Martin Knight
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martin Knight is a British author born in Epsom in Surrey in 1957 mainly associated with working class culture and football literature. In 1999 "Hoolifan" and "The Naughty Nineties" were released; both books dealing with the subject, culture and history of football hooliganism. Knight was co-author with Martin King whose hooligan memoirs form the core of the books. As partners, Knight and King produced "On the Cobbles" the story of Jimmy Stockin a renowned gypsy prize fighter, "Ossie - King of The Bridge" - the autobiography of Chelsea footballing legend Peter Osgood and "Grass" covering the exploits of major drug smuggler and Howard Marks cohort Phil Sparrowhawk.
In 2000 Knight produced his first novel "Common People" being a thinly disguised autobiography. In 2003 he collaborated with George Best on his final memoirs before his death, "Scoring At Half Time". In 2004 "The Real Mackay" was released being the autobiography of Spurs, Derby and Scotland football hard man Dave Mackay. During 2006 saw the launch of "Battersea Girl" a partly fictionalised account of Knight's grandmother and an autobiography of Chelsea, Dundee and Aberdeen maestro Charlie Cooke.
In partnership with author John King, London Books was launched in 2006. King and Knight edited the company's first title "The Special Ones", a collection of memories and opinions of Chelsea fans and in 2007 books by vintage authors Gerald Kersh, James Curtis and Alan Sillitoe were republished.
Knight also had a long business career starting as a library assistant at the Financial Times and then working for Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain before founding Presswatch Media now part of TNS and co-founding Precise Media which was sold to 3i in 2005.It is reported that sale of both companies have made Knight a millionaire although some would say that he was already in the money on account of the paltry wages he and his partner paid their staff.
[edit] Bibliography
- Martin Knight (2006). Battersea girl. ISBN 1-84596-150-1.
- Charlie Cooke and Martin Knight (2006). The bonnie prince : Charlie Cooke : my football life. ISBN 1-84596-181-1.
- Dave Mackay and Martin Knight (2004). The real Mackay : the Dave Mackay story. ISBN 1-84018-840-5.
- George Best and Martin Knight (2003). Scoring at half time : adventures on and off the pitch. ISBN 0-09-189034-9.
- Peter Osgood, Martin King and Martin Knight (2003). Ossie : king of Stamford Bridge. ISBN 1-84018-764-6.
- Phil Sparrowhawk, Martin King and Martin Knight (2003). Grass. ISBN 1-84018-706-9.
- Jimmy Stockin, Martin King and Martin Knight (2000). On the cobbles : the life of a bare-knuckle Gypsy warrior. ISBN 1-84018-384-5.
- Martin Knight (2000). Common people. ISBN 1-84018-332-2.
- Martin King and Martin Knight (1999). Hoolifan : thirty years of hurt. ISBN 1-84018-174-5.
- Martin King and Martin Knight (1999). The naughty nineties : football's coming home?. ISBN 1-84018-191-5.
