Peter Knowles

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Peter Knowles
Personal information
Full name Peter Knowles
Date of birth 30 September 1945
Place of birth    Fitzwilliam, West Yorkshire, England
Playing position Forward
Youth clubs
1961-1962 Wath Wanderers
Senior clubs1
Years Club App (Gls)*
1962-1970 Wolverhampton Wanderers 0- 0(-)   
National team2
1966-1968 England U23 004 0(0)

1 Senior club appearances and goals
counted for the domestic league only and
correct as of 2007.
2 National team caps and goals correct
as of 2007.
* Appearances (Goals)

Peter Knowles (born 30 September 1945 in Fitzwilliam) is an English former football player. He spent his career at Wolverhampton Wanderers, where he became a popular player scoring around 61 goals. He voluntarily ended his football career in 1970 after he became a Jehovah's Witness.

Contents

[edit] Early years

Knowles was born into a family which was originally rugby-oriented, as his father played for Wakefield Trinity. However, the main sport in the family quickly changed to football as he and his brother, Cyril Knowles, proved to have significant football talent. Peter's talent was spotted by Wath Wanderers, a feeder team which trained youth players primarily for Wolverhampton Wanderers. In 1961, aged 16, Knowles spent a year with the youth outfit, playing under supervision from Wath's coach, Mark Crook. Knowles quickly caught the attention of Wolves, who in 1962 signed the 17 year old on a six-year contract.

[edit] Breaking into the team

Knowles spent a year in the youth team at the Molineux, where his best position appeared to be a mix between an attacking midfield role and a centre forward. In the 1963-64 season, Wolves' form started to slip, leading to the manager Stan Cullis taking a chance with the 18 year old. Knowles was drafted into the struggling team, and quickly proved he could handle things in the top flight. His debut appearance was against Leicester, and he scored his first goal a game later, against Bolton in a 2-2 draw. He kept his place in the first team, but found it hard to make an impact as Wolves' struggled. Partnering Peter Broadbent up front, his skilful play earned him praise; but he was prone to significantly quiet periods of form. Wolves narrowly escaped relegation that season, but would not last much longer in the top flight.

[edit] Emergence of a star

In the 1964-65 season, Wolves finished 21st out of 22, which meant they were relegated. However, it was that season which saw Knowles emerge as a top class footballer. The teenager played with an arrogant swagger, finishing the season with six goals and setting up countless others. Despite his good form for Wolves, he sought a transfer away from the club. This request was rejected; something which would become a recurring theme in Knowles' career at Wolves. The departure of Stan Cullis, the man who originally gave Knowles his chance, was a factor in his request to leave Molineux. Ronnie Allen took over the job from Cullis.

In the 1965-66 season, it quickly became apparent that Knowles was a notch above Division 2. Among a handful of goals, he scored two hattricks early on in the season against Carlisle United and Derby County, making him the top scorer for the club by some way. His good form was interrupted however, as he endured the first big injury of his career. Despite missing a number of games, he managed to finish the season with 19 goals. Frustratingly for Knowles, Wolves did not manage to gain promotion that season; this meant another year of Division 2 football for the player. He played on though, and in the 1966-67 season Wolves finished second gaining promotion to the top flight.

[edit] International call-up

In his return to Division 1, Knowles once again succumbed to injury, only managing 21 appearances and eight goals. Later on in that season however, Knowles was compensated with a call up to the Under-23 England team.

In a move by FIFA to raise awareness of 'soccer' in the United States, a mini-league was held in which various teams from Britain went to America to represent different states. Wolves represented Los Angeles, and Knowles featured in the side as they went on to win their league. The 21-year-old managed several goals in the tournament.

The 1967-68 season brought about a new strike partner for Knowles, in the form of Derek "The Doog" Dougan. Knowles, now an established performer, performed well in the top flight with Dougan, managing to narrowly avoid relegation. Knowles managed 12 goals during the season, which led to the 22-year-old receiving three more Under-23 international caps. With the 1970 World Cup in Mexico quickly approaching, Knowles sought a move away from Wolves'. His request was once again rejected by manager Allen.

In the 1968-69 season, Wolves finished 16th in the table, despite Knowles only managing 9 goals. In the summer which followed, Knowles once again travelled to the United States to play in a promotional league. This time, Wolves represented Kansas City. Knowles scored five in the tournament, helping Wolves to its second state-side victory.

[edit] Departure from football

Upon his return to Britain, Knowles' career took a big turn. While in Kansas he became a Jehovah's Witness convert, and in his own words, "I shall continue playing football for the time being but I have lost my ambition. Though I still do my best on the field I need more time to learn about the Bible and may give up football." Despite this, Wolves' got the 1969-1970 season off to a great start, winning seven out of their first eight matches. It was the next match which would be Knowles' last, though. A 3-3 draw against Nottingham Forest saw Knowles leave football for good, aged 24. As Knowles attempted to convert his team mates,[1] Wolves' season took a turn for the worse, and they finished a disappointing 13th. Knowles would never realise his dream of a full England cap.

Retired from football, Wolves did not give up hope that Knowles may one day return to the game. He was registered to Wolves for 12 more years, until 1982, when Wolves conceded that they had seen the last of the 36-year-old. 1991 saw folk musician Billy Bragg release a song which many saw as a direct reference to Knowles. The song was called 'God's Footballer' from Bragg's album 'Don't Try This at Home'.

[edit] References

Specific
  1. ^ That Was The Football Week That Was: Week beginning January 24th - GiveMeFootball.com
General
Persondata
NAME Knowles, Peter
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English footballer
DATE OF BIRTH 30 September 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Fitzwilliam, West Yorkshire
DATE OF DEATH living
PLACE OF DEATH
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