Tyler Nathan Blackett (born 2 April 1994) is an English professional
footballer who plays for
Rotherham United as a
left-back or
centre-back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...
. He began his career in the
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
youth academy in 2002, and has played on loan for
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
,
Birmingham City and
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
in the past. Born in Manchester, he is qualified to play for
England,
Barbados or
Jamaica internationally.
Club career
Manchester United
Blackett began his football career with youth club
Fletcher Moss Rangers, and signed for
Manchester United
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...
in 2002 at the age of 8.
He signed a professional contract with United in July 2012.
Blackpool (loan)
On 1 November 2013, Blackett signed for
Championship club
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
on a month-long loan.
The next day, he made his debut for the Seasiders, playing the whole 90 minutes in a 1–0 league win at
Nottingham Forest. On 5 December 2013, Blackpool extended Blackett's loan until 1 January 2014.
Birmingham City (loan)
On 31 January 2014, Blackett signed for Championship club
Birmingham City on a youth loan until the end of the season. Together with fellow Manchester United loanee
Tom Thorpe
Thomas Joseph Thorpe (born 13 January 1993) is an English professional footballer who plays as a defender for Macclesfield.
A product of the youth academy of Manchester United, Thorpe was loaned to Championship club Birmingham City in 2014 ...
, Blackett started the next day's match, at home to
Derby County. After 38 minutes, he tripped
Will Hughes
William James Hughes (born 17 April 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Premier League club Crystal Palace.
Having graduated a scholarship with Derby County, Hughes made his first team breakthrough during t ...
to concede a penalty, which
Darren Randolph
Darren Edward Andrew Randolph (born 12 May 1987) is an Irish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Premier League club AFC Bournemouth and the Republic of Ireland national team. He has previously played for the Republic of ...
saved. Birmingham came back from 3–1 down to draw, the equaliser scored by a third United loanee,
Federico Macheda, in stoppage time.
2014–15 season: Return to United
During the 2014–15 pre-season, Blackett played at centre-back for Manchester United in a 3–5–2 formation and his performances led to him earning praise from new manager
Louis van Gaal. In the club's final pre-season match against
Valencia at
Old Trafford
Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wemb ...
, he provided the assist for
Marouane Fellaini's stoppage-time winner to make the score 2–1.
As a result of an injury crisis and the departure of experienced defenders
Rio Ferdinand and
Nemanja Vidić from the club, Blackett was drafted into the first team squad on a permanent basis. Blackett made his competitive debut for Manchester United on 16 August 2014, in the first match of the
2014–15 Premier League
The 2014–15 Premier League (known as the Barclays Premier League for sponsorship reasons) was the 23rd season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs, since its establishment in 1992, and the ...
season, playing the full 90 minutes and being booked in a 2–1 home defeat to
Swansea City
Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...
in Van Gaal's first competitive match as Manchester United manager. He also played in the next game away at
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 ...
, which ended in a 1–1 draw with Blackett making an important clearance during the match to help earn Manchester United a point. Blackett also played in the 0–0 draw against Burnley on 30 August 2014. During the game he received a yellow card for a mistimed challenge. Blackett then played in United's first win of the season when they beat
Queens Park Rangers 4–0 as a centre-back rather than a full-back. He was sent off in the 82nd minute on 21 September as United lost 5–3 at
Leicester City.
On 17 May 2015 in a home match against
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
, Blackett came on in place of
Marcos Rojo after 73 minutes, and nine minutes later deflected a
Theo Walcott cross for an
own goal past United goalkeeper
Victor Valdés
The name Victor or Viktor may refer to:
* Victor (name), including a list of people with the given name, mononym, or surname
Arts and entertainment
Film
* ''Victor'' (1951 film), a French drama film
* ''Victor'' (1993 film), a French shor ...
to cause a 1–1 draw. In total, Blackett made 12 Premier League appearances during the 2014–15 season.
Celtic (loan)
On 29 August 2015, Blackett was loaned to
Scottish Premiership club
Celtic
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
until the end of the 2015–16 season.
He made his debut playing at left-back in a league match at
Aberdeen on 12 September 2015, but Celtic lost 2–1 to the league leaders. Blackett dropped out of the side for a few matches, but returned on 4 October for a league match at
Hamilton Accies
Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire who currently compete in the Scottish Championship, having been relegated from the 2020–21 Scottis ...
, taking the place of the suspended
Efe Ambrose in central defence and helped Celtic to a 2–1 win.
Reading
On 22 August 2016, Blackett signed a four-year contract with Championship club
Reading. Head coach
Jaap Stam
Jakob Stam (; born 17 July 1972) is a Dutch professional football coach and former player. As a player, he played as a centre-back and is regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation.
Stam played for several European clubs including P ...
, a former Manchester United player, praised the defender for his versatility and attacking presence.
With his contract with Reading due to expire on 30 June 2020, and due to the effects of the
COVID-19 pandemic on the
2019–20 season, Blackett signed a short-term extension with Reading until the end of the season. Following the completion of the 2019–20 season, Reading announced that Blackett would leave the club at the end of July 2020.
Nottingham Forest
On 15 August 2020, Blackett joined
Nottingham Forest on a permanent contract. He made his debut for the club on 12 September, starting in a 2–0 defeat away to
Queens Park Rangers.
FC Cincinnati
On 6 August 2021, Blackett joined
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
club
FC Cincinnati on a free transfer. Blackett was released by Cincinnati following their 2022 season.
Rotherham United
On 8 March 2023, Blackett returned to England when he joined Championship club
Rotherham United on a short-term contract until the end of the season.
International career
Background
Blackett qualifies to play for
England,
Barbados or
Jamaica internationally and has represented England at various youth levels.
England Under-16s
In September 2009, Blackett was called up to the
England U16 squad for the
2009
File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...
Victory Shield match against
Wales. On 15 October, he started the 1–0 win against Wales, but was replaced by
Alex Henshall
Alex Charles Henshall (born 15 February 1994) is an English footballer who plays as a winger for Southern League club Melksham Town.
Henshall began his football career with hometown club Swindon Town before joining Manchester City as a 16-y ...
a few minutes before half-time. Blackett was recalled to the squad for the final Victory Shield match against
Scotland in November 2009; he replaced
Sam Magri
Samuel John Magri (born 30 March 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a right back or centre back for club AFC Totton. Born in England, he represents the Malta national team.
In June 2019 he joined Havant & Waterlooville after his ...
in the 69th minute as England won 2–1 at the
Tynecastle Stadium in
Edinburgh.
The victory sealed England's ninth consecutive Victory Shield.
England Under-17s
Blackett was called up to the
England U17 squad for the Algarve Tournament in February 2011. He started England's opening game of the tournament on 24 February, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw with
Romania. He was an unused substitute in the 3–1 defeat against
Germany, but came on to replace Alex Henshall in the 76th minute of the 2–2 draw with
Portugal.
England Under-18s
In November 2011, Blackett was called up to the
England U18 squad for a friendly against
Slovakia. On 16 November, he started the 1–1 draw with Slovakia, before being replaced by
Courtney Meppen-Walter
Courtney Alister Meppen-Walter (born 2 August 1994) is an English professional footballer who plays for Guiseley as a defender. He previously played for Carlisle United.
Career
Meppen-Walter began his career with Manchester City; he was releas ...
in the 65th minute. He retained his place in the squad for the friendly against
Poland in February 2012, coming on at half-time as England won 3–0 at the
Alexandra Stadium
Gresty Road or the Alexandra Stadium, currently known as the Mornflake Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Crewe, Cheshire, England. The home ground of Crewe Alexandra, it has an all-seated capacity of 10,153.
History
Cre ...
.
England Under-19s
In August 2012, Blackett was called up to the
England U19 squad for a friendly against
Germany. On 6 September, he started the game in
Hamburg, playing the whole 90 minutes as England lost 3–1. Blackett earned his second call up for a friendly with
Denmark in January 2013, he started the game before being replaced by
Lewis Baker in the 67th minute as England won 3–1 at the
Keepmoat Stadium.
England Under-21s
In August 2014 Blackett received his first call up to the
England U21 squad after becoming part of the Manchester United first team squad and starting the first two games of the season.
Career statistics
Club
Honours
Celtic
*
Scottish Premiership: 2015-16
References
External links
*
Tyler BlackettTheFA.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blackett, Tyler
Living people
1994 births
English footballers
Footballers from Manchester
Manchester United F.C. players
Association football fullbacks
England youth international footballers
Blackpool F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
English Football League players
Premier League players
Black British sportspeople
English people of Jamaican descent
English people of Barbadian descent
England under-21 international footballers
Celtic F.C. players
Reading F.C. players
Nottingham Forest F.C. players
Fletcher Moss Rangers F.C. players
FC Cincinnati players
Rotherham United F.C. players
Scottish Professional Football League players
English expatriate footballers
English expatriate sportspeople in the United States
Expatriate soccer players in the United States
Major League Soccer players