 He was forced to retire from playing at a relatively early age and became a coach, working as a manager at Motherwell and Coventry City.Black was involved in possibly the best era ever for Aberdeen who, under the management of Sir Alex Ferguson, won the European Cup Winners' Cup in 1983 with a 2–1 win over Real Madrid in which the then 19-year-old Black scored the first goal.Black's main asset was his balletic heading ability and scoring goals.