Martin Knight (born 21 December 1957) is an English author.

Career

In 1999 ''Hoolifan'' and ''The Naughty Nineties'' were released; both books dealing with the culture of football hooliganism. Knight was co-author with Martin King whose memoirs form the core of the books.

Irvine Welsh Irvine Welsh (born 27 September 1958) is a Scottish novelist and short story writer. His 1993 novel ''Trainspotting (novel), Trainspotting'' was made into a Trainspotting (film), film of the same name. He has also written plays and screenplays, ...

provided the introduction to the latter book. 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 Peter Leslie Osgood (20 February 1947 – 1 March 2006) was an English footballer who was active during the 1960s and 1970s. He is best remembered for representing Chelsea and Southampton as a forward at club level, winning the FA Cup with eac ...

and "Grass" covering the exploits of major drug smuggler and

Howard Marks Dennis Howard Marks (13 August 1945 – 10 April 2016) was a Welsh drug smuggler and author who achieved notoriety as an international Cannabis (drug), cannabis smuggler through high-profile court cases. At his peak he claimed to have been sm ...

' cohort Phil Sparrowhawk. In 2010 a copy of "Ossie – King of the Bridge" (among other items) was buried beneath the new statue of Peter Osgood unveiled at Stamford Bridge. In 2000 Knight produced his first novel "Common People". In 2003 he collaborated with

George Best George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional association football, footballer who played as a winger (association football), winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United F.C., Manchester Un ...

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 footballer

Dave Mackay David Craig Mackay (14 November 1934 – 2 March 2015) was a Scottish football player and manager. Mackay was best known for a highly successful playing career with Heart of Midlothian, the double-winning Tottenham Hotspur side of 1961 an ...

. 2006 saw the launch of "Battersea Girl" a partly fictionalised account of Knight's grandmother and a biography of Chelsea,

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 ...

and

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 ...

footballer 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 from 2007 books by vintage authors Gerald Kersh, James Curtis, Robert Westerby,

Simon Blumenfeld Simon Blumenfeld (25 November 1907 – 13 April 2005) was a British columnist, novelist, playwright, theatre critic, editor and Communist. Although he described himself as Jewish, he was born to a family of Sicilian refugees, who eventually ...

John Sommerfield John Sommerfield (25 June 1908 – 13 August 1991) was a British writer and left-wing activist known for his influential novel ''May Day'', which fictionalised a Communist upheaval in 1930s London. Sommerfield volunteered to fight in the Spanis ...

and

Alan Sillitoe Alan Sillitoe FRSL (4 March 192825 April 2010) was an English writer and one of the so-called " angry young men" of the 1950s. He disliked the label, as did most of the other writers to whom it was applied. He is best known for his debut novel ...

were republished. In 2009 "Gypsy Joe: Bareknuckle Fighter and Professional Golfer" was selected by

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

as their Sports Book of the Year. In 2010, ''We Are Not Manslaughterers'' dealing with the events surrounding the Epsom Riot of 1919 was released. Knight wrote the introduction to London Books 2014 release of

There Ain't No Justice ''There Ain't No Justice'' is a 1939 British sports drama film directed by Pen Tennyson and starring Jimmy Hanley, Edward Chapman and Edward Rigby. The film is based on the 1937 novel of the same name by James Curtis. Plot summary Tommy Mu ...

by James Curtis, first published in 1938 and filmed in 1939. The following year Knight contributed to More Raw Material - Work Inspired by Alan Sillitoe. Knight and John King became friends with Sillitoe and met up regularly in the last ten years of his life at The Lamb and Flag pub near Covent Garden. They were sometimes joined by other Sillitoe admirers such as

Sean Bean Sean Bean (born Shaun Mark Bean; 17 April 1959) is an English actor. After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, he made his professional debut in a production of ''Romeo and Juliet'' in 1983 at The Watermill Theatre. Retaining his ...

and the meetings became known as The Flag Club. Justice for Joan - The Arundel Murder was published in 2016. Knight investigates the circumstances surrounding the murder of Joan Woodhouse in Arundel in 1948. The case remains officially unsolved. In 2017, he wrote the afterword to the London Books' reissue of the Chelsea, Stoke, Arsenal and England maverick footballer Alan Hudson's autobiography The Working Man's Ballet. Knight also had a long business career starting as a library assistant at the ''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

'' and then working for

Arab Banking Corporation Arab Banking Corporation (also called Bank ABC) is an international bank with headquarters in the Diplomatic Area of Manama, Bahrain. It was incorporated as a joint stock company in 1980 through a special decree by the Amir of Bahrain. It obtai ...

in Bahrain before founding Presswatch Media now part of TNS and co-founding Precise Media which was sold to 3i in 2005.''Knight Banner bought by 3i'', Growing Business
/ref> In 2018, ''I Ran With The Gang: My Life In and Out of

The Bay City Rollers The Bay City Rollers are a Scottish pop rock band known for their worldwide teen idol popularity, as a band in the 1970s. One of many 70s acts heralded as the "biggest group since the Beatles", they were called the "tartan teen sensations fro ...

'' was released, written with founding member

Alan Longmuir Alan Longmuir (20 June 1948 – 2 July 2018) was a Scottish musician and a founding member of the pop group the Bay City Rollers. He played the bass guitar, whilst his younger brother Derek Longmuir was drummer. Early life Longmuir was bor ...

. Longmuir died as the book was being finished. In 2021 "Cushty: A Romany Life" was published. Cushty was an updated version of "Gypsy Joe" written with Joe Smith. "Broken Wafers", Knight’s autobiographical account of his 1960s and 70s childhood was released in 2022 and in 2023 "Justice Killer" was published, this being Knight’s debut crime novel. "Nefarious-My Life In Crime" written with former armed robber and Kray family and Joey Pyle associate Ronnie Field was released in 2024 following serialisations in the "Sunday Times" and the "Sun". It was made "Book of the Week" by the "Daily Mail".

Bibliography

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and Martin Knight. ''I Ran With The Gang: My Life In and Out of The Bay City Rollers'' (2018) * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

References

External links

London Books

We Are Not Manslaughterers at Tonto Books

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Martin 1957 births Living people People from Epsom English writers