Nicholas Alexander Blackman (born 11 November 1989) 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 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 ...

. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. Born in England, he played for the Barbados national team.

Early life

Blackman was born in

Salford Salford ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city in Greater Manchester, England, on the western bank of the River Irwell which forms its boundary with Manchester city centre. Landmarks include the former Salford Town Hall, town hall, ...

Greater Manchester Greater Manchester is a ceremonial county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Derbyshire and West Yorkshire to the east, Cheshire to the south, and Merseyside to the west. Its largest settlement is the city of Manchester. ...

, to a

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

mother from England and a

Christian A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...

father from

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

."Blackman targets Israel role; Nick Blackman is eager to play for Israel after scoring eight goals since joining Maccabi Tel Aviv on loan from Derby County."
/ref> His Polish-Jewish maternal grandfather Benjamin Rosenfeld was an

Auschwitz Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It consisted of Auschw ...

Holocaust survivor Holocaust survivors are people who survived the Holocaust, defined as the persecution and attempted annihilation of the Jews by Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, its collaborators before and during World War II ...

and his Dutch-Jewish maternal grandmother Marta. He had a

Bar Mitzvah A ''bar mitzvah'' () or ''bat mitzvah'' () is a coming of age ritual in Judaism. According to Halakha, Jewish law, before children reach a certain age, the parents are responsible for their child's actions. Once Jewish children reach that age ...

. Blackman attended Manchester United Academies for five years from the age of eight, and also spent time at Bury and

Preston North End Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional association football club in Preston, Lancashire, England. They currently play in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English footbal ...

academies. He attended King David High School followed by Phillips High School in Manchester. At the age of 13 Blackman competed in the

2005 Maccabiah Games The 17th Maccabiah Games (), held in Israel, were an incarnation of the 'Jewish Olympics.' They attracted the largest attendance of any Maccabiah Games, including more than 900 representatives from the United States, almost 500 from Australia, and ...

in Israel as part of a British schools football team.

Club career

Macclesfield Town

Blackman was signed by

Macclesfield Town Macclesfield Town Football Club was an association football club based in Macclesfield, Cheshire, England. Initially known as Macclesfield F.C., the club was formed in 1874 and from 1891 played home games at Moss Rose. It competed in the short ...

in Summer 2006. After a string of impressive displays for the youth team Blackman signed his first professional contract at Macclesfield on 8 March 2007. After making his league debut against

Accrington Stanley Accrington Stanley Football Club is a professional association football club based in Accrington, Lancashire, England, that compete in the , the fourth level of the English football league system. They have spent their entire history playing a ...

his hopes of regular

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

football were dashed by a pre-season injury that kept him out of action for several months. Blackman scored his debut goal for Macclesfield in a 1–1 home draw with

Dagenham & Redbridge Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club (), often known simply as Dagenham and abbreviated when written to Dag & Red, is a professional association football club based in Dagenham, Greater London, England that play in the , the sixth level of the En ...

on 23 November 2007, when after coming on as a substitute, Blackman scored in the 90th minute. Blackman made a total of 12 appearances for Macclesfield, mostly as a substitute, scoring one goal.

Blackburn Rovers

Blackman joined

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

on 12 January 2009, after impressing in a trial, for an undisclosed fee on a two-and-a-half-year contract. Blackman scored two goals in his first two games for the club's reserve team.

Loans to Blackpool and Oldham Athletic

On 3 March, Blackman joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on loan initially for one month. Blackman made his debut later that same day as a 65th-minute substitute in a 0–1 home loss to

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...

Bloomfield Road Bloomfield Road is a association football, football stadium in Blackpool, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool Football Club since 1901. It is the third stadium in the club's existence, the previous two be ...

. After two substitution appearances, Blackman scored on his full debut, a 2–2 draw with

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

Bramall Lane Bramall Lane is a association football, football stadium in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which is the home of Sheffield United F.C., Sheffield United. The stadium was originally a cricket ground, built on a road named after the Bramall ...

on 10 March. On 20 August 2009, Blackman joined

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

on a month's loan. Two days later, Blackman made his Latics debut in a 2–2 draw versus

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. His first goal for the club came on 29 August when Blackman curled a shot into the net from the edge of the

area Area is the measure of a region's size on a surface. The area of a plane region or ''plane area'' refers to the area of a shape or planar lamina, while '' surface area'' refers to the area of an open surface or the boundary of a three-di ...

for Oldham's only goal in a 1–1 draw against

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 ...

. His loan period was extended until January 2010 after which Blackman returned to Blackburn.

Loans to Motherwell and Aberdeen

Blackman joined

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

club

Motherwell Motherwell (, ) is a List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Shires of Scotland, Historically in the p ...

on a six-month loan on 13 August 2010 and scored 10 goals in 18 games in total which, included a hat trick in a 4–0 win over

St Johnstone St Johnstone Football Club is a professional association football club in Perth, Scotland. The team competes in the , the second division of Scottish football. The club's name is derived from St John's Toun (or Saint Johnstoun)—an old name o ...

in November 2010. On 13 January 2011, former Motherwell manager Craig Brown signed Blackman for

Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...

on loan for six-months.

Return to Blackburn Rovers

Blackman returned to Blackburn Rovers at the end of his loan spell with Aberdeen. During the Premier League Asia Trophy match against

Kitchee Kitchee Sports Club (; ; ) is a Hong Kong professional Association football, football club based in Kowloon. It was founded in 1931 and currently competes in the Hong Kong Premier League. The club has won 12 List of Hong Kong football champion ...

of Hong Kong, Blackman came off the bench for Blackburn and won and converted a penalty in a 3–0 win.

Sheffield United

On 10 August 2012, Blackman signed for

on a two-year deal for an undisclosed fee reported to be £115,000 plus a 20% sell on after turning down offers from

clubs. Blackman scored his first goal for the Blades with his first touch in a League Cup game against

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on 11 August 2012. Blackman played regularly for the Blades throughout the first half of the season, making 33 appearances and scoring 14 goals by the end of January. By this time however, Blackman was attracting interest from other clubs and was the subject of bids from both

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

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

and despite United accepting offers from both clubs, Blackman rejected a move to Palace.

Reading

On 30 January 2013, Blackman signed for

side

for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £1.35m and a 20% sell on. He signed on a three-and-a-half-year contract. Blackman made his debut on 2 February, replacing

Pavel Pogrebnyak Pavel Viktorovich Pogrebnyak ( ; born 8 November 1983) is a Russian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Born in Moscow, Pogrebnyak began his career at Spartak Moscow, making his professional debut in 2002. Over the next th ...

in the 72nd minute of a 2–1 win against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Blackman scored Reading's first goal of the 2015–16 Championship season in a 2–1 away defeat to

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

Derby County

On 6 January 2016, it was announced that Blackman had signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

for a reported fee of over £3 million. He scored his only goal for the club, a penalty, in a 2–0 win over

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

on 27 September 2016.

Loan to Maccabi Tel Aviv

After starting only 12 matches for Derby, Blackman joined

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

Maccabi Tel Aviv Maccabi Tel Aviv () is one of the largest sports clubs in Israel, and a part of the Maccabi association. Many sports clubs and teams in Tel Aviv are in association with Maccabi and compete in a variety of sports, such as football, basketball, j ...

on a season-long loan in August 2017. He scored 10 goals in 31 league games. On 22 May 2018 Blackman returned to

after the end of his loan spell.

Loan to Sporting de Gijón

On 15 August 2018, Blackman joined

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

on a season-long loan. On 9 January 2019, he scored the winning goal in a 2–1 victory over

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

in the first leg of the round of 16 in the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

Maccabi Tel Aviv

After being released by Derby County in July 2019, Blackman signed a two-year contract with

on 17 July 2019. In his first season back at the club, Blackman won the Israeli Premier League title. Despite some favourable displays in the early part of the season, Blackman spent large amounts of time away from the first team due to injury. Blackman scored both goals for Maccabi in the first leg of their victory against

Hapoel Be'er Sheva Hapoel Be'er Sheva Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Be'er Sheva'') is an Israeli professional association football, football club from the city of Beersheba, Be'er Sheva, that competes in the Israeli Premier League. The club was estab ...

in the

Israel Super Cup The Israel Super Cup, also known as the Champion of Champions (, Aluf HaAlufim), is an Israeli association football club competition played as a single match between the winner of the latest Israeli top league champions and the winner of the late ...

on 8 August 2020. On 19 August, Blackman again scored twice in a 2–0 victory over Latvian club

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

in the

first qualifying round First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

of the

2020–21 UEFA Champions League The 2020–21 UEFA Champions League was the 66th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 29th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Chelsea defea ...

. Seven days later, he scored in Maccabi's successful second qualifying round win over

FK Sūduva FK Sūduva is a Lithuanian professional Association football, football club based in the city of Marijampolė. Founded in 1968, the club competes in the A Lyga, the top flight of Football in Lithuania, Lithuanian football. The club has been pla ...

of Lithuania in the same competition. Blackman left the club in the summer of 2021 upon the expiration of his contract.

International career

According to Blackman, he was eligible to represent

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

at international level—Barbados through his father, the Netherlands and Poland through his maternal grandparents, and Israel through "family members". In 2019, Blackman decided to represent

at international level. Blackman made his debut for Barbados on 5 September 2019, scoring a brace in a 4–0 win over

Saint Martin Saint Martin may refer to: People * Saint Martin of Tours (c. 316–397), Bishop of Tours, France * Saint Martin of Braga (c. 520–580), archbishop of Bracara Augusta in Gallaecia (now Braga in Portugal) * Pope Martin I (c. 595–655), bishop of R ...

in a

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

match.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Barbados' goal tally first.''

Honours

Maccabi Tel Aviv *

: 2019–20 *

Toto Cup The Israel Toto Cup (, ''Gvia Ha'Toto'') is an association football tournament that features clubs in the two highest divisions in Israel: the Israeli Premier League Ligat ha'Al, Ligat Ha'Al; and the Israeli 2nd division Liga Leumit. Both of the ...

: 2017–18,בפעם החמישית: מכבי ת"א זכתה בגביע הטוטו
14 December 2017.

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

References

External links

Nick Blackman profile
at Reading F.C. *
Twitter page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackman, Nick Living people 1989 births People from Whitefield, Greater Manchester Sportspeople from the Metropolitan Borough of Bury Naturalised citizens of Barbados Barbadian men's footballers 21st-century Barbadian sportsmen Barbados men's international footballers English men's footballers Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Jewish footballers English Ashkenazi Jews Men's association football forwards Macclesfield Town F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Motherwell F.C. players Aberdeen F.C. players Sheffield United F.C. players Reading F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. players Sporting de Gijón players Premier League players English Football League players Scottish Premier League players Israeli Premier League players Maccabiah Games competitors for Great Britain British emigrants to Israel Competitors at the 2005 Maccabiah Games Barbadian expatriate men's footballers English people of Barbadian descent Sportspeople of Barbadian descent Footballers from Salford Barbadian Jews Jewish English sportspeople English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Israel English expatriate sportspeople in Israel Barbadian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Barbadian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Segunda División players 21st-century English sportsmen

Early life

Club career

Macclesfield Town

Blackburn Rovers

Loans to Blackpool and Oldham Athletic

Loans to Motherwell and Aberdeen

Return to Blackburn Rovers

Sheffield United

Reading

Derby County

Loan to Maccabi Tel Aviv

Loan to Sporting de Gijón

Maccabi Tel Aviv

International career

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

See also

References

External links