Adam Hudson Black (18 February 1898 – 30 August 1981) was a Scottish

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 le ...

who played for Leicester City in the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

in the 1920s and 1930s. He played for Leicester between January 1920 and 1935 and made a total of 557 senior appearances,filbertstreet.net stats
including 528 in the

, the ''Foxes'' club record.

Early life

Born in Denny, prior to joining Leicester Black fought in World War I with the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

and won the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his gallantry near Mœuvres on 21 March 1918. The citation for his DCM stated that Black "bombed out a large portion of a trench captured by the enemy in spite of strenuous opposition. His initiative, leadership and personal gallantry were worthy of the highest praise".

Career

Black made his debut for Leicester on 24 January 1920 in a 3–2 victory over Hull City after becoming one of Peter Hodge's first signings for the club and began to establish himself as a first team regular the following season. Over the following few seasons under Hodge, Leicester were slowly built into a Second Division force and Black helped the club to the Second Division title in 1924–25. Black later played a key role as part of the team which finished in the club's second highest league finish of runners-up in the First Division in 1928–29. He progressed to

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

the team. Despite playing 557 times for Leicester, he only managed to score 4 times. Three of his goals were penalties and the other a bizarre 60 yard free-kick against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

in 1933, which Black accidentally over hit. He made his final Leicester appearance in February 1935. He played in the

Home Scots v Anglo-Scots Home Scots v Anglo-Scots was an annual association football trial match organised by the Scottish Football Association between the 1890s and 1920s to examine the abilities of possible players for upcoming full British Home Championship internationa ...

trial match in 1923.

Legacy

A suite at Leicester's home ground, the King Power Stadium, is named in his honour.

Personal life

Black married in

Clydebank Clydebank ( gd, Bruach Chluaidh) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Mil ...

in 1920. His brother John Black (born 1900) also played football for various Football League teams.

Honours

Football League First Division The Football League First Division was a division of the Football League in England from 1888 until 2004. It was the top division in the English football league system from the season 1888–89 until 1991–92, a century in which the First ...

Runner-up: 1928–29 * Football League Second Division Champions: 1924–25

Records

*All-Time

Leicester City F.C. Leicester City Football Club is an English professional football club based in Leicester in the East Midlands of England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home mat ...

leader in league appearances: 528 games. *Black and

Jack Bamber John Bamber (11 April 1895 – 26 May 1973) was an English footballer who played as a half back for Liverpool, Leicester City, Tranmere Rovers Tranmere Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Birkenhead, ...

were the first Leicester players to play all games in a First Division season, in 1925–26.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Adam English Football League players Leicester City F.C. players British Army personnel of World War I Recipients of the Distinguished Conduct Medal 1898 births 1981 deaths Scottish footballers Association football fullbacks Bathgate F.C. players Footballers from Falkirk (council area) Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders soldiers People from Denny, Falkirk