William Black

Injured curtailed talented young goalkeeper William Black’s career at the Showgrounds during the early 1930’s.

Born in the Duncairn area of North Belfast, Black came to prominence in football keeping goal for Cliftonville Olympic in August 1927. The teenager progressed rapidly at Solitude, quickly earning a first team berth and impressed many onlookers despite the Reds eventually finishing bottom of the Irish League during his debut 1927/1928 campaign.

Another impressive campaign with Cliftonville followed in 1928/1929, and by the summer of 1929 he was a wanted man, Linfield eventually being the successful suitors as he signed Amateur forms with the Windsor Park club in May despite strong interest from Portadown, Belfast Celtic and Glentoran. In fact, William also went on a summer tour of Denmark in June 1929 with Celtic as a backup custodian.

Black made his Linfield debut in a 7-1 win over Coleraine in August 1929, but failed to hold down a regular shirt over the course of the 1929/1930 campaign, eventually losing his place to the talented Charlie Lawson as the Blues went onto win the Irish League and Irish Cup, the latter against Ballymena at Celtic Park.

Looking to reignite his career, the 21-year-old was persuaded to take up the vacant position left at Ballymena by the departure of veteran stopper John Gough. Having played as first choice for much of the first half of the 1930/1931 season, he was carried off injured on Boxing Day in a defeat to Linfield in what proved to be the last of his 17 appearances for the club, as he failed to regain his place in the team as the Braidmen used no less than six different goalkeepers throughout the season, with James McKean featuring in the Irish Cup final against Linfield in March 1931.

Eager to bounce back from his injury, Black rejoined Cliftonville in the summer of 1931 as understudy to Alf Gardiner, but by September he was turning out for Broadway United in the Intermediate League but disaster struck later that season as he suffered a serious leg break during the McElroy Cup Final against Crusaders which would ultimately keep him out of football for almost a full year.

The injury would also unfortunately be the catalyst for the conclusion of William’s playing career as short spells with Carrick Rangers (March 1933) and then Brantwood (September 1933) failed to produce either a return to form or regular gametime, as William Black’s career came to an unceremonious conclusion at the age of just 25.

After football, William moved to and married in Middlesex in England, but eventually returned to Ulster, where he lived until his passing in December 1983, aged 74.

Career
(Aug 1927) Cliftonville; (May 1929) Linfield; (Jul 1930) Ballymena; (Jul 1931) Cliftonville; (Sep 1931) Broadway United; (Mar 1933) Carrick Rangers; (Sep 1933) Brantwood

Honours
(with Summerfield)
McElroy Cup: (finalist) 1931/1932