RIP Ronnie Blackman

[linkenholtroyal]

No person stays at a club long enough these days to put a record together like that. Its what the sport needs loyal players that stay at clubs for long enough to achieve these feat's. a club legend RIP Ronnie

[Sutekh]

Very sad, RIP Ron, thanks for all the entertainment you gave those fans at the time.

I trust the club will ensure he is remembered on Saturday and/or Tuesday...

[parky]

Ron Blackman you knowwwww. Better believe he scored goals. Ron Blackman.

[Winston Smith]

No person stays at a club long enough these days to put a record together like that. Its what the sport needs loyal players that stay at clubs for long enough to achieve these feat's

there is a couple of fella's in Spain who might disagree with you there

[genome]

Carlos Shortstinto Goalio and Sergio Mercenario Scorio

[Winston Smith]

Where's the Iago Royalo option?

[Harpers So Solid Crew]

Am sure he did the golden gamble a few times, always got an.amazing reaction.
I know my dad saw him play a lot and he was a hero of his.

[RoyalJames101]

A minutes applause in the 39th minute?

[Sutekh]

A minutes applause in the 39th minute?

Smart idea. Probably be the only sound the home crowd makes.

[Biscuit_Boy]

This article is by Nigel Sutcliffe, and was published on 5th October, 1990.

From the Pompey dockyards to Elm Park for £5.10s a week
-and Ron Blackman set a record which stood for 36 years

Trevor Senior broke Ronnie Blackman's all-time club scoring record of 166 against Rotherham last month.
And Blackman, Reading's ace marksman of the 1950s, believes Senior can go on to set an unbeatable mark.
"He's only 28 and could put my record out of sight," he told me.
"I bought a Rothmans Year Book the other day as I might not appear in there again."
But Ronnie has no need to worry.
He still holds the club League record of 39 goals for a season - and that's unlikely to be bettered in the foreseeable future.
Another prolific Reading marksman Jimmy Wheeler played a few games alongside Blackman, and compared him with Senior.
He said: "There are similarities between the two. Both are tall and not very powerfully built, but have the same ability in the air."
This is borne out by the fact that Blackman headed 96 goals for Reading and scored 70 with his feet.
He revealed that he smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day in his Division 3 South hey-day when I visited at his Portsmouth home recently.
But he added: "I gave up when I was at Ipswich and haven't smoked since."
Blackman, now 65 and retired, looks fit and well and weighs just over the 12st 2lbs of his playing days.
Strangely, he has few trophies despite his goal scoring prowess. They total four - three of them as an amateur at Gosport Borough. The other he received from Sir Alf Ramsey, then manager of Ipswich.
He explained: "Along with some other players, I hadn't made enough appearances in Ipswich's promotion winning side to qualify for a medal. So a local jeweller gave everyone a trophy except me. When Alf heard about it, he gave me his."
Ronnie started his career as a schoolboy winger and played one game for Portsmouth schools before serving an apprenticeship at the Royal Dockyards.
After the war, he caught the eye of Reading scouts after slamming 93 goals in 67 games for Hampshire Leaguers Gosport Borough.
He signed amateur forms for the Elm Park club in the early part of the 1946-47 season. The keen interest of Southampton persuaded Reading manger Joe Edelston to offer him part-time terms.
Blackman explained: "I was an electrical fitter at the dockyard and the £5 10s a week Reading paid me more than doubled my wages. I made my debut against Bristol City on an icy pitch, after just three combination games. We lost 5-2 and I didn't do very well," he said.
However, Sentinal of the Reading Standard of those days wrote: "Blaclman, policed by Roberts, one of the best stoppers in the game, showed one or two neat touches."
Ted Drake took over as boss at the end of that season, but Blackman's chances were few and far between.
He recalled: "I started in 1946-47 in the reserves after Bill Price was signed from Huddersfield. He didn't make the grade and dropped down to take my place. Some weeks I didn't get a game at all."
Ron's first big break came early in 1949 when Tony MaPhee was suspended after a Christmas punch-up at Swansea. Chris Bertschin was injured and Ronnie took his chance - grabbing a hat-trick against Leyton Orient.
At the end of the season Drake succeeded in his efforts to get Blackman as a full-timer.
His wife Iris encouraged him to give it a go, but Ron says he had a very ordinary season, even though he netted more than 20 goals.
Luck was against him again at the start of the 1950-51 season. In a public practice match, Blackman was in the senior team that lost 3-1 to the Reserves, and the centre-forward spot went to defender Gordon Brice.
The Brice switch was a failure, and Blackman, recalled for the game at Exeter, never looked back.
The Biscuitmen won 3-1, he scored twice - including the most memorable of his career. Reported in the Reading Standard: "Blackman showed real brilliance, took a first time left footed hook at a Parker centre for the best goal scored in many seasons." Ronnie admits: " I just took a swing at the ball and it went in the net. It could have gone anywhere!"
He went on to score 52 goals for Reading that season - 47 for the first team - even though he missed the first ten senior games.
His tallies in successive seasons form 1949-50 were 22, 35, 39, 24 and 28 and during those two best winters, he helped Reading earn third place and then runners-up spot in Division 3 South in 1951-52. But they missed out on promotion because only one team went up.
Ronnie has no doubts about his most memorable game - a 7-0 home win over Brighton. He scored five after Reading were reduced to 10 men in the first quarter-of-an-hour after full-back Harry Kinsell went off injured.
Blackman, with a great sense of occasion, also found the net five times against Southend in his joint benefit match. He received £500 along with Maurice Edelston, Ron Moyse and Les Henley.
Blackman retained his scoring touch, but the club's financial problems meant he was transferred to Nottingham Forest - against his wishes. "I didn't want to leave Reading," he said. "The crowd were good to me and I would have stayed at Elm Park. Going to Forest was a disaster. They lost their first five games and I never settled there."
Ron quickly moved on to Ipswich, where he made 27 appearances and scored 12 goals in two seasons.
He left football for a clerical job with an engineering firm before moving to the Post Office Telephones, where he retired as an office manager nearly four years ago.
For a while in the early 1960s, Ron kept his ties with Reading by scouting for manager Harry Johnston.
Since then, however, his interest in soccer has waned, and he has watched only one or two games in recent years.
Ron admits he finds the game baffling these days with all the different systems.
"I don't really understand the tactics and haven't made an effort to learn," he said.

[Victor Meldrew]

This article is by Nigel Sutcliffe, and was published on 5th October, 1990.

From the Pompey dockyards to Elm Park for £5.10s a week
-and Ron Blackman set a record which stood for 36 years

Trevor Senior broke Ronnie Blackman's all-time club scoring record of 166 against Rotherham last month.
And Blackman, Reading's ace marksman of the 1950s, believes Senior can go on to set an unbeatable mark.
"He's only 28 and could put my record out of sight," he told me.
"I bought a Rothmans Year Book the other day as I might not appear in there again."
But Ronnie has no need to worry.
He still holds the club League record of 39 goals for a season - and that's unlikely to be bettered in the foreseeable future.
Another prolific Reading marksman Jimmy Wheeler played a few games alongside Blackman, and compared him with Senior.
He said: "There are similarities between the two. Both are tall and not very powerfully built, but have the same ability in the air."
This is borne out by the fact that Blackman headed 96 goals for Reading and scored 70 with his feet.
He revealed that he smoked at least 20 cigarettes a day in his Division 3 South hey-day when I visited at his Portsmouth home recently.
But he added: "I gave up when I was at Ipswich and haven't smoked since."
Blackman, now 65 and retired, looks fit and well and weighs just over the 12st 2lbs of his playing days.
Strangely, he has few trophies despite his goal scoring prowess. They total four - three of them as an amateur at Gosport Borough. The other he received from Sir Alf Ramsey, then manager of Ipswich.
He explained: "Along with some other players, I hadn't made enough appearances in Ipswich's promotion winning side to qualify for a medal. So a local jeweller gave everyone a trophy except me. When Alf heard about it, he gave me his."
Ronnie started his career as a schoolboy winger and played one game for Portsmouth schools before serving an apprenticeship at the Royal Dockyards.
After the war, he caught the eye of Reading scouts after slamming 93 goals in 67 games for Hampshire Leaguers Gosport Borough.
He signed amateur forms for the Elm Park club in the early part of the 1946-47 season. The keen interest of Southampton persuaded Reading manger Joe Edelston to offer him part-time terms.
Blackman explained: "I was an electrical fitter at the dockyard and the £5 10s a week Reading paid me more than doubled my wages. I made my debut against Bristol City on an icy pitch, after just three combination games. We lost 5-2 and I didn't do very well," he said.
However, Sentinal of the Reading Standard of those days wrote: "Blaclman, policed by Roberts, one of the best stoppers in the game, showed one or two neat touches."
Ted Drake took over as boss at the end of that season, but Blackman's chances were few and far between.
He recalled: "I started in 1946-47 in the reserves after Bill Price was signed from Huddersfield. He didn't make the grade and dropped down to take my place. Some weeks I didn't get a game at all."
Ron's first big break came early in 1949 when Tony MaPhee was suspended after a Christmas punch-up at Swansea. Chris Bertschin was injured and Ronnie took his chance - grabbing a hat-trick against Leyton Orient.
At the end of the season Drake succeeded in his efforts to get Blackman as a full-timer.
His wife Iris encouraged him to give it a go, but Ron says he had a very ordinary season, even though he netted more than 20 goals.
Luck was against him again at the start of the 1950-51 season. In a public practice match, Blackman was in the senior team that lost 3-1 to the Reserves, and the centre-forward spot went to defender Gordon Brice.
The Brice switch was a failure, and Blackman, recalled for the game at Exeter, never looked back.
The Biscuitmen won 3-1, he scored twice - including the most memorable of his career. Reported in the Reading Standard: "Blackman showed real brilliance, took a first time left footed hook at a Parker centre for the best goal scored in many seasons." Ronnie admits: " I just took a swing at the ball and it went in the net. It could have gone anywhere!"
He went on to score 52 goals for Reading that season - 47 for the first team - even though he missed the first ten senior games.
His tallies in successive seasons form 1949-50 were 22, 35, 39, 24 and 28 and during those two best winters, he helped Reading earn third place and then runners-up spot in Division 3 South in 1951-52. But they missed out on promotion because only one team went up.
Ronnie has no doubts about his most memorable game - a 7-0 home win over Brighton. He scored five after Reading were reduced to 10 men in the first quarter-of-an-hour after full-back Harry Kinsell went off injured.
Blackman, with a great sense of occasion, also found the net five times against Southend in his joint benefit match. He received £500 along with Maurice Edelston, Ron Moyse and Les Henley.
Blackman retained his scoring touch, but the club's financial problems meant he was transferred to Nottingham Forest - against his wishes. "I didn't want to leave Reading," he said. "The crowd were good to me and I would have stayed at Elm Park. Going to Forest was a disaster. They lost their first five games and I never settled there."
Ron quickly moved on to Ipswich, where he made 27 appearances and scored 12 goals in two seasons.
He left football for a clerical job with an engineering firm before moving to the Post Office Telephones, where he retired as an office manager nearly four years ago.
For a while in the early 1960s, Ron kept his ties with Reading by scouting for manager Harry Johnston.
Since then, however, his interest in soccer has waned, and he has watched only one or two games in recent years.
Ron admits he finds the game baffling these days with all the different systems.
"I don't really understand the tactics and haven't made an effort to learn," he said.

I think his modesty shines through in that article.

[Huckleberry Hound]

Speaking to my dad on Saturday, he was reminiscing about how dominant Blackman was in the air, so I'm not surprised to read that he scored most of his goals with his head.