Andy Black (footballer)

Andrew Black (23 September 1917 – 16 February 1989)[3][4] was a Scottish footballer, who played as an inside forward. He was born in Stirling.

Andy Black
Personal information
Full name Andrew Black
Date of birth (1917-09-23)23 September 1917
Place of birth Stirling, Scotland
Date of death 16 February 1989(1989-02-16) (aged 71)
Place of death Bannockburn, Scotland
Height 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[1]
Position(s) Inside forward
Youth career
West End Rangers
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
Shawfield
1935–1939 Heart of Midlothian 136 (105)
1946–1950 Manchester City 139 (47)
1950–1953 Stockport County 94 (38)
National team
1937–1938[2] Scottish League XI 2 (3)
1937–1938 Scotland 3 (3)
1942–1945 Scotland (wartime) 6 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Black was a prolific scorer with Heart of Midlothian before World War II, scoring 29 goals in 34 games in the 1936–37 season, before finishing as top scorer in the Scottish League with 40 goals in 38 appearances in the following season.[5][1] He was widely credited the following season as being the first player to score a hat-trick against Rangers at Ibrox;[6] however this had been first achieved by Willie Wilson, also of Hearts, in October 1915.[7]

Black played as a guest for Chester during the latter stages of the war but the club were unsuccessful in their attempts to sign him permanently.[8]

Black transferred to Manchester City in 1946 and between then and 1950 appeared 139 times and scored 47 goals. In a match during the late 1940s at Maine Road, the Charlton Athletic goalkeeper Sam Bartram sliced a clearance from the edge of his penalty area. Black, stood just inside his own half, headed the ball back over Bartram. City's pitch was 115 yards long so the ball must have travelled nearly sixty yards.[9] He finished his career with Stockport County in 1953.

Black won three caps for the Scotland national football team[10] and six wartime caps,[11] including one game where he had to be carried off of the pitch by Frank Swift after becoming injured.

He died on 16 February 1989 in Bannockburn Hospital.

References
  1. (Hearts player) Andy Black, London Hearts Supporters Club,
  2. (SFL player) Andrew Black, London Hearts Supporters Club
  3. "Andy Black". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 17 April 2017.
  4. Andy Black at Post War English & Scottish Football League A–Z Player's Database
  5. John Litster (October 2012). "A Record of pre-war Scottish League Players". Scottish Football Historian magazine. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  6. Lamming, Douglas (1987). A Scottish Soccer Internationalists Who's Who. Hutton Press. pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-907033-47-4.
  7. Rangers 0 Hearts 4 Oct 16 1915 Archived 1 April 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Chas Sumner (1997). On the Borderline: The Official History of Chester City 1885-1997. p. 60. ISBN 1-874427-52-6.
  9. "Has anyone ever scored a header from more than 30 yards out? Or what was the farthest header ever scored in Premiership or World Cup competition?". The Guardian. London. 2011.
  10. (Scotland player) Andy Black, London Hearts Supporters Club,
  11. Scotland Unofficial Matches 1939-1945, RSSSF, 23 July 2020
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