George Henry Raymond Blackwood (born 4 June 1997) is an Australian professional

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 plays as a striker. Born in Sydney, Blackwood played youth football for

APIA Leichhardt Tigers APIA Leichhardt Football Club, also known simply as APIA (Associazione Poli-sportiva Italo Australiana), is a semi-professional soccer club based in the suburb of Leichhardt in Sydney, Australia. The club was formed in 1954 as APIA Leichhardt, ...

before making his professional debut for

Sydney FC Sydney Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Sydney, New South Wales. It competes in the country's premier men's competition, A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The club was fo ...

in 2014. Blackwood has represented Australia at under-20 and at under-23 level.

Early life

Blackwood was born to British parents and grew up in

Berowra, New South Wales Berowra is an outer suburb of Northern Sydney located in the state of New South Wales, Australia 36 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Hornsby Shire. Berowra is south-east of the suburbs of ...

. He attended

Asquith Boys High School Asquith Boys High School is a government-funded comprehensive single-sex secondary day school for boys, located on Jersey Street, Asquith, an upper north shore suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Established in 1960, the school en ...

. Blackwood has two younger brothers and is a cricket fan.

Club career

Early career

Blackwood spent a month training at

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

in 2013 after winning a scholarship award in Australia.

Sydney FC

George was first called up to

's senior squad for a match against Melbourne City in October 2014. He scored his first goal for the club in a draw against

Central Coast Mariners Central Coast Mariners Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Gosford, on the Central Coast of New South Wales. It competes in the A-League Men, under licence from the Australian Professional Leagues (APL). The Ma ...

on 16 March 2016 with a shot from outside the

box A box (plural: boxes) is a container used for the storage or transportation of its contents. Most boxes have flat, parallel, rectangular sides. Boxes can be very small (like a matchbox) or very large (like a shipping box for furniture), and can ...

. Blackwood denied a new contract from

at the end of the 2016–17 season.

Adelaide United

In July 2017,

Adelaide United Adelaide United Football Club is a professional Association Football, soccer club based in Adelaide, South Australia, Australia. The club participates in the A-League Men under North American professional sports league organization#Systems ar ...

signed Blackwood. Blackwood's first professional goal for the Adelaide-based club came from a penalty in the

Round of 16 A single-elimination, knockout, or sudden death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of each match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final matc ...

of the

2017 FFA Cup The 2017 FFA Cup was the fourth season of the FFA Cup, the main national soccer knockout cup competition in Australia. 32 teams began competing in the competition proper (from the round of 32), including the 10 A-League teams and 21 Football Fed ...

against rivals

Melbourne Victory Melbourne Victory Football Club is an Australian professional soccer club based in Melbourne, Victoria. Competing in the country's premier men's competition, the A-League Men, under licence from Australian Professional Leagues (APL), Victory e ...

. Blackwood made an appearance in the 2017 FFA Cup Final on 21 November 2017 against former club

, coming on as a substitute in the 73rd minute. Blackwood was released by the club on 26 August 2020 to pursue a new opportunity

Oldham Athletic

On 6 September 2020, Blackwood signed with

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic ...

on a two-year deal. Blackwood scored his first goal for Oldham on 3 November 2020 which saw the team go on to win the game 2–1. Blackwood developed a fracture in his back which saw a lack of appearances for the English club. Following the conclusion of the 2020–21 EFL League Two season, the club had announced that they had mutually agreed to terminate his contract, Blackwood then returned to Australia.

Return to Adelaide United

Blackwood returned to Adelaide United on 2 August 2021 signing a two-year deal. In his first game back for the club, Blackwood dispatched a

penalty Penalty or The Penalty may refer to: Sports * Penalty (golf) * Penalty (gridiron football) * Penalty (ice hockey) * Penalty (rugby) * Penalty (rugby union) * Penalty kick (association football) * Penalty shoot-out (association football) * Penalty ...

in a Round of 32 match of the

2021 FFA Cup The 2021 FFA Cup was the eighth season of the FFA Cup, the main national Association football, soccer single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in Australia. Thirty-two teams contested the competition proper from the round of 32, i ...

against

Floreat Athena Floreat Athena Football Club is an association football (soccer) club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club competes in the National Premier Leagues Western Australia. The club's founders were of Greek heritage. Floreat Athena has been c ...

Bhayangkara FC

On 9 November 2023, Blackwood joins

Bhayangkara FC Bhayangkara Football Club are an Indonesian professional football club based in Bekasi Regency, West Java, Indonesia. The club are linked to the Indonesian National Police, with many of their players serving as policemen. Even the name of the cl ...

in Liga 1. On the same day, he made his debut in a 1–1 draw against Rans Nusantara, coming substitute for

Sani Rizki Fauzi Sani Rizki Fauzi (born 7 January 1998) is an Indonesian professional footballer who plays as a winger or full-back for Liga 1 club Bhayangkara and the Indonesia national team. Club career Bhayangkara FC In 2018, Sani Rizki is one of the you ...

in the 67th minute.

International career

Blackwood was first selected for the Australian under-20 team for the 2014 AFF U-19 Youth Championship in September 2014. In March 2015, Blackwood was called up to the Australian under-23 team to replace injured

teammate

Terry Antonis Lefteris "Terry" Antonis ( el, Λευτέρης "Τέρι" Αντώνης; born 26 November 1993) is an Australian association football player who plays for the Western Sydney Wanderers as a midfielder. Born in Sydney, Antonis played youth foo ...

for

2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification The 2016 AFC U-23 Championship qualification was a men's under-23 football competition which decided the participating teams of the 2016 AFC U-23 Championship. Players born on or after 1 January 1993 were eligible to compete in the tournament. A ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

* A-League Premiership: 2016–17

Country

;

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

AFF U-19 Youth Championship The AFF U-19 Youth Championship is an annual international football competition contested by the national teams of the members of the ASEAN Football Federation (AFF) and occasionally invited nations from the rest of Asia. The tournament was pre ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Individual

* National Youth League Player of the Year: 2014–15 *

Golden Boot:

References

External links

*
George Blackwood profile
at SydneyFC.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Blackwood, George Living people 1997 births Men's association football forwards Australian men's soccer players Australian people of English descent Sydney FC players Adelaide United FC players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players Bhayangkara Presisi Indonesia F.C. players A-League Men players English Football League players Liga 1 (Indonesia) players Australia men's under-20 international soccer players Soccer players from Sydney Expatriate men's footballers in England Australian expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia Australian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia People educated at Asquith Boys High School