Leon Knight
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Leon Leroy Knight (born 16 September 1982) is an English former
footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...
who plays as a striker. A journeyman player, he has played for fifteen different clubs spanning five countries; England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and
Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...
. Having begun his career with Chelsea, he spent time on loan with
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
,
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
,
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
and
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
before joining the latter permanently in 2003. Knight spent three years with Brighton, scoring 30 goals in 106 league matches. He was transferred to
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
in 2006 and had a loan spell with
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
before joining
Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...
and then
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...
. Knight signed for
Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...
in 2008, but left the club five months later when he was sacked for misconduct. Rushden retained his registration and would not release it to another English club unless they were compensated, which prevented Knight from playing in England for three years. He subsequently played in Greece for Thrasivoulos Fylis, Scotland for
Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...
and Queen of the South and Northern Ireland for
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
, before joining
Glentoran Glentoran Football Club is a professional football club based in East Belfast, Northern Ireland, that plays in the NIFL Premiership. The club was founded in 1882 and has since won more than 130 major honours. They are one of three Northern Iris ...
in January 2012. He was released by Glentoran in June 2012 after a probationary clause in his contract was invoked by the club.


Playing career

Knight began his career as a trainee at Chelsea (where he made one appearance in the
UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...
against
Levski Sofia PFC Levski Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which competes in the First League, the top division of the Bulgarian football league system. The club was founded on 24 May 1914 by a group of high sc ...
), before spending loan periods at
Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...
,
Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...
,
Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...
and
Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...
before joining Brighton on a permanent contract in August 2003. During his spell at Huddersfield, he reignited the Terriers' play-off push and formed an unlikely partnership with local hero
Andy Booth Andrew David Booth (born 6 December 1973) is an English former professional footballer who played as a striker. He notably played in the Premier League for both Sheffield Wednesday and Tottenham Hotspur. He also played in the Football League ...
, earning himself the nickname 'Neon Light'. Unfortunately, he was sent off in the penultimate game of the season and was suspended for the play-off games. Although his transfer was initially free, £50,000 was to be paid if Brighton were promoted. It was Knight himself who secured Brighton's promotion with his penalty against
Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
in the
play-off final The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...
at the
Millennium Stadium The Millennium Stadium (), known since 2016 as the Principality Stadium () for sponsorship reasons, is the national stadium of Wales. Located in Cardiff, it has a retractable roof and is the home of the Wales national rugby union team; it has ...
,
Cardiff Cardiff (; ) is the capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of Wales. Cardiff had a population of in and forms a Principal areas of Wales, principal area officially known as the City and County of Ca ...
in 2004. Knight moved to
Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...
shortly afterwards and scored a
hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...
on his debut against
Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...
. His stay at the
Liberty Stadium The Swansea.com Stadium (; formerly Liberty Stadium) is an all-seated multi-use sports stadium and conferencing venue located in the Landore area of Swansea, Wales, hosting both rugby union and football. The stadium opened in 2005 and was name ...
was short-lived and he was placed on the transfer list in October 2006, due to a poor attitude. After a short spell on loan with
Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...
, he joined
Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...
in January 2007. In January 2008, Knight signed for
Wycombe Wanderers Wycombe Wanderers Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 188 ...
, just one year after joining MK Dons. On 19 August 2008, Knight's contract was "terminated by mutual consent", after he scored five goals in 20 appearances during his short stay with Wycombe. Knight signed for
Rushden & Diamonds Rushden & Diamonds Football Club was an association football club based in Irthlingborough, Northamptonshire, England. Nicknamed "The Diamonds", the club played at Nene Park. The club's main rivals were county neighbours Kettering Town F.C., Ket ...
on a three-year contract on 24 August 2008. but was transfer listed on 29 October, along with
Lee Tomlin Lee Marc Tomlin (born 12 January 1989) is an English professional footballer who played as a midfielder. Early life Tomlin was born in Leicester, Leicestershire. He started his career with the youth system of Leicester City in 1996 before join ...
,
Curtis Woodhouse Curtis Woodhouse (born 17 April 1980) is an English former professional footballer turned professional boxer and football manager, most recently in charge of Marske United. Woodhouse played football as a central midfielder, and competed as ...
, Andy Burgess,
Phil Gulliver Philip Stephen Gulliver (born 12 September 1982) is an English footballer who played in the Football League for Blackpool, Carlisle United, AFC Bournemouth, Bury, Scunthorpe United, Rushden & Diamonds and Hereford United. Since 2008 he has play ...
, Sagi Burton, Lee Phillips and
Dean McDonald Dean Louis McDonald (born 19 February 1986) is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder or striker. Career Ipswich Town McDonald was signed by Ipswich Town manager Joe Royle from Arsenal, where he starte ...
, after the club's poor start to the season. On 12 December, Rushden & Diamonds confirmed that Knight had been sacked after continual breaches of conduct between November and December 2008. Despite his contract having been terminated, Rushden & Diamonds retained the player's registration, preventing Knight from joining another English club until the term of his contract had expired, unless £30,000 in compensation was paid to the club. The FA confirmed and validated the retaining of the registration, meaning Knight could not play at any level of English football until the contract had expired. The contract had initially been due to expire following the 2009–10 season, but Rushden & Diamonds invoked a clause allowing them to extend the contract by a further year. On 13 January 2009, Knight joined Greek club
Thrasivoulos Filis Thrasyvoulos Football Club () is a Greek football club based in Fyli, Attica, currently in the A EPSDA. It was founded in 1938 and named after Thrasybulus, an ancient Athenial General who used Fyli as his base to liberate Attica from Sparta ...
on a six-month contract. He made his
Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...
debut on 25 January as a second half sub playing 20 minutes against
Skoda Xanthi Xanthi Football Club () is a Greek Association football, football club based in Xanthi, Western Thrace. They play their home matches at Skoda Xanthi Arena Founded in 1967, Xanthi is well set up in terms of their financial support and youth set ...
. Knight made only 2 subsequent appearances as a sub, his last appearance coming on 8 February 2009. Knight had not been involved in any game for the club in over 3 months and looked certain to leave Thrasivoulos when his contract expired at the end of the season. After his contract expired he went on trial with
Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...
side
San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...
. Knight joined Scottish side
Hamilton Academical Hamilton Academical Football Club, often known as Hamilton Accies, or The Accies, is a Scottish football club from Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, who currently compete in . They were established in 1874 from the school football team at Hamilto ...
on 21 August 2009 and he made his SPL debut against
Aberdeen Aberdeen ( ; ; ) is a port city in North East Scotland, and is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, third most populous Cities of Scotland, Scottish city. Historically, Aberdeen was within the historic county of Aberdeensh ...
as a second-half substitute the following day. He made one start and six substitute appearances for the Lanarkshire side. He was sent off for his role in a tunnel brawl after a win over Heart of Midlothian, having been an unused substitute during the game. Knight was later released by Hamilton on 14 January 2010. The next day, Knight joined
Dumfries Dumfries ( ; ; from ) is a market town and former royal burgh in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland, near the mouth of the River Nith on the Solway Firth, from the Anglo-Scottish border. Dumfries is the county town of the Counties of Scotland, ...
club Queen of the South until the end of the season.Queens sign ex-Accies man Knight
BBC Sport, 19 January 2010
He made his debut in a 1–1 draw with
Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...
on 23 January. He was released at the end of the 2009–10 season, having made six league appearances for the club. In September 2010, Knight was set to return to English football with
Conference A conference is a meeting, often lasting a few days, which is organized on a particular subject, or to bring together people who have a common interest. Conferences can be used as a form of group decision-making, although discussion, not always d ...
side
Darlington Darlington is a market town in the Borough of Darlington, County Durham, England. It lies on the River Skerne, west of Middlesbrough and south of Durham. Darlington had a population of 107,800 at the 2021 Census, making it a "large town" ...
after a successful trial, but his transfer was blocked by previous club Rushden, who had held onto his registration and demanded £30,000 for the deal to be completed. Knight responded by criticising Rushden & Diamonds on his
Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...
account, saying that he has chosen not to buy-out his contract as a matter of principle. "Rushden have said they don't want the money from Darlington, they want it from me – I refuse to pay them out of principle. If I wanted I could raise the money and pay them but I don't want to give them the satisfaction." The following month, Knight elected to continue his career outside England by signing for Northern Irish side
Coleraine Coleraine ( ; from , 'nook of the ferns'Flanaghan, Deirdre & Laurence; ''Irish Place Names'', page 194. Gill & Macmillan, 2002. ) is a town and Civil parishes in Ireland, civil parish near the mouth of the River Bann in County Londonderry, No ...
. He scored twice on his debut in a 2–1 win away to Glenavon on 16 October 2010. He agreed an 18-month contract extension with the club in January 2011, and finished the 2010–11 season with 15 goals from 25 matches. In June, he went on trial with
Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...
, but was released after two days because of insufficient fitness levels. "He's not the player for us. It's not his fault, we tried, but his fitness at the moment is not good," said Swindon manager
Paolo Di Canio Paolo Di Canio (born 9 July 1968) is an Italian former professional footballer and manager. During his playing career he made over 500 league appearances and scored over one hundred goals as a Forward (association football), forward. He primari ...
. "We are not in a position where we can wait for a player to be fit, we need a player to be ready and fit in the next two weeks, to compete and challenge during the season." Two weeks later, Knight was transfer-listed and suspended by Coleraine for failing to appear for training and matches. He also breached club rules by stating his desire to return to England and play for another
IFA Premiership The NIFL Premiership, known as the Sports Direct Premiership for sponsorship purposes, and Irish Premiership colloquially, is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Northern Ireland Football L ...
club. However, a fortnight later, Knight signed a new two-year contract with the club. "I said things about wanting to leave and at the time I felt it was right for me, but things change," he said. "I've spoken at great length with the manager over the last three or four days and I came back to him wanting to work something out. Agreeing a new two-year deal shows my commitment to the club and that I'm eager to put the last few weeks behind me." In January 2012 however, Coleraine asked Knight to either live in Northern Ireland or pay his own travel costs, as he was still living in London and had to travel over to Northern Ireland for each game, which was costing Coleraine £1,000–£1,500 per month. An agreement could not be reached, and Knight joined Glentoran on 30 January 2012. His stay at Glentoran was relatively short lived, as the club released him in June 2012 when they invoked a probationary clause in his contract after he allegedly made
homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...
comments on Twitter. On 21 August 2014, Knight sign for
North West Counties League The North West Counties Football League is a football league in the North West of England. Since 2019–20, the league has covered the Isle of Man, Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Lancashire, Merseyside, Cumbria, northern Staffordshire, northern ...
First Division side Barnton.


Coaching career

On 18 March 2015, Knight was appointed Barnton's first team manager, also continuing to play for the club. On 15 February 2016, Knight resigned as manager of Barnton.


International career

Knight played for England at under 18, under 19 and under 20 level.


Personal life

Knight was born in Hackney,
London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
, to a Jamaican mother and
St. Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...
n father, and was educated at
Raine's Foundation School Raine's Foundation School was a Church of England voluntary aided school based on two sites in Bethnal Green in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets, England. It was situated in the north of Bethnal Green, just to the east of ''Cambridge Heath ...
,
Bethnal Green Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...
, He has three sisters, and is the cousin of former
Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...
defender
Zat Knight Zatyiah Knight (born 2 May 1980) is an English former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Knight had extended spells at Aston Villa, Bolton Wanderers and Fulham in the Premier League and the Championship. He finished his caree ...
. He is the cousin of
Grime Grime may refer to: * Dirt, in the form of black, ingrained dust Music * Grime music, a genre of music * ''Grime'' (album), a 2001 album by Iniquity * "Grime", a 2023 song by Macklemore from ''Ben'' * "Grime", a 2024 song by Kittie from ''Fire ...
MC
Trim Trim or TRIM may refer to: Cutting * Cutting or trimming small pieces off something to remove them ** Book trimming, a stage of the publishing process ** Pruning, trimming as a form of pruning often used on trees Decoration * Trim (sewing), or ...
. Knight was a good all-around sportsman and a third dan black belt in karate as a child. He played schoolboy football for his school, the Hackney & Tower Hamlets District team and Senrab, and had trials with
Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...
and
Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...
before joining Chelsea as a trainee. Knight's use of Twitter in May 2012 caused condemnation after he posted remarks opposing
US President The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed For ...
Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...
's support for same sex marriage. Knight was suspended by Glentoran on 10 May 2012, pending investigation into the aforementioned remarks. This later led to his release by the club in June 2012. Knight's use of Twitter has also come under criticism, including in the national press, as he regularly engages in
misogynistic Misogyny () is hatred of, contempt for, or prejudice against women or girls. It is a form of sexism that can keep women at a lower social status than men, thus maintaining the social roles of patriarchy. Misogyny has been widely practis ...
tirades against women's football. In September 2018, he used several expletives while condemning the use of female pundits, thought to be in response to Alex Scott's appearance on
Sky Sports Sky Sports is a group of British broadcasting of sports events, subscription sports channels operated by the satellite television, satellite pay television company Sky Group (a division of Comcast), and is the dominant subscription television ...
during an England men's game against
Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...
, saying men and women were "nowhere near equal" and that female players "can't kick a ball". In June 2019, he came to public attention again for repeatedly making sexist tweets during the
2019 FIFA Women's World Cup The 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup was the eighth edition of the FIFA Women's World Cup, the quadrennial international Women's association football, football championship contested by 24 List of women's national association football teams, women's ...
. It provoked a response from
West Ham West Ham is a district in East London, England and is in the London Borough of Newham. It is an inner-city suburb located east of Charing Cross. The area was originally an ancient parish formed to serve parts of the older Manor of Ham, a ...
midfielder Kate Longhurst whom he asked "how many headers can you do?" In response he then demanded a preseason friendly with a team made up of some his Twitter followers called Men United. Knight received no response from West Ham. As of August 2014, Knight has appeared regularly via Facetime on the YouTube channel "Filthy Fellas" where he and fans of clubs Tottenham, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Liverpool discuss the events of the latest Premier League weekend. Knight is engaged to his fiancé Natasha, with whom he has 4 children.


Career statistics


Honours

Brighton & Hove Albion *
Football League Second Division play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...
:
2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...
Swansea City *
Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and U-21 teams from the Premier Le ...
: 2005–06 Individual *
PFA Team of the Year The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's Football in England, En ...
: 2003–04 Second Division


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Leon 1982 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Hackney People from Hackney Central English people of Saint Lucian descent English people of Jamaican descent Sportspeople of Jamaican descent British male karateka English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chelsea F.C. players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Huddersfield Town A.F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Swansea City A.F.C. players Barnsley F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Wycombe Wanderers F.C. players Rushden & Diamonds F.C. players Thrasyvoulos F.C. players Hamilton Academical F.C. players Queen of the South F.C. players Coleraine F.C. players Glentoran F.C. players Barnton F.C. players NIFL Premiership players English Football League players National League (English football) players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Scottish Premier League players Scottish Football League players People educated at Raine's Foundation School English football managers Barnton F.C. managers England men's youth international footballers Men's association football player-managers 21st-century English sportsmen