Tony Blake

Not to be confused with the Donegal goalkeeper possessing the same name.
Tony Blake
Personal information
Full name Antony John Blake
Date of birth (1927-02-26) 26 February 1927
Place of birth Cofton Hackett, England
Playing position Full back
Senior career*
Years Team Apps† (Gls)†
1948 - 1949 Rubery & Rednal British Legion 20 (27)
1948–1952 Birmingham City 2 (0)
1952–1953 Gillingham 10 (1)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

† Appearances (goals)

Antony John "Tony" Blake (born 26 February 1927) is an English former professional footballer who played in the Football League for Birmingham City and Gillingham.

Blake was born in Cofton Hackett, Worcestershire.[1] He played football for Rubery & Rednal British Legion's works team as a centre forward before joining Birmingham City in October 1948. While in Birmingham's junior teams, Blake was converted to play at full back,[2] and it was as a left back that he made his first-team debut on 18 February 1950, deputising for Dennis Jennings in the First Division match away at Bolton Wanderers, a game which Birmingham lost 1–0. Blake played once more that season,[3] but then returned to the reserves, and in the 1952 close season moved on to Gillingham.

Due to injuries to other players, he made his Gillingham debut in his former position as a striker against Crystal Palace on 3 September 1952, and marked the occasion with a goal.[1] He made nine further appearances for the club during the 1952–53 season in his more usual defensive role, but then sustained a serious knee injury. An operation in the spring of 1953 proved unsuccessful and he was forced into retirement. He returned to the Midlands where he took a job at an engineering firm. He died 31 October 2014.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Triggs, Roger (2001). The Men Who Made Gillingham Football Club. Tempus Publishing Ltd. p. 60. ISBN 0-7524-2243-X.
  2. ↑ Matthews, Tony (1995). Birmingham City: A Complete Record. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 72. ISBN 978-1-85983-010-9.
  3. ↑ Matthews, p. 185.
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