.png) Blackman withReading in 2013 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Nicholas Alexander Blackman[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1989-11-11)11 November 1989 (age 36)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Salford, England[3] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2005–2006 | Macclesfield Town | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006–2009 | Macclesfield Town | 12 | (1) |
| 2009–2012 | Blackburn Rovers | 1 | (0) |
| 2009 | →Blackpool (loan) | 5 | (1) |
| 2009–2010 | →Oldham Athletic (loan) | 12 | (1) |
| 2010–2011 | →Motherwell (loan) | 19 | (10) |
| 2011 | →Aberdeen (loan) | 15 | (2) |
| 2012–2013 | Sheffield United | 28 | (11) |
| 2013–2016 | Reading | 103 | (18) |
| 2016–2019 | Derby County | 24 | (1) |
| 2017–2018 | →Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan) | 31 | (10) |
| 2018–2019 | →Sporting de Gijón (loan) | 14 | (1) |
| 2019–2021 | Maccabi Tel Aviv | 35 | (4) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2019–2021 | Barbados | 6 | (3) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 10 June 2021 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 3 July 2021 | |||
Nicholas Alexander Blackman (born 11 November 1989) is a professionalfootballer who plays as aforward. He is afree agent. Born in England, he played for theBarbados national team.
Blackman was born inSalford,Greater Manchester,[3] to aJewish mother from England and aChristian father fromBarbados.[4][5][6][7] His Polish-Jewish maternal grandfather Benjamin Rosenfeld was anAuschwitz/Holocaust survivor and his Dutch-Jewish maternal grandmother Marta.[7][5][4] He had aBar Mitzvah.[7]
Blackman attendedManchester United Academies for five years from the age of eight, and also spent time atBury andPreston North End academies. He attended King David High School followed by Phillips High School in Manchester.[8][9]
At the age of 13 Blackman competed in the2005 Maccabiah Games in Israel as part of a British schools football team.[10][11]
Blackman was signed byMacclesfield Town in Summer 2006. After a string of impressive displays for the youth team Blackman signed his first professional contract at Macclesfield on 8 March 2007.[12] After making his league debut againstAccrington Stanley his hopes of regularfirst team football were dashed by a pre-season injury that kept him out of action for several months.[13]
Blackman scored his debut goal for Macclesfield in a 1–1 home draw withDagenham & Redbridge on 23 November 2007, when after coming on as a substitute, Blackman scored in the 90th minute.[14] Blackman made a total of 12 appearances for Macclesfield, mostly as a substitute, scoring one goal.[13]
Blackman joinedPremier League clubBlackburn Rovers on 12 January 2009, after impressing in a trial, for an undisclosed fee on a two-and-a-half-year contract.[15] Blackman scored two goals in his first two games for the club's reserve team.[citation needed]
On 3 March, Blackman joinedChampionship clubBlackpool on loan initially for one month.[16] Blackman made his debut later that same day as a 65th-minute substitute in a 0–1 home loss toBurnley atBloomfield Road.[17] After two substitution appearances, Blackman scored on his full debut, a 2–2 draw withSheffield United atBramall Lane on 10 March.[18]
On 20 August 2009, Blackman joinedOldham Athletic on a month's loan.[19] Two days later, Blackman made his Latics debut in a 2–2 draw versusSwindon Town, playing the full 90 minutes.[20] His first goal for the club came on 29 August when Blackman curled a shot into the net from the edge of thearea for Oldham's only goal in a 1–1 draw againstBrentford.[21] His loan period was extended until January 2010 after which Blackman returned to Blackburn.[22]
Blackman joinedScottish Premier League clubMotherwell on a six-month loan on 13 August 2010[23] and scored 10 goals in 18 games in total which, included a hat trick in a 4–0 win overSt Johnstone in November 2010.[24] On 13 January 2011, former Motherwell managerCraig Brown signed Blackman forAberdeen on loan for six-months.[25]
Blackman returned to Blackburn Rovers at the end of his loan spell with Aberdeen. During the Premier League Asia Trophy match againstKitchee of Hong Kong, Blackman came off the bench for Blackburn and won and converted a penalty in a 3–0 win.
On 10 August 2012, Blackman signed forSheffield United on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee reported to be £115,000 plus a 20% sell on after turning down offers fromChampionship clubs.[26] Blackman scored his first goal for the Blades with his first touch in aLeague Cup game againstBurton Albion atBramall Lane on 11 August 2012.[27] Blackman played regularly for the Blades throughout the first half of the season, making 33 appearances and scoring 14 goals by the end of January.[28] By this time however, Blackman was attracting interest from other clubs and was the subject of bids from bothCrystal Palace andReading and despite United accepting offers from both clubs, Blackman rejected a move to Palace.[29]
On 30 January 2013, Blackman signed forPremier League sideReading for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £1.35m and a 20% sell on. He signed on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[30] Blackman made his debut on 2 February, replacingPavel Pogrebnyak in the 72nd minute of a 2–1 win againstSunderland.[31] Blackman scored Reading's first goal of the 2015–16 Championship season in a 2–1 away defeat toBirmingham City.[32]
On 6 January 2016,[33] it was announced that Blackman had signed a three-and-a-half-year deal withDerby County for a reported fee of over £3 million.[34][35] He scored his only goal for the club, a penalty, in a 2–0 win overCardiff City on 27 September 2016.[36]
After starting only 12 matches for Derby, Blackman joinedIsraeli Premier League clubMaccabi Tel Aviv on a season-long loan in August 2017.[37] He scored 10 goals in 31 league games. On 22 May 2018 Blackman returned toDerby County after the end of his loan spell.
On 15 August 2018, Blackman joinedSporting de Gijón on a season-long loan.[38] On 9 January 2019, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory overValencia in the first leg of the round of 16 in theCopa del Rey.[39]
After being released by Derby County in July 2019, Blackman signed a two-year contract withMaccabi Tel Aviv on 17 July 2019.[40] In his first season back at the club, Blackman won theIsraeli Premier League title. Despite some favourable displays in the early part of the season, Blackman spent large amounts of time away from the first team due to injury.[41]
Blackman scored both goals for Maccabi in the first leg of their victory againstHapoel Be'er Sheva in theIsrael Super Cup on 8 August 2020.[42] On 19 August, Blackman again scored twice in a 2–0 victory over Latvian clubRiga in thefirst qualifying round of the2020–21 UEFA Champions League.[43] Seven days later, he scored in Maccabi's successful second qualifying round win overFK Sūduva of Lithuania in the same competition.[44]
Blackman left the club in the summer of 2021 upon the expiration of his contract.[45]
According to Blackman, he was eligible to representEngland,Barbados, theNetherlands,Poland orIsrael at international level—Barbados through his father, the Netherlands and Poland through his maternal grandparents, and Israel through "family members".[46] In 2019, Blackman decided to representBarbados at international level.[47]
Blackman made his debut for Barbados on 5 September 2019, scoring a brace in a 4–0 win overSaint Martin in aCONCACAF Nations League match.[48]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup[a] | League Cup[b] | Other[c] | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Macclesfield Town | 2006–07[49] | League Two | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 2007–08[50] | 11 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | ||
| Total | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 | 1 | ||
| Blackburn Rovers | 2008–09[51] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | |
| 2011–12[52] | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Total | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| Blackpool (loan) | 2008–09[51] | Championship | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | |||
| Oldham Athletic (loan) | 2009–10[53] | League One | 12 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 13 | 1 |
| Motherwell (loan) | 2010–11[54][55] | Scottish Premier League | 18 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2[e] | 0 | 22 | 10 |
| Aberdeen (loan) | 2010–11[54] | Scottish Premier League | 15 | 2 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 18 | 2 | ||
| Sheffield United | 2012–13[56] | League One | 28 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 14 |
| Reading | 2012–13[56] | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 11 | 0 | |
| 2013–14[57] | Championship | 30 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 4 | ||
| 2014–15[58] | 37 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | 43 | 5 | |||
| 2015–16[59] | 25 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | — | 28 | 13 | |||
| Total | 103 | 18 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 3 | — | 113 | 22 | |||
| Derby County | 2015–16[59] | Championship | 14 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 1[f] | 0 | 17 | 0 | |
| 2016–17[60] | 9 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| Total | 23 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 29 | 1 | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv (loan) | 2017–18[61] | Israeli Premier League | 31 | 10 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 5[e] | 1 | 40 | 12 |
| Sporting de Gijón (loan) | 2018–19[61] | Segunda División | 14 | 1 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 17 | 2 | ||
| Maccabi Tel Aviv | 2019–20 | Israeli Premier League | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[g] | 2 | 23 | 3 |
| 2020–21 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4[h] | 5 | 4 | 5 | ||
| Total | 18 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 8 | 7 | 27 | 8 | ||
| Career total | 279 | 57 | 19 | 4 | 16 | 5 | 17 | 8 | 331 | 74 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barbados | 2019 | 5 | 3 |
| 2020 | 0 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 6 | 3 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September 2019 | Wildey Turf, Bridgetown, Barbados | 1 |  Saint Martin | 2–0 | 4–0 | 2019–20 CONCACAF Nations League C |
| 2 | 3–0 | ||||||
| 3 | 12 October 2019 | 3 |  U.S. Virgin Islands | 1–0 | 1–0 |
Maccabi Tel Aviv
