Alan Knight (footballer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Alan Edward Knight | ||
| Date of birth | 3 July 1961 | ||
| Place of birth | Balham, London, England | ||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | ||
| Playing position | Goalkeeper | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Portsmouth (ambassador) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 1978–2000 | Portsmouth | 683 | (0) |
| 2001 | Havant & Waterlooville | 3 | (0) |
| 2003-2004 | Portsmouth | 0 | (0) |
| 2006-2007 | Dorchester Town | 0 | (0) |
| 2009 | Horndean | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 686 | (0) | |
| National team | |||
| 1983 | England U21 | 2 | (0) |
| Teams managed | |||
| 2009 | Horndean | ||
| 2011–2012 | Dorchester Town | ||
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 17:33, 8 March 2012 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). | |||
Alan Edward Knight MBE (born 3 June 1961) is a former English footballer turned manager.[1] He holds the record for the most appearances for a single club by a goalkeeper, having played 683 league games (and 801 games overall) for Portsmouth between 1978 and 2000; this superseded Peter Bonetti's record of exactly 600 goalkeeping appearances for Chelsea. He helped Portsmouth to the 1992 FA Cup semi final which they lost on a penalty shootout to Liverpool.
Early life
Knight was born in Balham, London. In addition to his goalkeeping record, he is the second-longest serving Portsmouth player of all time behind Jimmy Dickinson, and is also the only player to have appeared in all four divisions of the Football League for the club. He was capped at under-21 international level, but was never selected for the full England squad.
Playing career
Known by the Fratton Park faithful as The Legend, Knight spent almost all of his 25-year playing career at Portsmouth, sometimes demonstrating world-class saving and acrobatics. His 800th appearance, as a substitute in a cup tie at Blackburn, saw fans in all corners of Ewood Park rising to applaud his appearance on the pitch. A few weeks later, he played his last match for Portsmouth, at Norwich in January 2000.
In 2001, he was awarded an MBE in the New Year's Honours List.[2]
He played briefly for Havant & Waterlooville in 2001, making three appearances. In 2003–04, due to an injury crisis, Knight was called on to the substitutes' bench for Portsmouth and was listed as a squad member, but was never actually called into action.
Knight's autobiography entitled 'Legend' was published in September 2003 by Legendary Publishing.
Coaching career
Knight worked as the goalkeeping coach at Portsmouth prior to his resignation in summer 2005.
Following this, Knight was named goalkeepers' coach for the American Major League Soccer team FC Dallas in 2006. The head coach at FC Dallas at the time was Knight's former Portsmouth team-mate Colin Clarke.
Staying in the United States, he then ran football coaching clinics for B.E.S.T (British European Soccer Tuition) in the USA. The B.E.S.T patron of honour was Knight's former Portsmouth manager and World Cup winner, the late Alan Ball.
On 12 December 2006, it was announced that Knight was named as the goalkeeping coach at AFC Bournemouth.
Knight also served as goalkeeping coach at Conference South Side Dorchester Town, where he was also a registered player, for the 2006/07 season; he appeared on the bench as a substitute, but did not make an appearance on the pitch.
On 8 October 2007, Knight was appointed goalkeeping coach at Havant & Waterlooville by the team's newly appointed manager Shaun Gale, a former teammate of Knight at Portsmouth.
In May 2009 Knight was named joint manager of Horndean of the Wessex League Division One. From then until 10 December 2009, Knight was registered as a player, however did not make a first-team appearance in the Wessex League. During his time as joint-manager, Horndean recorded 10 wins, 1 draw and 7 losses.
Knight joined Aldershot Town as a goalkeeping coach in December 2009. In July 2011 he left Aldershot for a coaching job at Havant & Waterlooville,[3] but he left this position to return to Dorchester as first team manager on 29 November 2011. He left the club in April 2012 citing work commitments.[4]
On 25 January 2013, he was appointed Portsmouth's Goalkeeping Coach until the end of the season.[5]
Career statistics
| Club performance | League | Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season | Club | League | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| England | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Total | ||||||
| 1977-78 | Portsmouth | Division 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1978-79 | Portsmouth | Division 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1979-80 | Portsmouth | Division 4 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 |
| 1980-81 | Portsmouth | Division 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 1981-82 | Portsmouth | Division 3 | 45 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 53 | 0 |
| 1982-83 | Portsmouth | Division 3 | 46 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 51 | 0 |
| 1983-84 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 42 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| 1984-85 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 42 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| 1985-86 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 38 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 0 |
| 1986-87 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 42 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 0 |
| 1987-88 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 36 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 43 | 0 |
| 1988-89 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 0 |
| 1989-90 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 46 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 52 | 0 |
| 1990-91 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 22 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 23 | 0 |
| 1991-92 | Portsmouth | Division 2 | 45 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 57 | 0 |
| 1992-93 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 46 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 58 | 0 |
| 1993-94 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 43 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 0 |
| 1994-95 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 43 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 48 | 0 |
| 1995-96 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 42 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 0 |
| 1996-97 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 22 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| 1997-98 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 22 | 0 |
| 1998-99 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 20 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 26 | 0 |
| 1999-2000 | Portsmouth | Division 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2001-02 | Havant & Waterlooville | Southern League Premier Division | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 2006-07 | Dorchester Town | Conference South | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2009-10 | Horndean | Wessex League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Total | England | 686 | 0 | 116 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 799 | 0 | |
| Career total | 686 | 0 | 116 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 799 | 0 | ||
Managerial record
| Years | Club | Pld | W | D | L | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Horndean | 18 | 10 | 1 | 7 | 55.56% |
| 2011-2012 | Dorchester Town | 18 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 44.44% |
References
- ↑ "Knight in charge at the Avenue". Dorset Echo. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 30 November 2011.
- ↑ "Pompey's Legend handed MBE". BBC Sport. 30 December 2000. Retrieved 17 December 2007.
- ↑ "Knight replaces Priddy as Aldershot goalkeeping coach". BBC Sport. 10 December 2009. Retrieved 16 December 2007.
- ↑ "Knight quits as Magpie's chief". NonLeagueDaily.com. 4 April 2012. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ↑ Alan Knight returns to Portsmouth as coach; BBC Sport, 25 January 2013
- Mike Neasom, Mick Cooper & Doug Robinson (1984). Pompey: The History of Portsmouth Football Club. Milestone Publications. ISBN 0-903852-50-0.
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