Kevin Blackwell

Kevin Patrick Blackwell (born 21 December 1958) is an English football manager and former professional player.

Blackwell was born in Luton and began his football career as an apprentice at Cambridge United, with Ron Atkinson as his manager.

After failing to make the grade at the Abbey Stadium, he moved into Non-League football, playing for Bedford Town while working as a bricklayer.

He later played in the 1978 FA Vase final for Barton Rovers and for Middlesex Wanderers before being signed by Barnet.

In 1980, he moved to Boston United for a fee of £5,000, saving a penalty at Wembley in the 1985 FA Trophy final.

He returned to Barnet in 1986 before Neil Warnock signed him for Scarborough in November the same year.

That season saw Scarborough promoted to the Football League and Blackwell remained at the club for their first two league seasons, making 44 league appearances in addition to those made in the Conference.

Warnock moved to Notts 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 at Torquay 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 to Huddersfield 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 to Plymouth 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 to Mick 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 keeper Jon 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 manager Kevin Hodges wanting to appoint his own management team, which was understandable given how well Hodges and Steve McCall had worked together at Torquay United the previous season.

By now Neil Warnock was manager of Bury, 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.

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.

In December 1999, Neil Warnock was appointed manager of Sheffield 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.

Blackwell left Sheffield United for Leeds United to join Peter Reid as his Assistant Manager in 2003.

He remained in this role under Eddie 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 in 2004–05.

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 by Ken Bates, 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, 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 strikers Richard Cresswell, Rob Hulse and Robbie Blake gave Blackwell plenty of firepower up front, while USA winger Eddie Lewis arrived to supply the ammunition.

Once again Blackwell had convinced in-demand players to join Leeds.

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.

In February 2015 Blackwell started coaching at Barnet, helping Martin Allen with the Bees' title push in the Conference Premier until the end of the season.

In November 2015 Blackwell was brought in by Warnock, then interim manager at Queens Park Rangers, to assist him at the club.

In February 2016, Blackwell was appointed assistant manager to Warnock at Rotherham United along with Ronnie Jepson.

The management team left Rotherham in May of the same year, having guided the club to safety in the Championship.

In October 2016, Blackwell again teamed up with Warnock and Jepson, as assistant manager at Cardiff City and also worked alongside the duo at Middlesbrough between June 2020 and November 2021.

In March 2022, he accepted to be head coach of Nakhon Ratchasima F.C.