Early career Black played in the Pendle Charity League for amateur club
Burnley Dynamos in 1990. He played as striker and helped Dynamos to promotion in the club's inception year. He also helped the club lift a 2nd division trophy cup, scoring 2 goals in the semi-final and one in the final. On 29 March, he made his debut for the club, playing the whole 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw with
Hereford United at
Springfield Park. Soon afterwards, he broke his leg while playing for Wigan and retired on medical advice nearly two years later after failing to regain full fitness. However, he continued to play non-league football for several years and also started a new career as a chef.
Accrington Stanley Black signed for
Northern Premier League club
Accrington Stanley in January 1998.
Chorley Leigh RMI In March 1999, Black signed for
Northern Premier League club
Leigh RMI from Chorley. On 13 March, he made his debut for the Railwaymen, scoring the opening goal in a 3–2 league win against
Altrincham. Three days later, he scored the winning goal in a
President's Cup semi-final first-leg at
Hilton Park, giving RMI a 1–0
aggregate lead over
Runcorn. On 3 April, Black scored against his former club as Leigh beat
Accrington Stanley 2–1 in the league. He scored in the President's Cup final on 15 April, however, RMI lost 2–1 to
Droylsden on the night. Black scored in the final league game of the
1998–99 season, netting in a 3–1 win against
Gateshead, the result secured eighth spot in the league which guaranteed Leigh a place in the following season's President's Cup. On 24 August, Black scored his first goal of the
1999–2000 season, he opened the scoring in a 3–0 win against his former club
Bamber Bridge. The win, at Hilton Park, gave RMI their fourth consecutive win of the season, and maintained their two-point lead at the top of the league. Black followed that up by scoring both goals in a 2–0
Challenge Cup win at
Radcliffe Borough on 12 October. On 4 February 2000, he scored two-goals in a 3–2 win against bottom club
Winsford United, the result gave Leigh a plush cushion at the top of the league. He helped RMI gain promotion to the
Football Conference, scoring 18 league goals on the way to winning the title. Black had a successful season with
The Railwaymen, scoring 12 league goals that went a long way to firing RMI to a fifth-place finish in the Conference, the club's highest ever league finish. The
following season, RMI were in a relegation fight and Black was forced down the pecking order at the club with the arrival of
Dino Maamria and
Michael Twiss. Despite this, Black still managed 6 league goals which helped RMI to safety.
Accrington Stanley Black signed on for a second spell at
Accrington Stanley on 27 September 2002, Initially, he thought about quitting football because of work and family commitments, but claimed he would miss it too much and he wanted to play as long as he could. He was released by Accrington on 23 December, less than two months after he signed for the club.
Stalybridge Celtic In January 2003, Black signed for Northern Premier League club
Stalybridge Celtic. On 18 January, he made his debut for Celtic, coming off the bench in a 4–1 league win against
Ashton United at
Bower Fold. Two more substitute appearances followed, in the 1–0 wins against
Burscough and
Gateshead, before Black made his first start for Stalybridge in a 1–0 defeat against
Runcorn. This turned out to be his last appearance for the club, Celtic manager
Dave Miller agreed to release Black from his contract in March 2003. ==Career statistics==