From the defence to the attack…
A little while ago, I wrote an article about Hermann Hreidarsson. Despite making 332 Premier League appearances for 5 different clubs, the Icelandic left-back finished his 21-year playing career with the unenviable record of suffering relegation from the Premier League on 5 separate occasions. For years, I thought that Hreidarsson was the sole holder of this particular league record. Turns out I was wrong. While writing the Hreidarsson article, I found that the record for most relegations was a shared one. You’ve read about the first part-owner of this record, now to introduce the other most-relegated man in Premier League history, striker Nathan Blake. Between 1994 and 2004, Nathan Blake made 92 Premier League appearances for Sheffield United, Bolton, Blackburn and Wolves and suffered relegation with each of these teams. Each of these relegations will be discussed during the following article.
Sheffield United, 1994
After 3 years at the Chelsea academy, Nathan Blake began his professional career by signing for Cardiff City in 1990 at 18. He made his senior debut in a Fourth Division match against Bristol Rovers in March 1991. He quickly became a first-team regular, helping the team achieve promotion to the renamed Second Division in 1993. He would be Cardiff’s top scorer in the 1993-94 season, scoring 14 league goals. However, he did not finish the season at Ninian Park. The 22-year-old was attracting attention from the Premier League. It would come calling in 1994.
In February 1994, Nathan Blake would leave his boyhood club to sign for Premier League strugglers Sheffield United for £300,000. His first trip into the Premier League would be a brief one, however. At the time of his arrival, Sheffield United were struggling for form, having obtained 4 wins, 11 draws and 13 defeats from 28 matches, gaining 23 points from a possible 85. The team were also struggling for goals, having only managed to score 22 goals in their 28 league matches. The team’s top scorer was striker Jostein Flo, who had only scored 5 so far that season, closely followed by midfielder Dane Whitehouse with 4. Nathan Blake was signed to boost a strikeforce that only produced just 10 goals all season.
Making his debut as a substitute in a 3-2 defeat to Ipswich Town on 22nd February 1994, Blake would soon impress by scoring 5 goals in 12 league appearances for the Blades. He score winning goals in back-to-back victories over Norwich City (1-0) and Newcastle United (2-0) (as part of a brace) at the end of April 1994. However, Blake’s impressive goals-to-games ratio was not enough to prevent Sheffield United suffering relegation from the top-flight after a four-season stay.
Bolton Wanderers, 1996
After suffering relegation to Division 1, Nathan Blake would be Sheffield United’s top scorer during the 1994-95 season, scoring 17 goals, but the team would only manage to finish in 8th place. The following season, Blake would repeat his feat, becoming the Blades’ top scorer with 14 goals as the team finished the 1995/96 Division 1 season in 9th. Once again, Blake would be his team’s top scorer but wouldn’t even finish the season at Bramall Lane. In December 1995, Blake would sign for Premier League newcomers Bolton for £1.2 million, leaving Sheffield United after 35 goals in 69 league appearances.
At the time of his arrival, Nathan Blake was joining a Bolton team in dire straits. Since achieving promotion from Division 1 the previous season, Bolton had won 2, drawn 3 and lost 13 of their first 18 Premier League matches. Equating to just 9 points from a possible 54, Bolton were rock bottom. Blake was being asked to rescue a Bolton team that had not won in their last 7 matches. Unfortunately, he was not able to bring his Bramall Lane form to Burnden Park. Blake would score just once in 18 appearances, with his only goal coming in a 4-1 win over Middlesbrough that sealed Bolton’s fourth Premier League win after 27 matches. Following an abysmal first two-thirds of the season, Bolton would rally, winning 4 of their final 10 matches. Unfortunately it would not be enough as Bolton finished bottom of the Premier League, finishing with 29 points from 38 matches.
Bolton Wanderers, 1998
Following that relegation, Bolton, under manager Colin Todd, would immediately bounce back into the Premier League at the first attempt. The club would finish top of the First Division, ending the season with 98 points and scoring 100 goals. Nathan Blake would be back to his best during this season, scoring 20 goals in 42 league matches, a record only bettered by strike partner John McGinlay (24 in 43).
Back in the Premier League, it was clear that Nathan Blake was now Bolton’s number-one centre-forward. He would lead from the front, scoring 3 goals in his first 2 matches. He scored the only goal in Bolton’s opening-day victory over Southampton on 9th August 1997 and twice in a 2-2 draw with Coventry two weeks later. Following this bright start, Bolton would not win again for another 9 matches until a 1-0 win against Chelsea on 26th October. Nathan Blake would not score again until a 1-1 draw with Liverpool on 1st November. Bolton would soon find themselves battling relegation once again.
The team would drop into the relegation zone for three weeks in November after a 5-0 defeat to Sheffield Wednesday and a goalless draw with Leicester City, not before two goals from Nathan Blake secured successive 1-0 victories against Wimbledon and Newcastle. These victories moved Bolton up to 13th place in the table. This brief reprieve was unfortunately followed by a 12-match winless streak lasting from 6th December to 8th March. Bolton were now firmly within the relegation zone, sitting in 19th place, with 10 matches remaining. Nathan Blake would score in a 3-2 win over Sheffield Wednesday on 14th March and this win would be followed by a 2-0 victory over Leicester City two weeks later. A loss to Arsenal would be followed by a 0-0 draw and a 2-1 win over Blackburn Rovers.
Two further wins against Aston Villa (3-1) and Crystal Palace (5-2), both featuring goals from Nathan Blake, moved Bolton out of the relegation zone with one match remaining. In their match against Chelsea, Bolton needed to match or better Everton’s result against Coventry. Unfortunately, Bolton would lose 2-0 to Chelsea while Everton drew 1-1 with Coventry, ultimately relegating the Wanderers on goal difference. Nathan Blake would finish as Bolton’s top scorer this season, with 12 goals in 35 matches. Unfortunately, in his 3rd Premier League season, Nathan Blake would suffer his 3rd Premier League relegation.
Blackburn Rovers, 1999
Nathan Blake would start the 1998/99 season back in the First Division, scoring 6 goals in his first 12 matches of the season. However, Blake would soon find himself back in the Premier League before too long. On 30th October 1998, Nathan Blake would sign for Blackburn Rovers for £4.25 million. He would leave Bolton Wanderers after 38 goals in 107 league appearances. Once again, Blake would join a struggling Premier League side mid-season. At the time of Blake’s arrival, the 1995 Premier League champions were lying in 17th place, with 2 wins, 2 draws and 6 defeats from their first 10 matches.
Blake would make his debut in a 1-1 draw with Wimbledon on 31st October. He would score his first goal for the club two matches later, scoring in a 3-2 defeat to Manchester United. This defeat came in the middle of a 7-match winless streak that dated back to a 2-1 defeat to Middlesbrough on 17th October. The defeat to Manchester United on 14th November left Blackburn in the Premier League’s relegation zone, sitting in 18th place. A further defeat to Southampton the following week dropped Blackburn to the bottom of the Premier League. Following a further loss to Liverpool on 29th November, Blackburn had only gained 11 points from 15 league matches.
Blackburn’s form would soon turn around. From 5th December 1998 to 17th February, Rovers would lose just 1 of their next 10 matches. Wins against Charlton, Aston Villa, Leeds and Wimbledon would be mixed with draws with Newcastle, Nottingham Forest, Leicester, Tottenham and Chelsea. This run of 17 points from 10 matches would move Blackburn out of the relegation zone up to 16th place. Nathan Blake would add to his goal tally during this run, scoring twice in a 2-2 draw against Nottingham Forest on 19th December 1998. These would be the last goals he would score all season.
Blackburn’s impressive run would be brought to an end with three consecutive losses to Sheffield Wednesday, West Ham and Everton, losses that dropped Rovers back into the relegation zone on 10th March with 10 matches remaining. Blackburn would follow these results with a 1-1 draw with Coventry and a 3-1 win over Wimbledon, moving themselves back out of the relegation zone into 17th.
However, the Wimbledon win would be Blackburn’s seventh and final win of the Premier League season as the team would finish with 5 draws and 3 defeats from their final 8 matches, suffering relegation on 12th May 1999 after a 0-0 defeat with Manchester United. This draw brought to an end Blackburn’s seven-season stay in the Premier League, a stay that had seen them become Premier League champions and suffer relegation all within a five-year stretch. Nathan Blake would suffer his 4th Premier League relegation in 6 seasons. Once again, he had been unable to prevent a struggling side from suffering relegation. After starting the season with 6 goals in 12 matches for Bolton, Blake would score 3 goals in 11 matches (9 starts) following his December arrival, struggling to carry over his Bolton form to Ewood Park.
Wolves, 2004
Nathan Blake would spend another two seasons with Blackburn Rovers in the Division 1, scoring 4 goals in 29 appearances in 1999-00 and 7 in 12 during an injury-hit 2000-01 season. In the latter season, Blackburn would win promotion back to the Premier League, finishing 2nd in Division 1 to return to the top-flight after a two year absence. Nathan Blake’s Premier League return would be brief. He would play in Blackburn’s first three Premier League matches, scoring in an opening-day defeat to Derby County. He would come off the bench in all three Premier League matches, replacing new signing Corrado Grabbi. On 13th September, Blake would drop back down to Division 1 to sign for Wolves for £1.5 million, leaving Blackburn after 13 goals in 55 league matches.
Blake would score on his Wolves debut, starting in a 2-2 draw with Stockport County on 15th September 2001. He would become a first-team regular, scoring 11 goals in 41 matches as Wolves finished 3rd. The team qualified for the First Division play-offs, having missed out on automatic promotion by 3 points despite spending 30 out of 46 matches in 1st or 2nd. Despite their impressive regular season form, Wolves would lose their play-off semi-final 4-1 to Norwich, unable to recover from a 3-1 defeat in the first leg.
One season later, the signings of ex-Manchester United players Paul Ince and Denis Irwin lended Premier League experience to a Wolves team looking to make a more concerted effort at gaining promotion to the Premier League. After scoring a combined 32 goals with Dean Sturridge during the 2001-02 season (Blake 11, Sturridge 21), Blake would form an effective partnership with Kenny Miller during the 2002/03 season. Blake would score 12 goals in 23 matches, while Miller would score 19 in 43.
Wolves’ form would not be as consistent compared to the previous season and only an impressive run of 2 defeats in 21 matches would see Wolves finish 5th and reach the play-offs once again. This time, Wolves would win their play-off semi-final, beating Reading 3-1 over two legs before facing Sheffield United in the final. Nathan Blake would start up front alongside Kenny Miller and both men would score in a dominant 3-0 win to deliver Wolves back to the Premier League after 19 years away from the top flight.
In their first top-flight season since 1984, Wolves would struggle throughout. The team would spend all but 4 matchdays in the bottom three, winning just 7 matches across the whole campaign (only Leicester City would win fewer). The team would fail to win their first seven Premier League matches until a 1-0 victory over Manchester City on 4th October.
One of the highlights of the campaign would be winning a 4-3 thriller against Leicester City at Molineux on 25th October. Leicester would head into half-time 3-0 ahead after a brace from Les Ferdinand and a third from Riccardo Scimeca. In the second-half, Wolves would mount an incredible comeback. Two goals from Colin Cameron after 52 and 60 minutes would reduce the deficit to one goal. Six minutes later, Alex Rae would draw Wolves level at 3-3. The score would remain tied before Henri Camara scored an 86th-minute winner for the hosts. Another famous victory at Molineux would occur on 17th January 2004. Wolves would defeat defending Premier League champions Manchester United 1-0. A 67th-minute goal from Kenny Miller would seal a shocking victory.
However, highlights for Wolves this season were few and far between. Relegation would be confirmed in the penultimate match of the season after a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on 9th May. Wolves would finish bottom of the Premier League with a final record of 7 wins, 12 draws and 19 losses and a total of 33 points. Wolves would also finish their sole Premier League season by becoming only the third team in league history to fail to win a single away match (after Leeds in 1992-93 and Coventry in 1999-00).
Nathan Blake would start the season as part of Wolves’ starting strike partnership alongside either Kenny Miller or new signing Henri Camara. However, Blake would play just 13 matches during the campaign. All but two of these appearances would occur before Christmas. Niggling injuries would cause Blake to miss much of the season. A proposed January transfer move to Portsmouth fell through. According to a 2015 interview with Nathan Blake about the subject, “Portsmouth wanted me and I must have had four calls from my agent saying Wolves had kept upping the asking price. Pompey kept agreeing but then in the end Wolves said I wasn’t for sale, but then they didn’t give me a new contract either” (Wolves Express and Star 2015).
The failure of the Portsmouth transfer and a subsequent falling out with manager Dave Jones led to Blake being frozen out from January 2004 onwards as strikers Vio Ganea and Carl Cort were signed in the transfer window. Blake’s sole Premier League goal would come in a 1-1 draw with Newcastle on 29th November 2003. He would also end the season with his record 5th Premier League relegation.
In the summer, Nathan Blake would sign for Leicester City on a free transfer. He would spend one season at the Walkers Stadium, playing 14 matches without scoring before spending the second half of the season on loan at Leeds United, scoring once in 2 appearances. Blake would be released by Leicester in June 2005 before serving a six-month suspension for testing positive for an illegal drug. After serving this suspension, Blake would sign for non-league Newport County in August 2006. He would play 5 matches, scoring 1 goal, before his contract expired in October 2006. Blake would retire from football soon afterwards at the age of 34.
Conclusion
Nathan Blake can count himself hugely unlucky to part-own this Premier League record. Compared to Hermann Hreidarsson, who was relegated 5 times in 11 Premier League seasons, all 5 of Nathan Blake’s Premier League seasons ended in relegation. He has a 100% Premier League relegation record, not spending more than a single season in the top-flight at one time. However, despite owning a 100% relegation record, Blake only spent two full league seasons in the top-flight, with Bolton in 1998-99 and Wolves in 2003-04. On three separate occasions, Nathan Blake was signed by a struggling Premier League club (Sheffield United, Bolton, Blackburn) mid-season and would unfortunately be unable to save the team from suffering relegation.
You could argue that Blake never managed to replicate his First Division form in the Premier League. He only managed to hit double figures once in the top flight, scoring 12 with Bolton in 1998-99. In his five Premier League seasons, Blake scored 23 goals in 92 appearances. In the seven seasons he spent in the First Division in between these Premier League seasons, he managed to score 95 goals. However, Blake’s underwhelming Premier League goal record can be put down to fitness levels, the amount of starts he made compared to substitute appearances and the amount of chances he received. When arriving mid-season at Sheffield United, Bolton and Blackburn, Nathan Blake may have been entering dressing rooms lacking in confidence and thus not providing him with the service he required. Being a striker, it was his job to score the goals that won matches and improved league positions.
However, like Hermann Hreidarsson, this writer would consider Nathan Blake unlucky to hold the record for the most Premier League relegations. On the positive side, Blake is one of the most promoted players in Championship history, having achieved the feat on three separate occasions with Bolton, Blackburn and Wolves.
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