Lloyd Jason Blackman (born 24 September 1983) is an English retired semi-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 is assistant manager of club Folkestone Invicta. As a player, he played as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

for

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

and after his release in 2004, he embarked on a nomadic career in

non-League football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

. He began

coaching Coaching is a form of development in which an experienced person, called a ''coach'', supports a learner or client in achieving a specific personal or professional goal by providing training and guidance. The learner is sometimes called a ''coa ...

while still a player and managed

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

and Whitstable Town.

Career

Brentford

, Blackman began his career in the

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

and later moved to

, where he began a scholarship in 2000. He progressed to sign his first professional contract in 2002. He made his first team debut with a start in a 5–1

Second Division In sport, the Second Division, also called Division 2 or Division II is usually the second highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Following the rise of Premier League style compet ...

defeat to

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 28 September 2002, which proved to be his only appearance of the 2002–03 season. After signing a new one-year contract in May 2003, Blackman made just four appearances during 2003–04 and spent much of the season away on

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

non-League Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

clubs

Scarborough Scarborough or Scarboro may refer to: People * Scarborough (surname) * Earl of Scarbrough Places Australia * Scarborough, Western Australia, suburb of Perth * Scarborough, New South Wales, suburb of Wollongong * Scarborough, Queensland, sub ...

, Chelmsford City and Cambridge City. He was released in late April 2004, after having made just five appearances during two seasons as a professional at

Griffin Park Griffin Park was a association football, football ground in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow, England. It was the home ground of Brentford F.C. from its opening in September 1904 to August 2020. The ground was in a predominantly resi ...

Non-League football

In 2004, Blackman embarked on a career in non-League football. Between 2004 and 2015, he played in the

Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...

Isthmian League The Isthmian League () is a regional Association football, football league covering Greater London, East of England, East and South East England, featuring mostly semi-professional clubs. Founded in 1905 by amateur clubs in the London area, th ...

, Southern League and

Southern Counties East League The Southern Counties East Football League is an English football league established in 1966, which has teams based in Kent and Southeast London. Its two divisions are allocated at Step 5 and Step 6 of the National League System (which equates ...

for 15 clubs.

International career

In October 2004, Blackman was named in manager

Paul Fairclough Paul Fairclough (born 31 January 1950) is an English football manager and former player who is the manager of the England C team. As a player, he made five appearances for Cheshunt in the 1981–82 season. Managerial career Stevenage In ...

's initial 30-man

England National Game XI The England national football C team (previously known as the England National Game XI and the England Semi-Pro national team) are the football teams that represent England at non-League level. Formed in 1979 as the England Non-League team, it f ...

squad for a match versus

Serie C The Serie C (), officially known as Serie C NOW for sponsorship purposes, is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing ...

on 10 November 2004. He was not named in the final 16-man squad.

Managerial and coaching career

Between 2012 and 2015, Blackman held the role of first team

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of Athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

at Hythe Town and Ashford United respectively. He moved to Isthmian League First Division South club

as first team coach in December 2015 and was promoted to manager in January 2017. He stayed in the role until resigning in December 2018. On 17 April 2019, it was announced that Blackman would take up the role of manager at Isthmian League South East Division club Whitstable Town from the beginning of the 2019–20 season. He presided over two abandoned seasons and departed in September 2021. One month later, he joined Isthmian League Premier Division club

Margate Margate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the Thanet District of Kent, England. It is located on the north coast of Kent and covers an area of long, north-east of Canterbury and includes Cliftonville, Garlinge, Palm Bay, UK, Palm Bay and W ...

as assistant manager. In May 2022, Blackman followed former Margate manager Jay Saunders to

National League South The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...

club

Tonbridge Angels Tonbridge Angels Football Club is a professional association football club based in Tonbridge, Kent, England. The team competes in the National League South, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded as Tonb ...

. On 31 March 2025, Blackman followed Saunders to Isthmian League Premier Division club Folkestone Invicta.

Career statistics

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackman, Lloyd 1983 births Living people English men's footballers Crystal Palace F.C. players Brentford F.C. players Scarborough F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Cambridge City F.C. players Farnborough F.C. players Woking F.C. players Crawley Town F.C. players Llanelli Town A.F.C. players Maidstone United F.C. players Margate F.C. players Whitstable Town F.C. players Hythe Town F.C. players Chatham Town F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Bishop's Stortford F.C. players Bromley F.C. players Welling United F.C. players Folkestone Invicta F.C. players Carshalton Athletic F.C. players Ashford United F.C. players Ramsgate F.C. managers Isthmian League managers English football managers Isthmian League players Southern Football League players Men's association football forwards English football coaches Footballers from Ashford, Surrey 21st-century English sportsmen