Kevin Blackwell

Ex-Team Manager

Blackwell's Transfer Dealings

For all of Kevin Blackwell's transfer dealings as Luton manager, click HERE.

A born and bred Lutonian, Kevin Blackwell was appointed as the Luton Town manager on March 27th 2007 following the sacking of Mike Newell and he remained in charge of the Hatters for just under a year.

It fulfilled a lifetime ambition of Kevin's to manage the Hatters, the team he had supported as a child.  Living very close to the Kenilworth Road ground as a youngster, he would be able to hear from his bedroom the cheers from the ground when Luton scored!

Kevin has many connections throughout the football world, especially at Sheffield United, managed by Neil Warnock, a man that Blackwell has spent many years working alongside at Scarborough, Notts County, Huddersfield Town, Bury and Plymouth Argyle. 

He took over at Kenilworth Road with the Hatters placed 2nd from bottom of the Championship table and after six successive defeats.

A goalkeeper during his playing days, Kevin spent the majority of his playing career in non-league football and in the lower divisions of the Football League.  He began his football career as an apprentice at Cambridge United, managed at the time by the legendary Ron Atkinson. After failing to breakthrough at the Abbey Stadium, he moved into non-league football, playing for Luton’s neighbours Bedford Town, while working as a bricklayer. He went on to play in the 1978 FA Vase final for another of the Hatters’ local neighbours, Barton Rovers, and for Middlesex Wanderers, before being signed by Barry Fry for Barnet.

After his spell at Underhill, he moved to Boston United for a fee of £5,000 in 1980, saving a penalty at Wembley in the 1985 FA Trophy final, although Boston were beaten 1-2 by Wealdstone. He returned to Barnet in 1986 before Neil Warnock signed him for Scarborough in November of the same year.

Following Kevin's arrival, Scarborough were quickly promoted to the Football League and he remained at the club for their first 2 League seasons, making 44 League appearances in addition to those made in the Conference. However, when Neil Warnock moved to Notts County in January 1989, he returned to Scarborough in November 1989 to sign Kevin for £15,000. In just over 3 years at Meadow Lane, Kevin never made a League appearance, and in January 1993, when Warnock took over at Torquay United, Kevin followed him, playing 18 League games in a successful battle to stay in the Football League.

Kevin Blackwell during his playing days, seen here at Notts County.

Warnock then moved to Huddersfield Town and in August 1993, Blackwell once again joined him, this time taking on coaching duties in addition to his playing role. However, his playing opportunities were limited to 3 full League appearances, plus another 2 as a substitute. 

In August 1995, Warnock joined Plymouth Argyle and Kevin joined him, signing for the Pilgrims on a free transfer and was appointed player-youth coach. Warnock left in February 1997, but Kevin remained at Home Park, working as assistant manager to Mick Jones. He remained registered as a player, solely as a precautionary measure, but in March 1998 returned to full-time training as emergency cover for Argyle's only keeper Jon Sheffield. He was never called upon and ended his career after 24 league appearances for Argyle. 

In June 1998, Jones was sacked after Plymouth's relegation, and a month later Kevin also left with new manager Kevin Hodges wanting to appoint his own management team. 

Neil Warnock had since become manager of Bury, and Kevin was soon appointed goalkeeping coach at Bury, eventually becoming assistant manager. 

In December 1999, Neil Warnock was appointed manager of Sheffield United and he took Kevin with him as his assistant. In September 2000, Kevin's thoughts were turned to playing again, he was still registered as a player and due to injuries was the only cover for the Blades' first choice keeper. 

He joined Leeds United as a coach in 2003, working alongside Peter Reid and Eddie Gray, before becoming manager at Elland Road in 2004.  Handed the daunting task of rebuilding Leeds' team after huge debts forced the jettisoning of its highly paid stars, Kevin made a record number of signings for the club during the 2004-05 season, including Matthew Spring and Clarke Carlisle, who would go on to play for Luton Town.  Although early results were poor, perhaps affected by boardroom turmoil that saw the new board struggle to put the club onto a sound financial footing and in time led to its takeover by Ken Bates, Kevin led the side to challenge for the play-offs, before a run of draws slowed progress, leaving Leeds in mid-table. 

Kevin had been seen as a temporary appointment, perhaps to be replaced by a more glamorous name, but his success in stabilising the team - and his initial popularity with fans - led Bates to suggest he had a long term future at the club. 

In the summer of 2005 Kevin was handed financial backing and bought some high profile players for the new season. Proven strikers Richard Cresswell, Rob Hulse and Robbie Blake gave Kevin plenty of firepower up front and between them cost over £3 million. Once again Kevin had convinced in-demand players to join Leeds. Kevin's shrewd tactics away from Elland Road and attacking style at home (where 9 out of 10 matches were won) proved very effective and, by the end of February, Kevin had guided Leeds to 3rd spot in the Championship and an almost guaranteed play-off spot, with automatic promotion remaining a possibility. The Leeds team, however, then produced some distinctly average performances and settled for their play-off place. This made a lot of Leeds fans disgruntled and many blamed it on Kevin using the same tactics week in week out, with teams being able to predict this and counteract them. 

Kevin took his Leeds team into the Championship play-off final, after beating Preston North End 3-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals. However, Leeds lost the final 0-3 to Luton’s arch rivals Watford in May 2006. A string of bad results followed in both pre-season and the start of the 2006-07 and on 20 September 2006 his contract as Leeds United manager was terminated. As Blackwell left the club, Leeds were lying 23rd in the table, with 7 points from 8 games. 

After leaving Leeds, Kevin travelled around Europe, going to big name clubs such as Real Madrid and Inter Milan and acquiring knowledge of further training techniques for when he was appointed to his next role. 

He didn’t have to wait too long for his next role either as, on March 27th 2007, Kevin was appointed as the new Luton Town manager, replacing the sacked Mike Newell, some six months after being dismissed as Leeds United boss. 

Speaking on his appointment at Kenilworth Road, Kevin said, "I'm not daunted by the size of the challenge. I can only do my best and give it a go. 

"I used to stand on the Oak Road and cheer on the likes of Jimmy Ryan. I remember the first game I came to was against Halifax and my Dad brought me into the Bobbers Stand.

"Even before that when we were too young to come to the games, our house was near enough to hear the cheers every time a goal went in. We've still got a house in Luton and my Dad still lives here, so it's a bit like coming home.

"I've come here for the long term. There's a vision at this football club that excites me and it's something I'm looking forward to. There are things happening at Luton that could turn the club into a major player again and I want to be a part of that." 

Given the daunting task of trying to save Luton Town’s Championship status – with the Hatters sitting 2nd bottom of the table upon his arrival – Kevin was unable to keep the young side in the Championship and relegation to League One beckoned.

However, after making a string of backroom staff appointments and signing a whole clutch of new players, there were high hopes that the Hatters could make a real push for promotion during the 2007-08 season.

Unfortunately for Kevin and the club, things didn't go quite as planned - in fact, that would be a huge understatement!  The side's form at the beginning of the season was patchy, the Hatters impressive at home, but extremely poor on their travels, winning only one away League game under Kevin in 2007-08.  This did, at one point, lead to chants of "Blackwell Out" at a home FA Cup First Round tie with Brentford in November 2007.

An impressive run in the League Cup - where both Sunderland and Charlton Athletic were beaten - ended in an extra-time home defeat to Everton in the Fourth Round and gave Kevin some much-needed pressure relief, but in the League the Hatters were struggling in mid-lower table of League One.

Then came a bombshell as Chairman David Pinkney - who had always backed Kevin - stepped down from the Club and put Luton Town into administration in November 2007.  At the same time, Directors John Mitchell and Richard Bagehot also resigned under extreme pressure from the Hatters fans, who were extremely aggrieved at numerous player sales and with the pair under investigation from the Football Association for financial irregularities.  Kevin and his coaches Sam Ellis and John Carver were understandably upset by the developments and Kevin stated many times that he felt "cheated" and that he'd been brought to the Club under "false promises".

The club were automatically deduced 10 points by the Football Association, which saw the Hatters plummet to bottom place in League One.  However, the off-the-field activities seemed to galvanize the players who produced some excellent displays on the pitch and Kevin had by now gained a lot of sympathy from the majority of Hatters fans.  Although Luton remained in the relegation places when Kevin was dismissed from his position in mid-January 2008, they had clawed back a good few points to give themselves a fighting chance of staving off the threat of relegation.

The Club also gained huge praise and worldwide recognition when they were drawn at home to Premiership giants Liverpool in the FA Cup Third Round in January 2008.  A superb 1-1 draw at Kenilworth Road in front of the live Sky television cameras earned a money-spinning replay at Anfield.  However, it was at this point that things went from bad to worse for Kevin and his assistants.  The administrators decided to sell two key players - central defender and club captain Chris Coyne and midfielder David Edwards - for £350,000 and £675,000 to Colchester United and Wolves respectively.  Kevin stated that he felt the decisions had been made without his say-so and that he was no longer managing the Club.  Kevin, his assistant manager Sam Ellis, and head coach John Carver all subsequently resigned, but said they'd stay at the Club until February, thereby giving a month's notice, even though they weren't required to do so.  However, just days later, after the decimated Hatters were bravely beaten 0-5 at Liverpool in the FA Cup replay, the administrators announced that they had terminated the trio's contracts with immediate effect and they duly appoint Hatters legend Mick Harford as the new Luton Town manager.

You can hear a full interview with Kevin Blackwell on BBC Three Counties Radio in full audio by clicking HERE.

It brought an end to Kevin's ten-month spell as manager at Kenilworth Road, but he left with the best wishes of all Luton Town supporters for the work he had done under extremely difficult circumstances.  Surprisingly, Kevin was still polite and courteous under the circumstances and even wished new manager Mick Harford all the best in the job.

Just weeks after leaving Kenilworth Road, Kevin returned to former club Sheffield United - where he'd worked before as an assistant manager - becoming manager of the Blades as a replacement for Bryan Robson.  He immediately appointed Sam Ellis as his assistant once again.

He did very well for the Blades, leading them from just outside the relegation places to the brink of the play-offs and he was rewarded for his efforts with a new three-year contract which he, along with his assistant Sam Ellis, duly signed.

Profile By:  James Garley