Ken Knighton

Last updated

Ken Knighton
Personal information
Full name Kenneth Knighton [1]
Date of birth (1944-02-20) 20 February 1944 (age 80)
Place of birth Darton, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) [2]
Position(s) Defender
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1960–1966 Wolverhampton Wanderers 16 (0)
1966–1967 Oldham Athletic 45 (4)
1967–1969 Preston North End 62 (3)
1969–1971 Blackburn Rovers 70 (11)
1971–1973 Hull City 80 (9)
1973–1976 Sheffield Wednesday 76 (2)
Total349(29)
Managerial career
1979–1981 Sunderland
1981–1983 Orient
1984–1985 Dagenham
Trowbridge Town
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Kenneth Knighton (born 20 February 1944) is an English former footballer, coach and manager. He is most well known for his spell as manager at Sunderland during which time the club was promoted to the First Division, and he also managed Football League club Orient and non-league clubs Dagenham and Trowbridge Town. As a player, he played as a defender for Wolverhampton Wanderers, Oldham Athletic, Preston North End, Blackburn Rovers, Hull City and Sheffield Wednesday.

Contents

Playing career

Knighton was born in Darton. [1] After playing Barnsley schoolboy football and amateur football for Wath Wanderers whilst working as a trainee miner, he joined Wolverhampton Wanderers as a non-contract player in August 1959. [2] He became an apprentice at the club in August 1960 before turning professional in February 1961. [2] He made 16 league appearances for Wolves prior to signing for Oldham Athletic in November 1966 for a fee of £12,000. [2] He joined Preston North End for £35,000 in December 1967 before switching to Blackburn Rovers in July 1969 for £45,000. [2] In 1969, Knighton was asked to tour New Zealand as part of an FA XI. [2] He was sold to Hull City in March 1971 for £60,000 before joining Sheffield Wednesday two years later, where he would retire in January 1976. [2] [3]

Coaching career

Following his retirement as a player, Knighton worked as a youth-team coach at Sheffield Wednesday and a first-team coach at Sunderland before becoming manager in June 1979. [3] Considered a strict disciplinarian during his time as Sunderland manager, he won the club promotion to the First Division as Second Division runners-up in his debut season at the club. [3] [4] He was sacked towards the end of the following season after Tom Cowie took over as chairman. [4] After briefly working as a scout for Manchester United, he became Orient manager in October 1981, but the club were relegated to the Third Division and Knighton was sacked in May 1983 when they struggled in the following season. [3] He later worked as manager of Dagenham and Trowbridge Town. [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Scottish Cup</span> Football tournament

The Anglo-Scottish Cup was a tournament arranged for teams in the English and Scottish football leagues during the summer for several years during the 1970s. It was created in 1975 as a new incarnation of the Texaco Cup, with a similar format to its predecessor, but involving clubs from England and Scotland only.

Robert Anthony Kelly is an English former footballer and manager.

The 1976–77 season was the 78th completed season of The Football League.

The 1990–91 season was the 92nd completed season of The Football League.

The 1906–07 season was the 19th season of The Football League.

The 1907–08 Football League season was the 20th season of The Football League.

The 1908–09 season was the 21st season of The Football League.

The 1910–11 season was the 23rd season of The Football League.

The 1911–12 season was the 24th season of The Football League.

The 1912–13 season was the 25th season of The Football League, a league of professional association football clubs in England and Wales.

The 1913–14 season was the 26th season of The Football League.

The 1914–15 season was the 27th season of The Football League. It was the final season before football was suspended at the outbreak of World War I.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2012–13 Football League Cup</span> Football tournament season

The 2012–13 Football League Cup was the 53rd season of the Football League Cup, a knock-out competition for the top 92 football clubs played in English football league system. Liverpool were the defending champions, having beaten Cardiff City in the 2012 final. They were knocked out in the fourth round by Swansea City.

The 1994–95 season was the 96th season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played the season in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League First Division.

The 1990–91 season was the 92nd season of competitive league football in the history of English football club Wolverhampton Wanderers. They played in the second tier of the English football system, the Football League Second Division. The team finished in 12th place after a poor run of form at the end of the season brought only two victories from the final fifteen matches.

The 2014–15 season was the 135th season of competitive association football in England.

The 2015–16 Football League Championship was the twelfth season of the Football League Championship under its current title and it was the twenty-fourth season under its current league structure. The season started on 7 August 2015, and concluded on 7 May 2016. The fixtures were announced on 17 June 2015.

The 1896–97 season was the fifth season in Liverpool F.C.'s existence, and was their fourth year in The Football League, in which they competed in the first division. The season covers the period from 1 July 1896 to 30 June 1897.

The 2017–18 EFL Championship was the second season of the EFL Championship under its current name, and the twenty-sixth season under its current league structure.

The 1982–83 season was the 84th of competitive league football in the history of Wolverhampton Wanderers. They finished runners-up in the Second Division to win promotion back to the First Division after one season away.

References

  1. 1 2 "Ken Knighton". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 1 May 2022.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Jackman, Mike (1994). Blackburn Rovers: the official encyclopaedia. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 137. ISBN   1-873626-70-3. OCLC   32347139.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 Turner, Dennis (1993). The Breedon book of football managers. Derby: Breedon Books. p. 165. ISBN   978-1-873626-32-0.
  4. 1 2 "Ken Knighton". Sunderland A.F.C. Archived from the original on 3 August 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.