19 Facts About Eric Black

1.

John Eric Black was born on 1 October 1963 and is a Scottish former professional football player and coach.

2.

Eric Black was forced to retire from playing at a relatively early age and became a coach, working as a manager at Motherwell and Coventry City.

3.

Eric Black made 180 appearances in all competitions for Aberdeen and scored 70 goals between 1981 and 1986, winning two Scottish Football League titles, three Scottish Cups and a Scottish League Cup as well the Cup Winners' Cup and the European Super Cup in 1983.

4.

Eric Black missed out on a potential fourth Scottish Cup medal when he was overlooked for the 1986 final having already agreed to move abroad.

5.

Eric Black initially agreed a deal in principle with Arsene Wenger to join Monaco, but this fell through when Wenger was not released from his previous club contract at that time as had been anticipated.

6.

Eric Black was a coach and assistant manager at Celtic, leaving the club when head coach John Barnes was sacked in February 2000.

7.

Eric Black was appointed Coventry City manager in January 2004, following the resignation of Gary McAllister.

8.

Eric Black joined Birmingham City in July 2004 as assistant manager to Steve Bruce.

9.

Eric Black managed one game as caretaker manager, after Bruce joined Wigan Athletic, before leaving St Andrew's in November 2007.

10.

Eric Black was assistant manager to Bruce at Sunderland from June 2009 and was appointed caretaker manager following the departure of Bruce.

11.

Eric Black was caretaker manager at Blackburn after the departure of Kean.

12.

Eric Black was appointed as a coach at Wigan in July 2014.

13.

In July 2015, Eric Black was named as first team coach of Championship side Rotherham United.

14.

Eric Black was appointed caretaker manager of Rotherham in September 2015, after manager Steve Evans left the club.

15.

Eric Black left Rotherham in January 2016 and was then appointed first team coach at Aston Villa.

16.

Eric Black was appointed Villa manager on a temporary basis after Remi Garde left by mutual consent in March 2016.

17.

Eric Black left Villa in June 2016 following the appointment of Roberto Di Matteo.

18.

Eric Black joined Southampton on 30 June 2016, as assistant manager to Claude Puel.

19.

Eric Black resigned in December 2017 due to personal reasons, with the club citing ongoing back problems due to injuries sustained during his playing career.