Andrew Blair (born 18 December 1959) is a former

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 ...

who was born in Scotland but grew up in England and spent his career in English football. He played in the Aston Villa team that beat

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

3–0 at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway station ...

to win the 1982 European Super Cup.

Football career

Born in Kirkcaldy, Fife, Blair grew up in Bedworth,

Warwickshire Warwickshire (; abbreviated Warks) is a county in the West Midlands region of England. The county town is Warwick, and the largest town is Nuneaton. The county is famous for being the birthplace of William Shakespeare at Stratford-upon-Av ...

, and was educated at

Nicholas Chamberlaine School Nicholas Chamberlaine School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form with an academy status, located in the town of Bedworth, Warwickshire, England. It has approximately 1,200 pupils between the ages of 11 and 18. The Executive He ...

in the town. He made his league debut for

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

, whom he had joined as an apprentice, on 28 October 1978 in a 2–1 win against

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional association football, 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. Sin ...

. He also played top-flight football at Aston Villa (in two separate spells) where he won the Charity Shield in 1981 (shared) and the European Cup in 1982 as an unused substitute. Blair also played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...

and on loan at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...

. In November 1984, while playing for

against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

, he achieved the unusual distinction of being the first player to ever score a hat-trick of penalties in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. He also appeared for Barnsley and

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

, before a knee injury ended his professional career in 1989, at the age of 30. He is currently working as a scout for Stoke City.

Personal life

Blair's son Matty also played for Kidderminster Harriers, and currently plays for

Football League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

side

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...

References

1959 births Living people People from Bedworth Scottish footballers Association football midfielders Aston Villa F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players English Football League players Scotland under-21 international footballers Footballers from Kirkcaldy English footballers English people of Scottish descent {{Scotland-footy-midfielder-1950s-stub