Clayton Blackmore

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Clayton Blackmore
Clayton Blackmore July 1991.JPG
Clayton Blackmore in 1991
Personnel
Surname Clayton Graham Blackmore
birthday September 23, 1964
place of birth Neath ,  Wales
size 173 cm
position Defense , midfield
Men's
Years station Games (goals) 1
1982-1994 Manchester United 186 (19)
1994-1999 Middlesbrough FC 53 0(4)
1996 →  Bristol City  (loan) 5 0(1)
1999 Barnsley FC 7 0(0)
1999-2000 Notts County 21 0(2)
2000 Leigh RMI 1 0(0)
2000-2006 Bangor City 165 (11)
2006-2007 FC Porthmadog 15 0(4)
2007-2009 Neath AFC 24 0(0)
National team
Years selection Games (goals)
Wales U-21 3 0(?)
1985-1997 Wales 39 0(1)
Stations as a trainer
Years station
2006 Bangor City
2007 FC Porthmadog
1 Only league games are given.

Clayton Graham Blackmore (born September 23, 1964 in Neath ) is a retired Welsh football player . The 39-time international was best known as a long-time Manchester United player. There he won the English Cup ( 1990 ), the European Cup Winners' Cup ( 1991 ) and, most recently, the English Championship ( 1993 ) there at the beginning of the 1990s . His versatility in the various defensive positions and in midfield was valued before he fell victim to the realignment of coach Alex Ferguson to a younger generation of players and moved to Middlesbrough FC .

Athletic career

Club career

Manchester United (1982-1994)

Prior to starting his footballing career, Blackmore had also played rugby at a young age and completed trial training sessions for the Neath RFC in his hometown . However, he decided on the round leather and moved to distant Manchester at the age of only 14 . There he went through the youth department at Manchester United until he was in the final of the FA Youth Cup in 1982 with the youth team of "United" . There he was defeated by a total of 6: 7 goals to Watford FC on the return leg .

Blackmore made his debut in the highest English league under the then coach Ron Atkinson in the full-back position on May 16, 1984 - the last matchday of the 1983/84 season - at Nottingham Forest (0-2). However, from now on he had to wait patiently for further missions in the regular formation and so his renewed appearance in the league in Nottingham on December 8, 1984 (2: 3) was his only one in the season 1984/85 . He also had no part in the FA Cup success of the club and was not used at any point in the competition - regardless of which he became a Welsh national team player in June 1985. It was not until the 1985/86 season that Atkinson built Blackmore more frequently into his formations and in his total of twelve league appearances, which took place mainly at the turn of the year and towards the end of the round, the Welshman, who was used in defense, midfield and attack, even scored three goals. Even in the following years under Alex Ferguson , who had taken over the coaching office in November 1986, Blackmore owed the sporadic missions to his all-round skills, but at the same time could never recommend himself permanently for a regular place. He had initially held a place in the right midfield, but lost it again after the first four mixed league games under Ferguson's direction. Rather, he acted in the 1987/88 season in a wide variety of defensive positions, as it were as a right and left full-back and in the center of the defense. Little changed in his changeable status in the following two years and the team found itself mostly in midfield in the league. At the beginning of the new decade, Blackmore won its first titles with the team in the cup competitions. The first trophy in his collection was the FA Cup in 1990 . Here Ferguson replaced him in the final against Crystal Palace shortly before the end of regular time and after completing extra time, which ended with a 3-3 aggregate result, Manchester United won the replay (but without Blackmore) 1-0.

Less than a year later he was in the final eleven in the league cup against Sheffield Wednesday , which was lost 1-0. However, that disappointment was quickly followed by a sporty climax when Blackmore mid-May 1991 with his men in the Rotterdam De Kuip the FC Barcelona in the final of Europe Cup Winners' Cup faced. On what was arguably the most important sporting evening of Blackmore's career, Blackmore contributed a solid performance to the 2-1 victory and years later, Manchester United supporters linked his name with a rescue operation shortly before the end of the game when Blackmore saw a great chance for Michael Laudrup on the own goal line neutralized. When in the 1991/92 season a new right-back joined the club in Paul Parker and Denis Irwin was pulled from right to left and the alternative outside positions in midfield were increasingly occupied by the young talents Lee Sharpe and Ryan Giggs , Blackmore's prospects deteriorated but continue. Regardless, he came on the way to winning the runner-up to 33 league games, but 14 of them were only by substitution. Even when he won the League Cup in 1992, his contribution was limited to the early rounds and after at least five appearances he was left out from the semifinals.

To win the Premier League title in 1993 , he finally contributed 14 league games, which was sufficient to receive an official championship medal, but did not hide the fact that Blackmore's time in Manchester was running out. Without having played in the first team again in the 1993/94 season, he finally moved to Middlesbrough FC in the second division, where his former teammate Bryan Robson had just accepted a coaching post for the first time.

Middlesbrough FC (1994-1999)

Blackmore was on the first day of the 1994/95 season one of five debutants of the newly formed Middlesbrough FC, who quickly developed into aspirants for promotion and ultimately won the second division championship and rose to the Premier League. The Welsh newcomer was a key player in both defense and midfield due to his experience. However, this changed in the following first division year, when Blackmore's opportunities remained limited and this only came into play during an injury mishap in January and February 1996. Only after a loan period at the third division Bristol City between November and December 1996 did he find his way back into the regular formation of "Boro". His convincing performances in midfield in midfield on both sides and spectacular scenes such as a long-range goal against Everton even ensured that he celebrated his comeback in the Welsh national team. He was in the final of both domestic cup competitions, but lost both - in the League Cup against Leicester City (0-1 in the replay) and in the FA Cup against Chelsea (0-2). Disappointing was the 1997 relegation from the Premier League and in the eventual successful promotion the following year, Blackmore only played a marginal role with just two appearances.

Even in his last season, 1998/99, Blackmore was no longer a decisive factor at Middlesbrough FC, played only one league cup game and was active at Barnsley FC from the end of February to mid-July 1999 . For Barnsley, the fact that he met two old companions from Middlesbrough, John Hendrie and Craig Hignett , had spoken there . In the summer of 1999 Blackmore left Barnsley FC and instead hired the fourth division club Notts County .

Last stations (1999–2009)

Mostly on the left, Blackmore demonstrated some good performances in Nottingham with tackling strength and technical skills, before he gradually fell back into the second tier in the second half of the season and was released again in the summer of 2000. It was Blackmore's last major station in professional football, which was followed by a number of clubs in the semi-professional area until 2009. First he joined the lower-class club Leigh RMI in the Greater Manchester area in June 2000 , only to return a short time later to his Welsh homeland and play there for Bangor City . Here he continued to play actively until well after his 40th birthday and at the same time served the club as a coach until his resignation in November 2006. He was also available to his subsequent employer, FC Porthmadog , as a player-coach, before ending his career at his home club Neath AFC until 2009.

Blackmore then returned to his old place of work in Manchester and took over a position as a youth coach at "United".

Welsh national team

On February 26, 1985 Blackmore, who had previously only played two professional league games for Manchester United, made his debut in a friendly against Norway (1: 1) in the Welsh national team , which was then coached by Mike England . Under England, and later under Terry Yorath until April 1993 , he was a permanent fixture in the squad and accumulated 37 internationals during this time, although the great successes failed to materialize and he was unable to qualify for any World Cup or European Championship finals with Wales. After the de facto end of his time in Manchester from the 1993/94 season, Blackmore was also left out in the national team and had to wait almost three years after a substitution in April 1994. It was only when he experienced his "second spring" at Middlesbrough FC in the 1996/97 season that Bobby Gould nominated him again for a World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands . He played his 39th and last international match on March 29, 1997 against Belgium (1: 2).

Title / Awards

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ "It took four games to get the hairdryer from Alex Ferguson" (The Sun)
  2. ^ "Clayton Blackmore's memories of life at United" (Truly Reds)
  3. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1995-96 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1995, ISBN 0-09-180854-5 , pp. 28 .
  4. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1996-97 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1996, ISBN 1-85291-571-4 , pp. 31 f .
  5. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1997-98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1997, ISBN 1-85291-581-1 , pp. 34 .
  6. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1998-99 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1998, ISBN 1-85291-588-9 , pp. 37 .
  7. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 1999-2000 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 1999, ISBN 1-85291-607-9 , pp. 36 .
  8. ↑ Barry J. Hugman (Ed.): The 2000-2001 Official PFA Footballers Factfile . Lennard Queen Anne Press, 2000, ISBN 1-85291-626-5 , pp. 38 .
personal data
SURNAME Blackmore, Clayton
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Blackmore, Clayton Graham (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION welsh football player
DATE OF BIRTH September 23, 1964
PLACE OF BIRTH Neath