Richard Knight (footballer)

Richard Knight (born 3 August 1979) is an English footballer who played professionally in the Football League for Carlisle United, Hull City, Macclesfield Town, Oxford United and Colchester United.[1][3] A goalkeeper, he went on to play for several years in non-league football.

Richard Knight
Personal information
Full name Richard Knight[1]
Date of birth (1979-08-03) 3 August 1979[1]
Place of birth Burton upon Trent, England
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1994–1997 Burton Albion 1 (0)
1997–2000 Derby County 0 (0)
1999 → Carlisle United (loan) 6 (0)
1999 → Birmingham City (loan) 0 (0)
1999 → Hull City (loan) 1 (0)
1999–2000 → Macclesfield Town (loan) 3 (0)
2000 → Oxford United (loan) 2 (0)
2000 → Oxford United (loan) 11 (0)
2000–2002 Oxford United 36 (0)
2002 → Colchester United (loan) 1 (0)
2004 Didcot Town
2004–2009 Brackley Town
2009–2010 Oxford City
2014 Stamford
2014 Cambridge City 4 (0)
2014–2015 Kettering Town 23 (0)
2015 Stamford
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only

Playing career

Knight was born in Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire.[1] He began his football career with Burton Albion, for whom he made one appearance, against Salisbury City in 1994. Ten minutes after coming on as a half-time substitute, he was sent off after bringing down an opponent. Outfield player Darren Stride went in goal and saved the resultant penalty, but Burton lost 2–0.[4] He then joined Derby County in 1997.[2] He spent time on loan at clubs including Carlisle United, for whom he made his Football League debut, on 27 March 1999 in Division Three in a 2–1 defeat at Cardiff City, Birmingham City, for whom he appeared only in one League Cup match, Hull City, and Macclesfield Town.[3] After Derby recalled him from loan at Carlisle, they signed Jimmy Glass on loan to replace him; Glass went on to score the injury-time goal in the last match of the season that saved Carlisle from relegation out of the Football League.[5]

He finished off his loan spells with two separate stints with Oxford United, where his impressive form played a significant part in the club avoiding relegation,[6] and joined them on a permanent basis in 2000 without ever having appeared in a competitive match for Derby.[3] He lost his place in December 2000 after Oxford were 2–0 up in the FA Cup at Conference club Chester City but lost 3–2, thus failing to qualify for the potentially lucrative third round, and only regained it in the following March.[7] Nevertheless, at the end of the season, with the club bottom of Division Two, he won Oxford United's supporters' player of the year award. He lost his place again to the newly arrived Ian McCaldon, had a spell on loan at Colchester United, and was released at the end of the 2001–02 season.[3][8]

In January 2004 he signed for Didcot Town as cover,[8] and played in the final of the Hellenic League Cup as Didcot beat Bishops Cleeve 3–1.[9] He moved on to Brackley Town in 2004,[10] and remained at the club until he was released in the summer of 2009. He then joined Oxford City,[4] but left the club in October 2010, due to commuting difficulties from his Derbyshire home.[11]

In 2014, Knight turned out for Stamford and spent a few weeks with Cambridge City as goalkeeping cover[12] before joining Kettering Town in November 2014.[13] He played regularly for the remainder of the 2014–15 season as Kettering won the Southern Football League Division One Central title.[14][15] After a single season with the Poppies, he rejoined Stamford, for whom he played 29 matches and won six man-of-the-match awards, before leaving the club in December 2015 due to work commitments.[16]

References
  1. "Richard Knight". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  2. "Knight to United's rescue". Oxford Mail. 14 January 2000. Retrieved 3 June 2009.
  3. "Richard Knight". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 June 2009. For individual season detail, select season required via dropdown menu.
  4. "Burton Albion: Keeper Knight comes full circle to face Brewers". Derby Telegraph. 6 November 2009. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  5. Metcalf, Rupert (9 May 1999). "Football: Carlisle raise a Glass to survival – Carlisle United 2 Plymouth Argyle 1". The Independent. London. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  6. "Knight set to sign". Oxford Mail. 1 June 2000. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  7. Murray, Jon (2 March 2001). "Knight on a mission". Oxford Times. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  8. "Ex-U's star Knight signs up for Didcot". Oxford Mail. 31 January 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  9. "Great Scott lands cup for Didcot". Oxford Mail. 10 May 2004. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  10. "The squad 2007–08". Brackley Town F.C. Archived from the original on 10 March 2008.
  11. "Dave Savage stays with Oxford City". BBC Sport. 20 October 2010. Retrieved 4 September 2011.
  12. "Cambridge City sign former Oxford United goalkeeper Richard Knight". Cambridge News. 18 September 2014. Retrieved 25 January 2016.
  13. Dunham, Jon (25 November 2014). "Poppies aiming to extend their advantage". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  14. "Kettering Town player profiles Richard Knight". Aylesbury United FC/Luke Buckingham-Brown. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  15. Dunham, Jon (6 April 2015). "Poppies are crowned champions". Northamptonshire Telegraph. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
  16. "Clements and Knight leave Stamford as Newman comes in". Rutland Times. 31 December 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2016.

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