Matthew Knights (born 5 October 1970) is an

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the

West Coast Eagles The West Coast Eagles are a professional Australian rules football club based in Perth, Western Australia. The club was founded in 1986 and first competed in 1987 as one of two expansion teams in the Australian Football League (AFL), then known ...

. Knights played in the midfield for the

Richmond Football Club The Richmond Football Club, nicknamed the Tigers or colloquially the Tiges, is a professional Australian rules football team competing in the Australian Football League (AFL). Founded in 1885 in the Melbourne suburb of Richmond, Victoria, Ric ...

from 1988 to 2002, before going on to forge a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the

Essendon Football Club The Essendon Football Club, nicknamed the Bombers or colloquially the Dons, is a professional Australian rules football club that plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), the game's premier competition. The club was formed by the McCrac ...

from 2008 to 2010. He later became the head coach of the

Geelong VFL Football Club The Geelong Football Club, nicknamed the Cats, is a professional Australian rules football club based at Kardinia Park in South Geelong, Victoria, Australia. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier compet ...

from 2012 to 2014, guiding the Cats to the 2012 VFL Premiership and the 2013 VFL Grand Final.

Playing career

Knights wore the number 33 guernsey in 279 games between 1988 and 2002 for the

Tigers The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is a large cat and a member of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Asia. It has a powerful, muscular body with a large head and paws, a long tail and orange fur with black, mostly vertical stripes. It is tradition ...

whom he captained between 1997 and 2000. Playing in Richmond's midfield for the majority of his career, Knights was known for his ball winning ability if not his athleticism. Gifted with excellent "vision" or spatial awareness, and consistently reliable delivery from his left boot, given time and space Knights was one of the most damaging midfielders in the

AFL AFL may refer to: Education * Angel Foundation for Learning, a Canadian Roman Catholic charity * Ankara Science High School, a high school in Ankara, Turkey, natively referred to as ''Ankara Fen Liesi'' * Assessment for learning Military * ...

throughout the 90s. Though rewarded with numerous individual honors playing in a mediocre team, Knights made only two appearances with the

in the

Finals Series in 1995 and 2001. He was placed top four in the team's annual best and fairest vote seven times between 1990 and 2000, and tied for fourth place in the

Brownlow Medal The Charles Brownlow Trophy, better known as the Brownlow Medal (and informally as Charlie), is awarded to the best and fairest player in the Australian Football League (AFL) during the home-and-away season, as determined by votes cast by the f ...

count of 1995. Knights' career was interrupted by a serious ankle injury in Round 2 of 1996 and a knee injury in the pre-season Ansett Cup competition in 1997. Late in 1998 he became one of the first high-profile AFL players to be diagnosed with the debilitating groin condition

osteitis pubis Osteitis pubis is a noninfectious inflammation of the pubic symphysis (also known as the pubis symphysis, symphysis pubis, or symphysis pubica), causing varying degrees of lower abdominal and pelvic pain. Osteitis pubis was first described in pat ...

, which dogged him through much of the remainder of his career. His courage in leading his team despite these set-backs made him much admired by his team's supporters and his removal as captain just before the beginning of the 2001 season caused much controversy (despite this, Richmond went on to finish the season as preliminary finalists). In Round 2 he was the centre of a further public controversy when struck behind play by

Western Bulldogs The Western Bulldogs are a professional Australian rules football club based in the Melbourne suburb of Footscray. The club competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's premier competition. Originally named the Footscray F ...

player

Tony Liberatore Tony Liberatore (born 11 February 1966) is a former Australian rules footballer who represented the in the Australian Football League (AFL). Liberatore is the only player to have won league best-and-fairest medals in all three grades of VFL/AF ...

, who was suspended for five matches as a result. Inability to maintain high expectations saw Knights' retirement as a player towards the end of the 2002 season.

Coaching career

Early career

Knights was quickly recruited as assistant coach for the

SANFL The South Australian National Football League, or SANFL ( or ''S-A-N-F-L''), is an Australian rules football league based in the Australian state of South Australia. It is also the state's sports governing body, governing body for the sport. ...

Port Adelaide Magpies Port Adelaide Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club based in Alberton, South Australia, Alberton, South Australia. The club's senior men's team plays in the Australian Football League (AFL), where it is nicknamed the ...

and replaced Stephen Williams as senior coach the following year. Having played a major role in restructuring the club's playing list, but without having reached the finals, he resigned at the end of 2004 by mutual consent to become the senior coach the

Bendigo Bombers Bendigo Gold was an Australian rules football club based in Bendigo, Victoria. The club debuted in the Victorian Football League (VFL) in 1998 as the Bendigo Diggers Football Club, which remained its legal name for the duration of the club's exis ...

in the VFL, while also acting as an assistant coach with the

in the

for the 2007 season.

Essendon Football Club senior coach

In July 2007, Essendon announced that long-standing senior coach Kevin Sheedy would be replaced at the end of the 2007 AFL season and in September 2007, Knights was appointed as the club's new senior coach. In 2009, Knights coached Essendon to its first finals series since 2004, but the team was soundly beaten by

Adelaide Adelaide ( , ; ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital and most populous city of South Australia, as well as the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. The name "Adelaide" may refer to ei ...

in the

elimination final Elimination may refer to: Science and medicine *Elimination reaction, an organic reaction in which two functional groups split to form an organic product *Bodily waste elimination, discharging feces, urine, or foreign substances from the body ...

. In the 2010 season, Essendon won seven games and failed to make the finals. Criticism of Knights coaching performance increased during the season. On 12 August 2010, Essendon's CEO Ian Robson stated that Knights would continue as senior coach in 2011, but he was, nonetheless, sacked two weeks later on the day after Essendon's final round loss to the

. He had two years remaining on his contract. Essendon won 25, drew one and lost 41 matches under Knights, during which they enjoyed three consecutive victories against

Alastair Clarkson Alastair Thomas Clarkson (born 27 April 1968) is an Australian rules football coach and former player. He is currently the head coach of the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL) and was previously head coach of t ...

and the

Hawthorn Football Club The Hawthorn Football Club, nicknamed the Hawks, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Mulgrave, Victoria, that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL). The club was founded in 1902 in the inner-east suburb of Hawth ...

, and also enjoyed a 100% record against future three-time

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, a city in the United States * Richmond, London, a town in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, England * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town ...

premiership coach

Damien Hardwick Damien Patrick Hardwick (born 18 August 1972) is a current Australian rules football coach and former player who is the head coach of the Gold Coast Suns in the Australian Football League. He is the former senior coach of the Richmond Football ...

. Knights was replaced by

James Hird James Albert Hird (born 4 February 1973) is a former professional Australian rules football player and past senior coach of the Essendon Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Hird played as a midfielder and half-forward, but he ...

as Essendon Football Club senior coach.

Other coaching roles

For the 2011 season, Knights worked with the

Xavier College Xavier College is a Roman Catholic, day and boarding school predominantly for boys, founded in 1872 by the Society of Jesus, with its main campus located in Kew, an eastern suburb of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Classes started in 1878. The ...

football team in Kew. During the 2012 season Knights was coach of the

. He coached the team to the 2012 VFL premiership. In 2015, he was promoted to midfields coach. On 13 September 2021, Knights left Geelong, and was hired by the West Coast Eagles as midfields coach.

Statistics

Playing statistics

: , - , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1988 1988 was a crucial year in the early history of the Internet—it was the year of the first well-known computer virus, the Morris worm, 1988 Internet worm. The first permanent intercontinental Internet link was made between the United State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 4 , , 3 , , 8 , , 42 , , 21 , , 63 , , 17 , , 4 , , 0.8 , , 2.0 , , 10.5 , , 5.3 , , 15.8 , , 4.3 , , 1.0 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1989 1989 was a turning point in political history with the "Revolutions of 1989" which ended communism in Eastern Bloc of Europe, starting in Poland and Hungary, with experiments in power-sharing coming to a head with the opening of the Berlin W ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 19 , , 9 , , 8 , , 192 , , 147 , , 339 , , 47 , , 32 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 10.1 , , 7.7 , , 17.8 , , 2.5 , , 1.7 , , 4 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 19 , , 7 , , 348 , , 203 , , 551 , , 63 , , 52 , , 0.9 , , 0.3 , , 15.8 , , 9.2 , , 25.0 , , 2.9 , , 2.4 , , 3 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1991 It was the final year of the Cold War, which had begun in 1947. During the year, the Soviet Union Dissolution of the Soviet Union, collapsed, leaving Post-soviet states, fifteen sovereign republics and the Commonwealth of Independent State ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 16 , , 11 , , 317 , , 218 , , 535 , , 81 , , 34 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 14.4 , , 9.9 , , 24.3 , , 3.7 , , 1.5 , , 17 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1992 1992 was designated as International Space Year by the United Nations. Events January * January 1 – Boutros Boutros-Ghali of Egypt replaces Javier Pérez de Cuéllar of Peru as United Nations Secretary-General. * January 6 ** The Republ ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 16 , , 12 , , 289 , , 225 , , 514 , , 67 , , 34 , , 0.7 , , 0.5 , , 13.1 , , 10.2 , , 23.4 , , 3.0 , , 1.5 , , 5 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 11 , , 15 , , 290 , , 216 , , 506 , , 65 , , 44 , , 0.6 , , 0.8 , , 14.5 , , 10.8 , , 25.3 , , 3.3 , , 2.2 , , 13 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1994 The year 1994 was designated as the " International Year of the Family" and the "International Year of Sport and the Olympic Ideal" by the United Nations. In the Line Islands and Phoenix Islands of Kiribati, 1994 had only 364 days, omitti ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 14 , , 11 , , 221 , , 162 , , 383 , , 49 , , 42 , , 0.7 , , 0.6 , , 11.1 , , 8.1 , , 19.2 , , 2.5 , , 2.1 , , 8 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1995 1995 was designated as: * United Nations Year for Tolerance * World Year of Peoples' Commemoration of the Victims of the Second World War This was the first year that the Internet was entirely privatized, with the United States government ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 24 , , 12 , , 7 , , 306 , , 222 , , 528 , , 53 , , 72 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 12.8 , , 9.3 , , 22.0 , , 2.2 , , 3.0 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 10 , , 1 , , 3 , , 87 , , 66 , , 153 , , 36 , , 24 , , 0.1 , , 0.3 , , 8.7 , , 6.6 , , 15.3 , , 3.6 , , 2.4 , , 0 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1997 Events January * January 1 – The Emergency Alert System is introduced in the United States. * January 11 – Turkey threatens Cyprus on account of a deal to buy Russian S-300 missiles, prompting the Cypriot Missile Crisis. * January 1 ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 11 , , 2 , , 4 , , 129 , , 87 , , 216 , , 34 , , 22 , , 0.2 , , 0.4 , , 11.7 , , 7.9 , , 19.6 , , 3.1 , , 2.0 , , 8 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 20 , , 6 , , 4 , , 289 , , 229 , , 518 , , 56 , , 61 , , 0.3 , , 0.2 , , 14.5 , , 11.5 , , 25.9 , , 2.8 , , 3.1 , , 18 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 5 , , 4 , , 254 , , 210 , , 464 , , 55 , , 44 , , 0.2 , , 0.2 , , 11.5 , , 9.5 , , 21.1 , , 2.5 , , 2.0 , , 6 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 22 , , 11 , , 6 , , 240 , , 212 , , 452 , , 82 , , 52 , , 0.5 , , 0.3 , , 10.9 , , 9.6 , , 20.5 , , 3.7 , , 2.4 , , 9 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 25 , , 12 , , 9 , , 234 , , 230 , , 464 , , 75 , , 65 , , 0.5 , , 0.4 , , 9.4 , , 9.2 , , 18.6 , , 3.0 , , 2.6 , , 7 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 33 , , 16 , , 4 , , 2 , , 118 , , 134 , , 252 , , 44 , , 31 , , 0.3 , , 0.1 , , 7.4 , , 8.4 , , 15.8 , , 2.8 , , 1.9 , , 0 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=3, Career ! 279 ! 141 ! 111 ! 3356 ! 2582 ! 5938 ! 824 ! 613 ! 0.5 ! 0.4 ! 12.0 ! 9.3 ! 21.3 ! 3.0 ! 2.2 ! 114

Coaching statistics

: , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 8 , , 14 , , 0 , , 36.4% , , 12 , , 16 , - ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 23 , , 10 , , 12 , , 1 , , 45.7% , , 8 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center; font-weight:normal" ,

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

, style="text-align:center;", , 22 , , 7 , , 15 , , 0 , , 31.8% , , 14 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #EAEAEA" , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career totals ! 67 ! 25 ! 41 ! 1 ! 38.1% ! colspan=2,

Honours

Best and Fairest In Australian sport, the best and fairest award recognises the player(s) adjudged to have had the best performance in a game or over a season for a given sporting club or competition. The awards are sometimes dependent on not receiving a suspensi ...

1990, 1992 *

Captain 1997-2000 *

All-Australian The All-Australian team is an all-star team of Australian rules football in Australia, Australian rules footballers, selected by a panel at the end of each season. It represents a complete team, including an interchange bench, of the best-perfo ...

1998 *

Team of The Century *

Life Member * VFL Premiership Coach 2012

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Knights, Matthew Richmond Football Club players Essendon Football Club coaches Port Adelaide Magpies coaches Victorian State of Origin players Jack Dyer Medal winners All-Australians (AFL) 1970 births Living people People educated at Melbourne High School Australian rules footballers from Victoria (state)