009–10 season.[16] On 2 July 2009, Black finally signed for Hearts after signing a pre-contract agreement in December 2008,[17] marking a return to the club he once served as a ball boy.[18] He made his debut on 17 August 2009 as a substitute againstDundee United atTannadice,[19] with his first start coming on 23 August againstRangers.[20] He scored his first goal for Hearts on 13 February 2010 with a long-range effort againstFalkirk in a 3–2 win.[21] In his first season with the club he made 32 appearances in all competitions, scoring once.[22]
Early in the 2010–11 season, Black was criticised byRangers playerNikica Jelavić, who claimed that Black had intentionally injured him during a match.[23] Black apologised for injuring Jelavic.[23] On 7 August 2011, he was sent off for challenge onKeith Lasley, who was also sent off later in the same match. Hearts eventually lost 1–0 to Lasley's clubMotherwell.[24] He was sent off again againstKilmarnock on 29 October 2011.[25] On 14 January 2012 he was given a yellow card for an attempted trip onPaul McGowan,[26] invoking a ban because he went over the points threshold. This prompted his manager to comment that he was being booked because of his reputation rather than the incidents.[27]
In December 2011, with Hearts having problems paying wages, it was reported that Black had taken a part-time job as a painter.[28] At half time in the match against Dunfermline on 17 December the stadium announcer playedPaint It Black by the Rolling Stones[29] and after theEdinburgh Derby on 2 January 2012 he revealed a T-shirt with the message "I'll paintthis place maroon" in reference to his part-time job.[30] On 30 April 2012, Hearts announced that Black would leave Hearts in the summer.[31] Black helped Hearts win the2011–12 Scottish Cup, defeating Hibernian 5–1 in the2012 Scottish Cup Final.[32]
It was reported on 4 July 2012 that Black had agreed a deal in principle to sign for Rangers, depending on which division of theScottish Football League the club was admitted to.[33] On 24 July 2012 he began a trial training spell with the club.[34] It was announced on 28 July that Black had signed a three-year deal with Rangers subject to clearance.[35] He made his debut for Rangers as a trialist on 29 July againstBrechin City in the first round of theScottish Challenge Cup, Rangers won the match 2–1.[36] Black scored his first Rangers goal in a 4–0 victory against Queens Park on 9 February 2013.[37]
In September 2013, Black was suspended and fined £7,500 after admitting breaches ofScottish Football Association rules in relation to betting on matches.[38]
Black was released byRangers at the end of the 2014–15 season.[39]
Following unsuccessful trial spells atBerwick Rangers[39] andRaith Rovers,[40] Black signed for EnglishLeague One clubShrewsbury Town in September 2015.[41] He made his debut in a second-round tie of theFootball League Trophy againstFleetwood Town the following month,[42] and scored his first goal for the club in a 4–2 victory overSheffield United atBramall Lane in November.[43] Black played regularly for the remainder of the season, helping Shrewsbury avoid relegation and also reach the fifth-round of theFA Cup, although he had a poor disciplinary record, picking up 13 yellow and 2 red cards in less than seven months.[44] Featuring only sporadically at the beginning of the following season, Black scored his second Shrewsbury goal in a 1–1 draw againstAFC Wimbledon in September 2016,[45] He left Shrewsbury on 31 January 2017, after having his contract cancelled by mutual consent.[46]
In February 2017 Black joinedLeague Two sideBlackpool on a contract until the end of the season.[47] He was released in May 2017, after making 10 appearances for the club.[48]
Black joinedNorthern Premier League sideSkelmersdale United in October 2017.[49] He moved on toNational League North sideChorley at the end of October.[50][51] Black signed for Scottish junior clubTranent in January 2018,[52] then joinedEast of Scotland League Premier Division clubDunbar United in March 2020.[53]
Black representedScotland B in the 2005 Future Cup, in a 3–2 defeat byTurkey B.[54] After a four-year absence he was included in theScotland B squad for their game againstNorthern Ireland.[55]
In 2012, despite playing in the fourth tier of Scottish football, Black was called up to theScotland squad for a friendly againstAustralia.[56] He came on as a substitute late in the game.[57]
Black's father, also namedIan, was a professional footballer who started his senior career withCeltic, before being farmed out to Tranent Juniors, also playing for Hearts as well as city rivalsHibernian. Peter Black, Ian's grandfather, was also a footballer; he is the only one in the family to be a goalkeeper.[17]
It was reported in May 2011 that Black, along with his Hearts teammateRobert Ogleby, had been arrested and charged with possession of a class A drug in an Edinburgh night club.[58][59] On 17 February 2012 the case was dismissed due to the repeated failure of witnesses to attend court.[60][61] Black was banned from driving for 12 months in March 2023 after he was found guilty ofdriving under the influence of alcohol.[62]
| League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | App | Goals | |||
| Inverness Caledonian Thistle | 2004–05[63] | Scottish Premier League | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2005–06[64] | 26 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 31 | 1 | |||
| 2006–07[65] | 26 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 27 | 0 | |||
| 2007–08[66] | 33 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 35 | 3 | |||
| 2008–09[67] | 34 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 38 | 4 | |||
| Total | 132 | 8 | 7 | 0 | 5 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 144 | 8 | |||
| Hearts | 2009–10[68] | Scottish Premier League | 26 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 30 | 1 | |
| 2010–11[69] | 32 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | − | 0 | 0 | 34 | 1 | |||
| 2011–12[70] | 29 | 2 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3[a] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 2 | ||
| Total | 87 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 102 | 4 | ||
| Rangers | 2012–13[71] | Scottish Third Division | 29 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 0 | − | 3[b] | 0 | 38 | 2 | |
| 2013–14[72] | Scottish League One | 32 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | − | 4[b] | 1 | 42 | 3 | ||
| 2014–15[73] | Scottish Championship | 24 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 1 | − | 3[c] | 1 | 35 | 3 | ||
| Total | 85 | 5 | 11 | 0 | 9 | 1 | − | 10 | 2 | 115 | 8 | |||
| Shrewsbury Town | 2015–16[44] | League One | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 | − | − | 1[d] | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17[74] | 19 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 2[e] | 0 | 23 | 3 | |||
| Total | 49 | 4 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | − | 3 | 0 | 59 | 4 | |||
| Blackpool | 2016–17[74] | League Two | 10 | 0 | − | − | − | 3[f] | 0 | 13 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 363 | 21 | 33 | 0 | 18 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 16 | 2 | 432 | 24 | ||
Footnotes
Heart of Midlothian
Rangers
Blackpool
