Jonny Black guided the 2023 Hilbert men’s soccer team back to the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference for the second consecutive time in his short two-year stint. Black continues to change the culture and processes in the men’s soccer program and has developed three all-conference selections.

The 2023 Hawks picked up two more conference victories improving to 4-5 while repeating as the No. 6 seed in the AMCC postseason tournament.  Sophomore forward Jason Vullo was named a Second Team All-Conference selection after lead the Hawks in scoring with eight goals and shared team-high honors with sophomore midfielder Carter Burke in points (16).

The 2022 team was picked to finish eighth in the coaches’ pre-season poll as a result of previous win-less seasons; Black’s Hawks shifted gears and finish 5-10-2 overall and earned the No. 6 seed in the post-season tournament.  Two Hilbert players were recognized for their efforts earning Third Team All-Conference recognitions. Senior attack Hector Harris and freshman midfielder Carter Burke were both placed on the Third Team marking the first year a men’s player earned all-conference honors dating back to Hall of Famer Jon Davidson in 2016.

Black, a former professional footballer with the Tottenham Hotspurs FC (2001-2004) and Coleraine Football Club (2004-2006), began his coaching career with Spurs. He then moved back home to coach in the Academy at Larne Football Club (Northern Ireland), formerly Larne Youth, in 2006 but made the decision to jump the pond in 2014 and landed in New York State. 

He served as the Technical Director of both the Rochester Futbol Club (RFC) and Global Premier Soccer New York (GPS NY). 

As Technical Director, the UEFA A licensed football coach oversaw a program that won the US Club National Championship with the Rochester Futbol Club U16’s in 2017 and won 11 New York West State Championships in five seasons.  Concurrently, Black helped grow GPS New York from 36 to 127 teams in five major cities, stretching from Binghamton through the NYS I-90 corridor from Albany to Buffalo while creating a clear development pathway to either the professional game or the collegiate level. The 2020 GPS New York Boys Regional Program was ranked 42nd overall in the nation by SoccerWire.

Since 2020, the Northern Ireland native has coached in and served as the Boys ECNL Director for the WNY Flash Academy. In the 2020/21 season, Black coached two out of the six Boys ECNL teams to the ECNL National Playoffs. In the 2021/22 season he doubled the club’s representation on the national stage with four out of the six boys ECNL teams qualifying for the ECNL National Playoffs in San Diego. This has helped solidify the WNY Flash Academy Boys ECNL program as a powerhouse in the region.

A year after moving to Rochester, Black served as an assistant coach at Monroe Community College for one season and helped guide the Tribunes to a NJCAA Region III, Division I Championship in 2015.

As a player, Black joined Tottenham Hotspur Football Club at the age of 14 and spent time competing for Northern Ireland’s youth national teams. In addition to earning 27 youth international caps, he captured the Northern Ireland U14 Player of Year award as well as the nation’s first Victory Shield Championship (U16 British Championship).  On his 17th birthday, Black signed a professional contract with Spurs and would go onto spend two more years playing for the club before an injury abruptly ended his career.

Black has a bachelor’s degree in Coaching for Development in Football from Anglia Ruskin University.