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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Kevin Patrick Blackwell[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1958-12-21)21 December 1958 (age 66)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Luton, England[1] | ||
| Height | 5 ft 11 in (1.80 m)[2] | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper[1] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Lechia Gdańsk (technical director) | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cambridge United | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Bedford Town | |||
| Barton Rovers | |||
| Middlesex Wanderers | |||
| 1979–1980 | Barnet | 25 | (0) |
| 1980–1986 | Boston United | 227 | (0) |
| 1986 | Barnet | 5 | (0) |
| 1986–1989 | Scarborough | 69 | (0) |
| 1989–1993 | Notts County | 0 | (0) |
| 1993 | Torquay United | 18 | (0) |
| 1993–1995 | Huddersfield Town | 5 | (0) |
| 1995–1997 | Plymouth Argyle | 24 | (0) |
| 1999–2000 | Sheffield United | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 373 | (0) | |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2004–2006 | Leeds United | ||
| 2007–2008 | Luton Town | ||
| 2008–2010 | Sheffield United | ||
| 2012–2013 | Bury | ||
| 2014–2015 | Crystal Palace (technical director) | ||
| 2015 | Queens Park Rangers (caretaker assistant) | ||
| 2016 | Rotherham United (assistant) | ||
| 2016–2019 | Cardiff City (assistant) | ||
| 2020–2021 | Middlesbrough (assistant) | ||
| 2022–2023 | Nakhon Ratchasima | ||
| 2023– | Lechia Gdańsk (technical director) | ||
| 2024 | Lechia Gdańsk (caretaker) | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English professionalfootball manager, executive and formerplayer who is currently the technical director ofEkstraklasa clubLechia Gdańsk.
Blackwell was born inLuton and began his footballcareer as an apprentice atCambridge United, withRon Atkinson as his manager. After failing to make the grade at theAbbey Stadium, he moved intoNon-League football, playing forBedford Town while working as a bricklayer. He later played in the 1978FA Vase final forBarton Rovers and forMiddlesex Wanderers before being signed byBarnet.
In 1980, he moved toBoston United for a fee of £5,000, saving a penalty atWembley in the 1985FA Trophy final. He returned toBarnet in 1986 beforeNeil Warnock signed him forScarborough in November the same year.
That season saw Scarborough promoted to theFootball League and Blackwell remained at the club for their first two league seasons, making 44 league appearances in addition to those made in theConference. Warnock moved toNotts County in January 1989, and in November of that year he returned to Scarborough to sign Blackwell for £15,000. In just over 3 years at Meadow Lane, Blackwell never made a league appearance, and in January 1993, when Warnock took over atTorquay United, Blackwell followed him, playing 18 league games in a successful battle to stay in the Football League.
At the end of the season, Warnock moved toHuddersfield Town and in August 1993, Blackwell once again joined him, this time taking on coaching duties in addition to his playing role. His playing opportunities were limited to three full league appearances, plus another two as a substitute.
In August 1995, Blackwell followed Warnock toPlymouth Argyle on a free transfer and was appointed player-youth coach. Warnock left in February 1997, but Blackwell remained at Argyle, working as assistant manager toMick Jones. He remained registered as a player, solely as a precautionary measure, but in March 1998 returned to full-time training as emergency cover for Argyle's only keeperJon Sheffield. He was never called upon and ended his career after 24 league appearances for Argyle.
In June 1998, Jones was sacked after Plymouth's relegation, and a month later Blackwell also left with new managerKevin Hodges wanting to appoint his own management team, which was understandable given how well Hodges andSteve McCall had worked together at Torquay United the previous season.
By now Neil Warnock was manager ofBury, and Blackwell was soon appointed goalkeeping coach at Bury, eventually becoming assistant manager. In October 1998, Blackwell found himself making headlines from an incident that had happened during his time at Huddersfield. He was taken to court by the family of a girl whose arm was broken by one of his stray shots during the warm-up.[citation needed] Soon after Torquay chairman Mike Bateson banned his own players from shooting at the goals during the pre-match warm up and the case was delayed so an out of court settlement could be reached.[citation needed]
In December 1999, Neil Warnock was appointed manager ofSheffield United and took Blackwell with him as his assistant. In September 2000, Blackwell's thoughts were turned to playing again, he was still registered as a player and due to injuries was the only cover for the Blades' first choice keeper.
In August 2014 Blackwell was reunited with Neil Warnock at Crystal Palace. Working together for the first time in eleven years, Blackwell being appointed a Technical Director. Blackwell was asked to continue his role after Warnock had departed until the appointment of Alan Pardew.[3]
In February 2015 Blackwell started coaching atBarnet, helpingMartin Allen with the Bees' title push in theConference Premier until the end of the season.
In November 2015 Blackwell was brought in by Warnock, theninterim manager atQueens Park Rangers, to assist him at the club.[4]
In February 2016, Blackwell was appointed assistant manager to Warnock atRotherham United along withRonnie Jepson.[5] The management team left Rotherham in May of the same year, having guided the club to safety in theChampionship.[6]
In October 2016, Blackwell again teamed up with Warnock and Jepson, as assistant manager atCardiff City and also worked alongside the duo atMiddlesbrough between June 2020 and November 2021.[7][8]
In October 2023, Blackwell joined Polishsecond division sideLechia Gdańsk as a technical director,[9] and oversaw Lechia's I liga championship and promotion in his first season.[10][11]
Blackwell left Sheffield United forLeeds United to joinPeter Reid as his Assistant Manager in 2003. He remained in this role underEddie Gray following Reid's dismissal before taking over as manager of Leeds in the summer 2004 following the club's relegation from the Premiership. Handed the task of rebuilding Leeds' team after huge debts forced the jettisoning of its highly paid stars, Blackwell made a record number of signings for the club in2004–05. He focused on value for money, buying players that, while talented, had not made the highest grade. Although early results were poor, perhaps affected by boardroom turmoil that saw the new board struggle to put the club onto a sound financial footing and in time led to its takeover byKen Bates,[citation needed] Blackwell led the side to challenge for the playoffs, before a run of draws slowed progress, leaving Leeds in mid-table.
Blackwell had been seen as a temporary appointment, perhaps to be replaced by a more glamorous name,[citation needed] but his success in stabilising the team – and his initial popularity with fans – led Bates to suggest he had a long-term future at the club.
In the summer of 2005 Blackwell was given financial backing and bought some high-profile players for the new season. Proven strikersRichard Cresswell,Rob Hulse andRobbie Blake gave Blackwell plenty of firepower up front, whileUSA wingerEddie Lewis arrived to supply the ammunition. Once again Blackwell had convinced in-demand players to join Leeds. Blackwell's shrewd tactics away fromElland Road and attacking style at home (where 9 out of 10 matches were won) proved very effective and, by the end of February, Blackwell had guided Leeds to 3rd spot and an almost guaranteed play off spot, with automatic promotion remaining a possibility. The Leeds team, however, then produced some distinctly average performances and settled for their play-off place.
Blackwell took his Leeds team into theChampionship play-off final, after beatingPreston North End 3–1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. However, Leeds lost the final 3–0 toWatford on 21 May 2006. A string of bad results followed in both pre-season and the start of the2006–07 and on 20 September 2006 his contract as Leeds United manager was terminated. As Blackwell left the club, Leeds were lying 23rd in the table, with seven points from eight games.
After leaving Leeds, Blackwell travelled around Europe going to big-name clubs such asReal Madrid andInternazionale acquiring knowledge of further training techniques to help him with his management career.[12] On 20 November 2006, he announced he was suingLeeds United for wrongful dismissal after it was confirmed he was sacked forgross misconduct on the grounds of "negative comments made in the press about the club's finances".[13]
On 27 March 2007, Blackwell was announced as the new manager ofLuton Town and began his tenure with a draw againstBurnley.[14] Luton were already in the bottom 3 when Blackwell took over and were 9 points from safety with 3 games to go. Blackwell set about rebuilding the side, his priority to get in some experience. To achieve this he sold centre backLeon Barnett toWest Bromwich Albion, and defenderKevin Foley toWolves, as well as releasing centre-backRuss Perrett and £500,000 signingAdam Boyd, who went on to score 14 goals that season forLeyton Orient. He also lostMarkus Heikkinen on afree transfer. In replacement he brought in high-profile players such asPaul Peschisolido,Chris Perry,Don Hutchison,Paul McVeigh andPaul Furlong. He also signed some younger players inAlan Goodall,Richard Jackson andDave Edwards.
The club enteredadministration in late 2007, and in January 2008 Blackwell announced he would leave Luton after working a month's notice. However, he was sacked a week after making this statement.[15][16]
Blackwell, took the position ofSheffield United manager replacingBryan Robson on 14 February 2008 until the end of the season. He was assisted by his formerLuton Town assistantSam Ellis.[17]
After the Blades 2–0 defeat at home toCharlton Athletic on 1 March 2008, Blackwell was critical of his team's performance, describing it as "insipid" and "embarrassing" in an interview onBBC Radio Sheffield.[18][19] Since then, the team went on a five-game unbeaten run drawing atIpswich Town and winning four in a row againstPlymouth Argyle,Coventry City,Norwich City andBarnsley to improve his chances of landing the job permanently. The 4-match winning streak ended to a 3–1 defeat againstPreston North End. The team responded with a 3–0 victory againstLeicester City,James Beattie scored his first hat-trick of the club in that game. In his first Sheffield derby as manager, the Blades showed much improved passion levels as they came from 2–0 down againstSheffield Wednesday to draw 2–2 with Beattie scoring a stunning free kick very late in the game to rescue a point. This was followed by a 2–1 victory at Burnley, with another superb Beattie free kick, and a 2–0 victory over Hull when United went down to ten men after skipperChris Morgan was sent off. In the penultimate game of the season, the Blades won 2–1 against Bristol City with Speed scoring a brace. With one game remaining in the season, United remained in with a chance of making the play offs, a considerable achievement after the Robson era. Sheffield United lost 3–2 on the last day of the season against Southampton and finished ninth, four points off the final playoff place.
In the 2008–09 season, Blackwell took Sheffield United toThe Championship play off final after beatingPreston North End 2–1 over two legs. Sheffield United lost the final 1–0 against Burnley.
On 14 August 2010, after losing 3–0 toQueens Park Rangers, the club website confirmed that Blackwell had left the club by mutual consent.[20]
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It was announced on 26 September 2012 that the board had hired Kevin Blackwell as permanent manager. Blackwell had previously managed at Leeds United and Sheffield United, and his appointment was widely regarded as something of a coup for Bury. Blackwell began his tenure with a 2–2 draw at Stevenage followed by a 1–0 home loss to Swindon Town prompting him to blast some of his players as 'garbage'. After being winless in his first five games in charge of Bury before they beat Hartlepool United 2–1 to earn their first win of the season, the result sparked a run of form which saw Blackwell's side lose only once in eight games in all competitions, a spell which included five victories. Bury were a point clear of the relegation zone by the end of November, a remarkable turnaround from being seven points adrift when Blackwell took over. In mid December the club was placed under a transfer embargo due to falling into financial difficulty as a result of poor attendance figures. This led to numerous players being released and loaned out to keep the club solvent which ultimately crippled the playing side of the club. As the season wore on Bury F.C were not able to fill a team sheet leading to the last few games with only twelve players available. Bury were officially relegated from league one on Saturday 13 April 2013 after losing at home 1–0 to Oldham Athletic following a late Matt Smith header.
In March 2022, he accepted to be head coach of Thai clubNakhon Ratchasima[21]
On 25 November 2024, following the suspension of managerSzymon Grabowski, Blackwell was named Lechia's caretaker head coach alongsideRadosław Bella.[22] In their only game in charge, Lechia lost 0–2 atGKS Katowice on 30 November.[23]
| Team | From | To | Record | Ref. | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| P | W | D | L | Win % | ||||
| Leeds United | 1 June 2004 | 20 September 2006 | 114 | 44 | 37 | 33 | 038.6 | [24] |
| Luton Town | 27 March 2007 | 16 January 2008 | 42 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 038.1 | [24] |
| Sheffield United | 14 February 2008 | 14 August 2010 | 125 | 53 | 36 | 36 | 042.4 | [25] |
| Bury | 26 September 2012 | 14 October 2013 | 57 | 13 | 18 | 26 | 022.8 | [25] |
| Nakhon Ratchasima | 9 March 2022 | 5 February 2023 | 28 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 035.7 | |
| Lechia Gdańsk (caretaker) | 25 November 2024 | 30 November 2024 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 000.0 | |
| Total | 367 | 136 | 104 | 127 | 037.1 | |||
