Chris Blackburn
Encyclopedia
Christopher Raymond "Chris" Blackburn (born 2 August 1982) is an English footballer who plays for Stockport County
as a defender
.
as a youth product. He started as a midfielder and signed full pro forms at the Deva Stadium in 2000. He took over as goalkeeper in a 5–2 win over Dagenham & Redbridge
in 2002 after Wayne Brown was sent off. He made 87 appearances for the Cheshire side between 1999 and 2003 before leaving in the summer of 2003. He went to America where he played briefly, as a striker, for Nevada Wonders
in the USL Pro Select League
. On his return to England, he signed for Northwich Victoria
.
. Despite playing just five games towards the end of the 2003–04 season, Blackburn impressed sufficiently to be given a two-year contract.
That summer, he again played for the Wonders
on loan, before an injury crisis at Christie Park saw him convert to a defender
, where he regularly played at both centre half and right back. In these new positions, Blackburn formed a formidable partnership with Jim Bentley
.
He was a member of the Morecambe side that lost to Hereford United
in the 2006 Conference National Play-Off Semi-Final. Chris made 126 appearances for the Lancashire side including playing 46 games in the 2006–07 season where Morecambe gained promotion to the Football League
via the 2007 Conference play-off Final. Blackburn played the whole of the play-off final match at the New Wembley
in front of over 40,000 spectators against Exeter City
as Morecambe won 2–1.
Despite being offered a new deal at Morecambe Chris chose to move south and link up with Paul Sturrock
at Swindon Town
.
. He scored twice for Swindon Town on his debut against Brentford
in a Football League Trophy
game.
In March 2008, he was loaned to Weymouth
. His 13 games for the club ended with them avoiding relegation to the Conference South
. He returned to Swindon and was subsequently released at the end of the season, despite having a year left on his contract.
champions, Aldershot Town
, who had just been promoted to League Two
. He made his debut with Aldershot Town in their first League Two match at Accrington Stanley
on the opening day of the 2008–09 season.
. He would start the season in a familiar central defense position, but in a new 4-3-3 system adopted by manager Dean Saunders, Chris Blackburn was moved to a holding midfield role, where his game really improved. He quickly became a first team regular, and a fans favourite with the way he broke play and cleared up loose balls. He scored his first goal for the club against Cambridge United on 22 January 2011, heading home after the keeper had saved a shot, this goal put Wrexham 3-0 up after only twenty minutes away from home. He was a key player in Wrexham's play-off season, perhaps being the most consistent performer in the team, however the side lost 5-1 on aggregate in the end of season play-offs to eventual runners-up Luton Town
.
Following a disagreement with manager Dean Saunders, Blackburn was transfer listed on August 19th, 2011. Blackburn felt that his best position was central defense, while Saunders could not guarantee him a starting role in this position. Later on in the month his contract was terminated by mutual consent.
making his debut the same day in a Conference National
match against Luton Town.
midfielder Alan Oakes
and the cousin of ex-Wolves
keeper Michael Oakes
.
Stockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
as a defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
.
Chester City
Chris started his career at hometown club Chester CityChester City F.C.
Chester City Football Club was an English football team from Chester. The club was founded as Chester F.C., and joined the Football League in 1931, spending most of their time in the lower divisions. They changed their name to Chester City in 1983. Chester won their first league title in 2004, the...
as a youth product. He started as a midfielder and signed full pro forms at the Deva Stadium in 2000. He took over as goalkeeper in a 5–2 win over Dagenham & Redbridge
Dagenham & Redbridge F.C.
Dagenham & Redbridge Football Club , informally known as Daggers, is an English association football club based in Dagenham, in the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, East London. It was formed in 1992 after a merger between Redbridge Forest and Dagenham...
in 2002 after Wayne Brown was sent off. He made 87 appearances for the Cheshire side between 1999 and 2003 before leaving in the summer of 2003. He went to America where he played briefly, as a striker, for Nevada Wonders
Nevada Wonders
Nevada Wonders were an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2005, when the team left the league and the franchise was terminated.They played their home games in...
in the USL Pro Select League
USL Second Division
The United Soccer Leagues Second Division was a professional men's soccer league in the United States, part of the United Soccer Leagues league pyramid...
. On his return to England, he signed for Northwich Victoria
Northwich Victoria F.C.
Northwich Victoria Football Club are an English football club who play at the Victoria Stadium in Wincham, Northwich, Cheshire in the Northern Premier League Premier Division, the seventh tier of the English football league system.Northwich are an old club, founded in 1874 and named in honour of...
.
Morecambe
In February 2004, he signed a short-term deal at MorecambeMorecambe F.C.
Morecambe Football Club is an English football club based in Morecambe, Lancashire. It plays its football in League Two, the fourth division of English football, having been promoted in 2007 for the first time in their history to the Football League. They played their home matches at Christie Park...
. Despite playing just five games towards the end of the 2003–04 season, Blackburn impressed sufficiently to be given a two-year contract.
That summer, he again played for the Wonders
Nevada Wonders
Nevada Wonders were an American soccer team, founded in 2003. The team was a member of the United Soccer Leagues Premier Development League , the fourth tier of the American Soccer Pyramid, until 2005, when the team left the league and the franchise was terminated.They played their home games in...
on loan, before an injury crisis at Christie Park saw him convert to a defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
, where he regularly played at both centre half and right back. In these new positions, Blackburn formed a formidable partnership with Jim Bentley
Jim Bentley
Jim Bentley is an English footballer, currently employed as player-manager for League Two club Morecambe.Bentley, who debuted for Telford United in 1997, moved to Morecambe in 2002...
.
He was a member of the Morecambe side that lost to Hereford United
Hereford United F.C.
Hereford United Football Club is an English professional football club based in the city of Hereford. Founded in 1924, they are competing in Football League Two in the 2011–12 season. Hereford have played at Edgar Street for their entire history and are nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites',...
in the 2006 Conference National Play-Off Semi-Final. Chris made 126 appearances for the Lancashire side including playing 46 games in the 2006–07 season where Morecambe gained promotion to the Football League
The Football League
The Football League, also known as the npower Football League for sponsorship reasons, is a league competition featuring professional association football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888, it is the oldest such competition in world football...
via the 2007 Conference play-off Final. Blackburn played the whole of the play-off final match at the New Wembley
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
in front of over 40,000 spectators against Exeter City
Exeter City F.C.
Exeter City Football Club is an English football club, based in Exeter, which is owned by its fans through the Exeter City Supporters Trust.The club was a member of the Football League from 1920 to 2003...
as Morecambe won 2–1.
Despite being offered a new deal at Morecambe Chris chose to move south and link up with Paul Sturrock
Paul Sturrock
Paul Whitehead Sturrock is a Scottish football manager who, since July 2010, is the manager of Southend United. Until this appointment, Sturrock had most recently been at English League 1 club Plymouth Argyle in a business support role, having been relieved of his managerial duties, until he quit...
at Swindon Town
Swindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
.
Swindon Town
The consistent performances for Morecambe attracted the attention of other league clubs and in July 2007, Blackburn joined Swindon TownSwindon Town F.C.
Swindon Town Football Club are a team based in Swindon, Wiltshire. Currently in League Two, Swindon have been managed by Paolo Di Canio since 23 May 2011...
. He scored twice for Swindon Town on his debut against Brentford
Brentford F.C.
Brentford Football Club are a professional English football club based in Brentford in the London Borough of Hounslow. They are currently playing in Football League One....
in a Football League Trophy
Football League Trophy
The Football League Trophy, currently known as the Johnstone's Paint Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football knock-out competition open to the 48 clubs in Football League One and Football League Two, the bottom two divisions in the four fully professional top...
game.
In March 2008, he was loaned to Weymouth
Weymouth F.C.
Weymouth F.C. are an English football club based in the town of Weymouth, who currently play in the Southern League Premier Division.-History:Weymouth Football Club were founded in 1890 and played their first game on 24 September of that year...
. His 13 games for the club ended with them avoiding relegation to the Conference South
Conference South
Conference South is one of the second divisions of the Football Conference in England, taking its place immediately below the Conference National...
. He returned to Swindon and was subsequently released at the end of the season, despite having a year left on his contract.
Aldershot Town
A couple of weeks later Chris signed a two year contract with Conference NationalConference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
champions, Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town F.C.
Aldershot Town Football Club is an association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England, founded in the spring of 1992 just after the closure of debt-ridden Fourth Division club Aldershot Football Club...
, who had just been promoted to League Two
Football League Two
Football League Two is the third-highest division of The Football League and fourth-highest division overall in the English football league system....
. He made his debut with Aldershot Town in their first League Two match at Accrington Stanley
Accrington Stanley F.C.
Accrington Stanley is an English association football club from Accrington in Lancashire, in the North West of England, who play in Football League Two, the fourth-highest division in the English football league system....
on the opening day of the 2008–09 season.
England National Game XI
He made his debut for the England National Game XI as a substitute against Italy in November 2002. He was also part of the England National Game XI squad that won the 2005–07 European Challenge Trophy. Chris scored in the 3-1 victory over Italy in February 2006.Wrexham
Blackburn signed for Wrexham in June 2010 on a 2-year contract after a good spell with Aldershot. He made his debut in August 2010 in an opening day victory over Cambridge UnitedCambridge United F.C.
Cambridge United Football Club is a professional football club from Cambridge, England. They are currently playing the 2011-2012 season in the Conference National, the fifth tier of the English league system, where they have competed since 2005 following their relegation from the Football League...
. He would start the season in a familiar central defense position, but in a new 4-3-3 system adopted by manager Dean Saunders, Chris Blackburn was moved to a holding midfield role, where his game really improved. He quickly became a first team regular, and a fans favourite with the way he broke play and cleared up loose balls. He scored his first goal for the club against Cambridge United on 22 January 2011, heading home after the keeper had saved a shot, this goal put Wrexham 3-0 up after only twenty minutes away from home. He was a key player in Wrexham's play-off season, perhaps being the most consistent performer in the team, however the side lost 5-1 on aggregate in the end of season play-offs to eventual runners-up Luton Town
Luton Town F.C.
Luton Town Football Club is an English professional football club based since 1905 at Kenilworth Road, Luton, Bedfordshire. The club currently competes in the fifth tier of English football, the Conference National, for the third consecutive season during the 2011–12 season.Formed in 1885, it was...
.
Following a disagreement with manager Dean Saunders, Blackburn was transfer listed on August 19th, 2011. Blackburn felt that his best position was central defense, while Saunders could not guarantee him a starting role in this position. Later on in the month his contract was terminated by mutual consent.
Stockport County
On 2 September he joined Stockport CountyStockport County F.C.
Stockport County Football Club is an English football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester. The club formed in 1883 as Heaton Norris Rovers, shortly afterwards merging with Heaton Norris F.C., and adopted the current name on 24 May 1890 on the creation of the County Borough of Stockport...
making his debut the same day in a Conference National
Conference National
Conference National is the top division of the Football Conference in England. It is the highest level of the National League System and fifth highest of the overall English football league system...
match against Luton Town.
Personal life
He is the nephew of former Manchester CityManchester City F.C.
Manchester City Football Club is an English Premier League football club based in Manchester. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's , they became Ardwick Association Football Club in 1887 and Manchester City in 1894...
midfielder Alan Oakes
Alan Oakes
Alan Arthur Oakes is an English footballer who holds Manchester City's all-time record for appearances. Thanks to a further six year stint at Chester , Oakes played 776 Football League matches – the seventh most in history.-Permanent Fixture with Man City:Oakes signed for Manchester City on...
and the cousin of ex-Wolves
Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C.
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club is an English professional association football club that represents the city of Wolverhampton in the West Midlands region. They are members of the Premier League, the highest level of English football. The club was founded in 1877 and since 1889 has played at...
keeper Michael Oakes
Michael Oakes
Michael Christian Oakes is an English former professional football goalkeeper who is currently working with Wrexham as a goalkeeping coach and Assistant Manager Under Andy Morrell. He is the son of former Manchester City footballer Alan Oakes.- Aston Villa :Oakes began his career in Aston Villa's...
.