Noel Blake

Noel Lloyd George Blake (born 12 January 1962) is a former professional footballer and current coach. He was formerly the head coach of the England national under-19 football team.[2] He played in the Football League for Aston Villa, Shrewsbury Town, Birmingham City, Portsmouth, Leeds United, Stoke City, Bradford City and Exeter City, and in the Scottish Football League for Dundee.[3]

Noel Blake
Blake as manager of England U19 in 2012
Personal information
Full name Noel Lloyd George Blake[1]
Date of birth (1962-01-12) 12 January 1962
Place of birth Kingston, Jamaica
Position(s) Defender
Youth career
1978–1979 Sutton Coldfield Town
1979–1980 Aston Villa
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1980–1982 Aston Villa 4 (0)
1982 → Shrewsbury Town (loan) 6 (0)
1982–1984 Birmingham City 76 (5)
1984–1988 Portsmouth 144 (10)
1988–1990 Leeds United 51 (4)
1990–1992 Stoke City 75 (3)
1992 → Bradford City (loan) 6 (0)
1992–1993 Bradford City 39 (3)
1993–1995 Dundee 54 (2)
1995–2001 Exeter City 147 (10)
Total 602 (37)
Managerial career
2000–2001 Exeter City
2009–2014 England U19
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Playing career

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, Blake moved to England and played football with non-league side Sutton Coldfield Town. He was spotted by scouts at Aston Villa who signed Blake a year later. He struggled to force his way into the Villa side and went out on loan to Shrewsbury Town in 1982. He left Villa upon his return and joined local rivals Birmingham City. He quickly became a fan favourite with Birmingham as he scored against Villa in December 1982.[4]

He spent two years with Birmingham before signing with Portsmouth on the south coast. Whilst he did enjoy some success at 'Pompey' winning promotion as Second Division runners-up in 1987, Blake had problems with racial abuse from his own supporters, at a time when racism was still rife in English football.[5] After making over 150 appearances with Portsmouth, Blake joined Leeds United on a free transfer and he helped to club to promotion as Second Division champions in the 1989–90 season. However his opportunities were limited the following season and so he was sold to Stoke City just after promotion was achieved, with Howard Wilkinson looking to spend heavily on new players to build a squad capable of competing with the very best in the First Division.[6]

Blake's old manager at Portsmouth Alan Ball tempted Blake to join him at Stoke City in 1990. Ball was sacked in February 1991 as Stoke went on to record their worst league position of 14th in the third tier. Stoke's new manager Lou Macari only used Blake sparingly and later joined Bradford City on loan in 1992.[3] He joined Bradford permanently and latter played for Scottish side Dundee before ending his playing career with Exeter City.[7]

Coaching career

Blake held the position of manager of Exeter City from January 2000 until September 2001.[8]

A qualified coach and holder of the UEFA Pro Licence,[9] Blake was appointed in February 2007 as one of the Football Association's National Coaches to work with players in England's youth teams and to assist with coach education.[10] He was placed in charge of the England under-19 team in 2009, leading the side to the semi-finals of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship in both 2010 and 2012 before leaving the Football Association in June 2014.[2]

On 1 July it was reported that Blake was about to become first-team coach at Blackpool.[11] On 27 October Blake was put in temporary charge following the departure of Jose Riga.[12] He left Blackpool in December 2014.

Personal life

Blake suffered a stroke in August 2015.[13]

Honours
Portsmouth
Leeds United

winner: 1989-90

Career statistics

As a player
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition[14]
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other[A] Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aston Villa 1979–80 First Division 3000000030
1980–81 First Division 0000000000
1981–82 First Division 1000000010
Total 4000000040
Shrewsbury Town (loan) 1981–82 Second Division 6000000060
Birmingham City 1982–83 First Division 373304000443
1983–84 First Division 392508000522
Total 7658012000965
Portsmouth 1984–85 Second Division 423204000483
1985–86 Second Division 424217131547
1986–87 Second Division 413203030493
1987–88 First Division 190410000231
Total 144101021416117414
Leeds United 1988–89 Second Division 444203020514
1989–90 Second Division 70002020110
Total 514205040624
Stoke City 1989–90 Second Division 180000000180
1990–91 Third Division 443304010523
1991–92 Third Division 130102040200
Total 753406050903
Bradford City 1991–92 Third Division 6000000060
1992–93 Second Division 323312030403
1993–94 Second Division 70201010110
Total 453513040573
Dundee 1993–94 Scottish Premier Division
1994–95 Scottish First Division
Total 542502030642
Exeter City 1995–96 Third Division 442102000472
1996–97 Third Division 466202020526
1997–98 Third Division 381202010431
1998–99 Third Division 7010000080
1999–2000 Third Division 7100002091
2000–01 Third Division 5000000050
Total 1471060605016410
Career total 6023740348127171742
A. ^ The "Other" column constitutes appearances and goals in the Football League Trophy, Football League play-offs Full Members Cup.

As a manager
Team From To Record
G W D L Win %
Exeter City 10 January 2000 24 September 2001 86 20 24 42 023.26
England U19 8 September 2009 26 June 2014 52 33 12 7 063.46

References
  1. "Noel Blake". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 19 March 2017.
  2. "National Coach and Young Lions boss Noel Blake leaves". www.thefa.com. The FA. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  3. "Noel Blake". UK A–Z Transfers. Neil Brown. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  4. "Christmas Cracker 1982 – Blues 3 Villa 0". birminghamcity-mad.co.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  5. Canoville, Paul (18 December 2012). Black and Blue: How Racism, Drugs and Cancer Almost Destroyed Me. Hachette UK. ISBN 978-0755364787. Retrieved 7 October 2020.
  6. "Noel Blake". leeds-fans.org.uk. Retrieved 8 February 2012.
  7. Matthews, Tony: "The Who's who of Stoke City " (Breedon's, ISBN 1-85983-473-6)
  8. "Blake steps down at Exeter". news.bbc.co.uk. BBC. 23 September 2001. Retrieved 13 June 2014.
  9. Austin, Simon (22 February 2007). "Focus: Football's black mark". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  10. "Noel Blake on board". The Football Association. 12 February 2007. Retrieved 15 May 2009.
  11. "England coach set for Pool". Blackpool Gazette. 1 July 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2014.
  12. "Jose Riga: Championship strugglers Blackpool sack manager". BBC. 27 October 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2014.
  13. "Noel Blake opens up about emotional trauma after suffering stroke". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 6 June 2016.
  14. Noel Blake at the English National Football Archive (subscription required)
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