Ian Black

Early career

Black began as a youth player with Tranent Boys Club. He was also a youth player at Hibernian, where he played alongside Scott Brown. Black first signed a professional contract with English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers, but he did not play for their first team.

Inverness Caledonian Thistle

After being released by Blackburn, Black joined Inverness Caledonian Thistle in July 2004. Black made his debut as a substitute on 7 August 2004 against Livingston, with his first start coming on 9 April 2005 against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. In his first season, he made 13 appearances. He scored his first goal for the club on 5 November 2005 with a fifth-minute strike against Dunfermline. The following season on 30 December 2006 he was sent off for a second bookable offence against Falkirk. He made 132 league appearances for Caley, and scored eight goals. His last game for Inverness was against Falkirk in a 1–0 loss for Inverness, which saw them relegated to the Scottish First Division.

Heart of Midlothian

It was reported in The Scotsman newspaper on 24 December 2008 that Black had agreed in principle to sign a pre-contract agreement to join boyhood heroes Heart of Midlothian in the summer of 2009. Hearts confirmed that he had signed the agreement on 28 December and would join up with the club for the 2009–10 season. On 2 July 2009, Black finally signed for Hearts after signing a pre-contract agreement in December 2008, marking a return to…

Black represented Scotland B in the 2005 Future Cup, in a 3–2 defeat by Turkey B. After a four-year absence he was included in the Scotland B squad for their game against Northern Ireland. In 2012, despite playing in the fourth tier of Scottish football, Black was called up to the Scotland squad for a friendly against Australia. He came on as a substitute late in the game.

As of match played 27 May 2017.

Footnotes

Black's father, also named Ian, was a professional footballer who started his senior career with Celtic, before being farmed out to Tranent Juniors, also playing for Hearts as well as city rivals Hibernian. Peter Black, Ian's grandfather, was also a footballer; he is the only one in the family to be a goalkeeper. It was reported in May 2011 that Black, along with his Hearts teammate Robert Ogleby, had been arrested and charged with possession of a class A drug in an Edinburgh night club. On 17 February 2012 the case was dismissed due to the repeated failure of witnesses to attend court. Black was banned from driving for 12 months in March 2023 after he was found guilty of driving under the influence of alcohol.