Kevin Blackwell

Luton Town

On 27 March 2007, Blackwell was announced as the new manager of Luton Town and began his tenure with a draw against Burnley. Luton were already in the bottom three when Blackwell took over and were 9 points from safety with 3 games to go. Blackwell set about rebuilding the side, his priority to get in some experience. To achieve this he sold centre back Leon Barnett to West Bromwich Albion, and defender Kevin Foley to Wolves, as well as releasing centre-back Russ Perrett and £500,000 signing Adam Boyd, who went on to score 14 goals that season for Leyton Orient. He also lost Markus Heikkinen on a free transfer. In replacement he brought in high-profile players such as Paul Peschisolido, Chris Perry, Don Hutchison, Paul McVeigh and Paul Furlong. He also signed some younger players in Alan Goodall, Richard Jackson and Dave Edwards.

The club entered administration in late 2007, and in January 2008 Blackwell announced he would leave Luton after working a month's notice. However, he was sacked a week after making this statement.

Sheffield United

Blackwell, took the position of Sheffield United manager, replacing Bryan Robson on 14 February 2008 until the end of the season. He was assisted by his former Luton Town assistant Sam Ellis. After Sheffield United's 2–0 defeat at home to Charlton Athletic on 1 March, Blackwell was critical of his team's performance, describing it as "insipid" and "embarrassing" in an interview on BBC Radio Sheffield. The team later went on a five-game unbeaten run drawing at Ipswich Town and winning four in a row against Plymouth Argyle, Coventry City, Norwich City and Barnsley to improve his chances of landing the job permanently. The streak ended with a 3–1 defeat against Preston North End. In his first Sheffield derby as manager, the Blades came from 2–0 down against Sheffield Wednesday to draw 2–2 and rescue a point. In the penultimate game of the season, the Blades won 2–1 against Bristol City. With one game remaining in the season, United remained in with a chance of making the play offs. Sheffield United lost 3–2 on the last day of the season against Southampton and finished ninth, four points off the final playoff place.

In the 2008–09 season, Blackwell took Sheffield United to The Championship play off final after defeating Preston North End 2–1 over two legs. Sheffield United lost the final 1–0 against Burnley.

On 14 August 2010, after losing 3–0 to Queens Park Rangers, the club website confirmed that Blackwell had left the club by mutual consent.

Bury

It was announced on 26 September 2012 that Blackwell had been appointed as manager of League One club Bury. Blackwell began his tenure with a 2–2 draw at Stevenage followed by a 1–0 home loss to Swindon Town, prompting him to criticise some of his players as "garbage". After being winless in his first five games in charge of Bury, they defeated Hartlepool United 2–1 to earn their first win of the season. The result sparked a run of form which saw Blackwell's side lose only once in eight games in all competitions, including five victories. In December the club was placed under a transfer embargo due to falling into financial difficulty. Numerous players were released and loaned out to keep the club solvent, with subsequent shortages in playing staff. Bury were officially relegated from League One on 13 April 2013 after losing 1–0 at home to Oldham Athletic.

On 14 October 2013, Blackwell was dismissed as Bury manager, with the club 21st in League Two.

Reunion with Warnock In August 2014 Blackwell was reunited with Neil Warnock at Crystal Palace. Working together for the first time in eleven years, Blackwell being appointed a Technical Director. Blackwell was asked to continue his role after Warnock had departed until the appointment of Alan Pardew. In February 2015 Blackwell started coaching at Barnet, helping Martin Allen with the Bees' title push in the Conference Premier until the end of the season.

In November 2015 Blackwell was brought in by Warnock, then interim manager at Queens Park Rangers, to assist him at the club. In February 2016, Blackwell was appointed assistant manager to Warnock at Rotherham United along with Ronnie Jepson. The management team left Rotherham in May of the same year, having guided the club to safety in the Championship. In October 2016, Blackwell again teamed up with Warnock and Jepson, as assistant manager at Cardiff City and also worked alongside the duo at Middlesbrough between June 2020 and November 2021.

Nakhon Ratchasima In March 2022, Blackwell was appointed head coach of Thai club Nakhon Ratchasima.

Lechia Gdańsk In October 2023, Blackwell joined Polish second division side Lechia Gdańsk as a technical director, and oversaw Lechia's I liga championship and promotion in his first season.

On 25 November 2024, following the suspension of manager Szymon Grabowski, Blackwell was named Lechia's caretaker head coach alongside Radosław Bella. In their only game in charge, Lechia lost 0–2 at GKS Katowice on 30 November.

Managerial statistics