Jack James Blake (born 22 September 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays for

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

side

Indy Eleven Indy Eleven is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. Founded in 2013, the team made its debut in the North American Soccer League (2011–2017), North American Soccer League (NASL) in 2014, b ...

. Born in England, he has represented Scotland at youth level.

Career

Nottingham Forest (2013–2015)

Blake started his football career at the

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

youth level before joining neighbours

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

at youth level from the under-10's team through to the club's academy. In May 2012, Blake was awarded his first professional contract with the club. Blake then made a first team breakthrough when he was included in the bench for the senior team for the club's home game against

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on 12 January 2013.

Mansfield Town (loan, 2013)

Blake was loaned for a month to county rivals,

Mansfield Town Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third level of the English football league system. The club was formed in 1897 as Mans ...

on 19 October 2013. He made his professional debut on 22 October 2013 during a 0–0 draw against Bury. After making his professional debut, Blake expressed his happiness to make his debut. After making three appearances for the club, Blake made his return to his parent club. Despite rumors that Blake may returned to Mansfield Town on loan for the second time, this was played down by manager Paul Cox. After his loan spell at Mansfield Town came to an end, Blake continued playing in the club's reserve until being released by the club at the end of the 2014–15 season.

Minnesota United (2016)

On 26 May 2016,

Minnesota United Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Th ...

announced that Blake had signed with the

North American Soccer League The North American Soccer League (NASL) was the top-level major professional soccer league in the United States and Canada that operated from 1968 to 1984. It is considered the first soccer league to be successful on a national scale in the ...

club. Seven days later on 2 June 2016, Blake scored his first Minnesota United debut (and his first professional goal) in the third round of the

U.S. Open Cup The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, commonly known as the U.S. Open Cup (USOC), is a knockout cup competition in men's soccer in the United States. It is the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. The competition was first held duri ...

, winning 3–0 against Saint Louis.

Jacksonville Armada (2017)

On 18 January 2017, it was reported that the

Jacksonville Armada Jacksonville Armada FC is an American professional soccer team based in Jacksonville, Florida. They were founded in 2013 as an expansion franchise in the North American Soccer League (NASL), the second tier of American soccer, and played until ...

had signed Blake ahead of the NASL's 2017 season. Blake was named the NASL's Young Player of the Year after recording nine goals and four assists with the Armada.

Tampa Bay Rowdies (2018)

On 8 February 2018, the

Tampa Bay Rowdies The Tampa Bay Rowdies are an American professional soccer team based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The club was founded in 2008 and first took the pitch in 2010. Since 2017, the Rowdies have been members of the USL Championship in the second tie ...

announced they had received Blake on a season-long loan from Jacksonville. A little over a month later, on 15 March 2018, he terminated his Armada FC contact, and joined the Rowdies on a permanent basis. On 19 June 2018, Blake moved on loan to

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

-based

USL USL may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Underground Sound of Lisbon, a Portuguese dance music project * Urban Strawberry Lunch, a band from Liverpool Companies * United Spirits Limited, India * Former United States Lines shipping company C ...

side

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

Real Monarchs (2019–2020)

Blake's moved to Salt Lake permanently ahead of their

2019 season Nineteen or 19 may refer to: * 19 (number) * One of the years 19 BC, AD 19, 1919, 2019 Films * ''19'' (film), a 2001 Japanese film * ''Nineteen'' (1987 film), a 1987 science fiction film * '' 19-Nineteen'', a 2009 South Korean film * '' Dici ...

, going on to captain Real Monarchs during their 2019 season. He re-signed with the club on 18 December 2019 for the 2020 season. He announced his departure from the club in December 2020.

San Diego Loyal (2021–2022)

On 14 December 2019, Blake signed with

side San Diego Loyal.

Indy Eleven (2023–present)

After two seasons in San Diego, Blake moved to USL Championship club

on 6 January 2023. Blake scored the first goal for Indy Eleven in the

2024 USL Championship season The 2024 USL Championship season was the 14th season of the USL Championship and the seventh season under Division II sanctioning. The 2024 season had 24 teams participating in two conferences during the regular season. Conference realignment mov ...

in a 2–1 defeat at

Oakland Roots Oakland Roots Sports Club is an American professional soccer club based in Oakland, California. The club competes in the USL Championship (USLC) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018 by Edreece Arghandiwal and Benno Nagel, the c ...

on 9 March 2024. Blake scored two goals for Indy Eleven in their 5–3 defeat away to rivals Louisville City, a

penalty kick A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

in the 34th minute and the team's second goal of the game in the 60th minute, assisted by Sebastian Guenzatti. He scored a second brace in a 2–1 home victory over Phoenix Rising on 25 May, leading the team to an 8 game winning streak in all competitions. Blake was named to the USL Championship team of the week five times in the first 12 weeks of the 2024 season, notably leading the Eleven to a 9-game undefeated streak in all competitions and a perfect month of May with no draws or losses. Blake led the team with 4 league goals and one

goal in May 2024. Blake scored his eleventh league goal for Indy Eleven, and 8th goal of the season, on 9 June 2024, converting a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the team's 1–0 away victory over

Birmingham Legion FC Birmingham Legion FC is an American professional soccer club based in Birmingham, Alabama, that competes in the USL Championship, the second division of American soccer. The team was established in August 2013 and played under the name Birming ...

. Blake ended the season as the club's joint top goalscorer in the league and helped lead the team to a historic first

semifinal A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

in the

, defeating Major League Soccer (MLS) side

Atlanta United FC Atlanta United FC is an American professional soccer club based in Atlanta. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Domestically, the club has won one MLS Cup, one U.S. Open Cup, and one Eastern ...

in the

quarterfinals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

. Indy Eleven announced that Blake would return for a third consecutive season on 20 November 2024. Blake scored the opening goal for Indy Eleven's 2025 season, converting a

in the 3rd minute of their 3–1 away victory over

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

on 15 March 2025.

International career

Though he was born in

Nottingham Nottingham ( , East Midlands English, locally ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in Nottinghamshire, East Midlands, England. It is located south-east of Sheffield and nor ...

, England, Blake is eligible to play for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

through his Scottish grandfather. In September 2011, Blake was called up by Scotland U19 and went on to make five appearances for the team.

Personal life

Blake earned his U.S. green card in 2019. His status also qualifies him as a domestic player for MLS roster purposes.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blake, Jack 1994 births Living people Footballers from Nottingham Men's association football midfielders English men's footballers Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's youth international footballers Nottingham Forest F.C. players Mansfield Town F.C. players Minnesota United FC (2010–2016) players Jacksonville Armada FC players Tampa Bay Rowdies players Real Monarchs players San Diego Loyal SC players Indy Eleven players English Football League players North American Soccer League (2011–2017) players USL Championship players Scottish expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Scottish expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in the United States English expatriate men's footballers 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Scottish sportsmen