Jamal Blackman

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Jamal Blackman
0Full Name	Jamal Clint-Ross Blackman
0Date of Birth	27 October 1993
0Place of Birth	Croydon, London, England
0Position	Goalkeeper
0Chelsea career	2006 -
0Debut	n/a
0Games (goals)	n/a
0Other clubs	Middlesbrough (loan) Ostersunds (loan) Wycombe (loan) Sheffield United (loan) Leeds United (loan) Vitesse Arnhem (loan) Bristol Rovers (loan)

Jamal Blackman (born 27 October 1993 in Croydon, London, England) is a goalkeeper who currently plays for Chelsea.

Contents 1 Pre-Chelsea career 2 Chelsea career 3 International 4 Career statistics 5 Career honours 6 Contract

Pre-Chelsea career

Jamal has been at Chelsea since his early teens, joining at Under-13 level.

Chelsea career

Jamal served as the backup goalkeeper during the 2009-10 FA Youth Cup campaign and kept goal for Chelsea in the 2008 Cobham International Tournament, which the club finished runners-up in. He was the senior goalkeeper for the Under-18 team for 2010-11 and on August 4th 2010, made his first appearance for the Reserve team, in a 1-0 friendly defeat at Woking, before making his competitive bow away to Wolves early in the season proper.

Jamal was a close second in the club's 2010-11 Academy Scholar of the Year award voting. At the beginning of the 2011-12 season, Jamal worked heavily with the club's reserve team and made his first appearance in a senior matchday squad, serving as backup to Petr Cech for the Premier League fixture at home to Arsenal with both Ross Turnbull and Hilario unavailable.

He was the club's first choice goalkeeper for the 2011-12 FA Youth Cup campaign and was a key figure en route to winning the competition.

In January 2012 he was also included on the club's Champions League A-list as a home-grown player, replacing Hilário and allowing Ryan Bertrand to be registered instead as the left-back did not meet the required number of years at the club to qualify as club-grown. This ensured that Blackman received a winner's medal after defeating Bayern Munich in the Final.

He continued to train with the first-team goalkeepers on a daily basis whilst serving as the first choice Under-21 goalkeeper for the 2012-13 season. He also made a handful of NextGen Series appearances and, like the season before, finished the season with a winner's medal as a part of the 2012-13 UEFA Europa League winning squad.

The 2013-14 season started well after more involvement at first-team level during the summer tours of the United States and Asia, but he spent the middle few months of the season on the sidelines without playing. He returned to the Under-21 fold in March and played a big role in their run to title glory, most notably making two saves during a Semi-Final penalty shootout victory against Manchester City.

A loan to Middlesbrough kicked off the 2014-15 season but he was to make just one appearance whilst on Teesside. It came in an eventful League Cup tie away to Liverpool which went to penalties and although Jamal scored an effort himself and saved one from Raheem Sterling, Liverpool prevailed. Jamal returned to Chelsea in January but with a lack of match fitness was unable to displace Mitchell Beeney as first choice Under-21 goalkeeper.

After working his way back into match shape in the first half of the 2015-16 season, he embarked upon a two-month move to Swedish club Ostersunds, helping the newly-promoted side to a solid start to their Allsvenskan season with three clean sheets in twelve games before his deal ended at the league's mid-season break. It kick-started his career, and he starred in a season-long stay at Wycombe Wanderers in 2017-18, keeping 17 clean sheets and showcasing ability and potential in abundance. That led to a step up back to Championship level with Sheffield United in 2017-18, where he was again good, despite losing his place once or twice, and was arguably the club's most impressive goalkeeper in their top-half finish.

2018-19 saw him join Leeds United on loan, but he made just two appearances for Marcelo Bielsa despite the club's other goalkeepers struggling, and he then suffered a broken leg during a reserve match in November of that season. His rehab lasted more than a year, including time spent at Vitesse Arnhem, before he came back in January 2020 with a switch to Bristol Rovers. He played nine matches there before Covid-19 ended the season.

International

Jamal has represented England at Under-16, Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 levels.

Career statistics

Youth, Reserve and Under-21 Football

Season	Under-18		European		Under-21		Total
	Apps	Cln Sht	Apps	Cln Sht	Apps	Cln Sht	Apps	Cln Sht
2009-10	0	0	-	-	0	0	0	0
2010-11	30	7	-	-	2	0	32	7
2011-12	19	6	-	-	4	1	23	7
2012-13	-	-	3	1	20	6	23	7
2013-14	-	-	-	-	13	4	13	4
2014-15	-	-	-	-	3	1	3	1
2015-16	-	-	-	-	4	3	4	3
Total	49	13	3	1	46	15	98	29

Senior Football

Season	Club	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Other		Total
		Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
2014-15	Middlesbrough (loan)	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
2015-16	Ostersunds (loan)	12	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	12	3
2016-17	Wycombe Wanderers (loan)	42	14	4	1	0	0	0	0	6	2	52	17
2017-18	Sheffield United (loan)	30	8	2	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	32	9
2019-19	Leeds United (loan)	0	0	0	0	2	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
2019-20	Vitesse Arnhem (loan)	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
2019-20	Bristol Rovers (loan)	9	2	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	2
Total		93	27	6	2	3	0	0	0	5	2	108	31

(Statistics accurate as of the end of the 2019-20 season)

Career honours

• 2009 Sky Sports Victory Shield (England Under-16s)
• 2011-12 FA Youth Cup
• 2011-12 UEFA Champions League
• 2012-13 UEFA Europa League
• 2013-14 Under-21 Premier League

Contract

Jamal's contract expires at the end of the 2020-21 season.