Alan Knill

Alan Richard Knill (born 8 October 1964) is a former Wales international footballer who played as a central defender for several clubs, including Halifax Town, Swansea City, Bury, Scunthorpe United and Rotherham United and made one appearance for Wales in 1988. He has also managed Rotherham United, Bury, Scunthorpe United and a short-lived spell at Torquay United. He is now assistant to Chris Wilder at Sheffield United.[2]

Alan Knill
Knill as manager of Bury in 2008
Personal information
Full name Alan Richard Knill[1]
Date of birth (1964-10-08) 8 October 1964[1]
Place of birth Slough, England
Height 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m)
Position(s) Defender
Club information
Current team
 Sheffield United (Assistant Manager)
Youth career
1978–1982 Southampton
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1982–1984 Southampton 0 (0)
1984–1987 Halifax Town 118 (6)
1987–1989 Swansea City 89 (3)
1989–1993 Bury 144 (8)
1993 → Cardiff City (loan) 4 (0)
1993–1997 Scunthorpe United 130 (8)
1997–2001 Rotherham United 79 (6)
Total 564 (31)
National team
1988 Wales 1 (0)
Teams managed
2005 Rotherham United (caretaker)
2005–2007 Rotherham United
2008–2011 Bury
2011–2012 Scunthorpe United
2013 Torquay United (caretaker)
2013–2014 Torquay United
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Knill was born in Slough[1] and started his career as a trainee with Southampton in November 1978. He signed as a professional in October 1982, but failed to break into the first–team.[3] He then moved on to Halifax Town (1984–87), Swansea City (1987–89), Bury (1989–93), Cardiff City (1993, on loan), Scunthorpe United (1993–97) and Rotherham United (1997–99).

He also played once for Wales, in a World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands in Amsterdam in September 1988.

Managerial career

Knill was appointed manager of Rotherham United in February 2006, when predecessor Mick Harford was sacked. On 1 March 2007, Knill was sacked as manager of Rotherham, leaving the club bottom of League One and without a win in his final 14 games.[4]

On 17 March 2007, he was appointed to Chesterfield's backroom staff to help newly appointed caretaker manager Lee Richardson try save the Spireites from relegation from League One,[5] but the club were eventually relegated.

On 4 February 2008 he was appointed manager of League Two side Bury.[6] In his first full season in charge, Knill led the Shakers to 4th place in League Two, missing out on automatic promotion by one goal on goal difference. They were then beaten on penalties in a play-off semi final against Shrewsbury Town.

With eight games remaining, and only one point from the play-offs, Alan Knill left Bury to join Scunthorpe United on 31 March 2011.[7] His first game in charge was a 6–0 defeat at the hands of Norwich City,[8] followed by a 4–1 victory over table-topping Queens Park Rangers.[9]

After a difficult start to the 2012 season, Knill believed that life had been put into perspective after narrowly avoiding serious injury after a crash with a squirrel.[10]

Knill was sacked as Scunthorpe manager on 29 October 2012 and replaced by Brian Laws.[11]

On 20 February 2013, Torquay United appointed Knill as caretaker manager in place of Martin Ling, who had gone on sick leave. Knill's objective was to keep The Gulls in the football league and that was achieved on the final day of the season with a 3–3 draw at home to Bristol Rovers. Knill saw his efforts with Torquay as a success, and felt he had "improved his CV" by helping the club avoid relegation. On 7 May 2013 he was appointed the permanent manager of Torquay. Knill was sacked on 2 January 2014 with the club having won only five league games in the 2013–14 season and sitting 23rd in League Two.[12]

On 27 January 2014, Knill was made assistant to the new Northampton Town manager Chris Wilder, who had been Knill's assistant at Bury.[13] He then followed Wilder to become his assistant manager at Sheffield United in May 2016.[14]

Managerial statistics
As of 2 January 2014.[15]
Team Nat From To Record
GWDLWin %
Rotherham United (caretaker) 31 January 2005 7 April 2005 11 2 2 7 018.18
Rotherham United 10 December 2005 1 March 2007 64 18 17 29 028.13
Bury 4 February 2008 31 March 2011 165 71 44 50 043.03
Scunthorpe United 31 March 2011 29 October 2012 78 16 30 32 020.51
Torquay United 20 February 2013 2 January 2014 41 9 12 20 021.95
Total 359 116 105 138 032.31

References
  1. "Alan Knill". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
  2. "Chris Wilder: Sheffield United appoint Northampton boss to replace Nigel Adkins". BBC Sport. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 13 May 2016.
  3. Holley, Duncan; Chalk, Gary (2003). In That Number – A post-war chronicle of Southampton FC. Hagiology Publishing. p. 613. ISBN 0-9534474-3-X.
  4. "Knill sacked as Rotherham manager". BBC Sport. 1 March 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  5. "Knill joins Chesterfield backroom". BBC Sport. 20 March 2007. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  6. "Bury appoint Knill as new manager". BBC Sport. 4 February 2008. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  7. "Scunthorpe United appoint Bury manager Alan Knill". BBC Sport. 31 March 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  8. "Norwich 6 – 0 Scunthorpe". BBC Sport. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  9. "Scunthorpe 4 - 1 QPR". BBC Sport. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  10. "Alan Knill suffers squirrel accident". BBC Sport. 5 September 2012. Retrieved 5 September 2012.
  11. "Scunthorpe United: Brian Laws replaces Alan Knill as manager". BBC Sport. 29 October 2012. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
  12. "Alan Knill: Torquay United sack manager". BBC Sport. Retrieved 3 January 2014.
  13. "Chris Wilder named Northampton Town boss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  14. "Chris Wilder: Sheffield United appoint Northampton boss to replace Nigel Adkins". BBC Sport. 12 May 2016. Retrieved 12 May 2017.
  15. "Managers: Alan Knill". Soccerbase. Retrieved 31 March 2017.
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