Republic sign former AZ United Forward, Tyler Blackwood

Sacramento Republic added yet another name to its 2017 roster today when it announced the signing of 25 year-old English forward Tyler Blackwood.

Born in London, Blackwood spent time in the youth systems of both Northampton Town FC and Barnet FC before heading to the United States for college. He played for three years at the NCAA Division II University of Tampa, scoring 24 goals in 33 games, and one year at the Division I University of South Florida, scoring 4 goals in 18 games. During his college years he also played one season with Orlando City’s PDL team, scoring 15 goals in 14 games.

After college, Blackwood went back to England and earned a contract with Queens Park Rangers in 2015. He made just one appearance with QPR before being loaned out to League Two team Newport AFC, where he scored one goal in three appearances.

Arizona United SC (now known as Phoenix Rising FC after a recent re-brand) announced that they had signed Blackwood on April 1st, 2016.

Blackwood was a key player for AZU last season, appearing in 24 games and playing a total of 2043 minutes. He was also one of the team’s most prolific players, scoring 8 goals, including one against the Republic during a 1-1 draw on June 25th.

That’s a beauty. We’ll take 8 of those in 2017, please.

Republic Head Coach and Technical Director Paul Buckle had this to say about the club’s new signing:

Tyler is someone who we earmarked from last season and who we think can improve our front line. He is young and very good at attacking from wide areas, as we saw last year when he scored against us. We believe he can excel at our level and beyond.

Blackwood is the third new player to join the Republic for the 2017 season, the others being Peter McGlynn and Enrique Montano.

Just for fun, why not check out Blackwood’s 2016 highlight package?

What do you think about Blackwood joining the Republic? Sound off in the comments below!