Leon Knight

Leon Leroy Knight (born 16 September 1982) is an English former footballer who plays as a striker. A journeyman player, he has played for fifteen different clubs spanning five countries; England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland and Greece.

Having begun his career with Chelsea, he spent time on loan with Queens Park Rangers, Huddersfield Town, Sheffield Wednesday and Brighton & Hove Albion before joining the latter permanently in 2003. Knight spent three years with Brighton, scoring 30 goals in 106 league matches. He was transferred to Swansea City in 2006 and had a loan spell with Barnsley before joining Milton Keynes Dons and then Wycombe Wanderers.

Knight signed for Rushden & Diamonds in 2008, but left the club five months later when he was sacked for misconduct. Rushden retained his registration and would not release it to another English club unless they were compensated, which prevented Knight from playing in England for three years. He subsequently played in Greece for Thrasivoulos Fylis, Scotland for Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South and Northern Ireland for Coleraine, before joining Glentoran in January 2012. He was released by Glentoran in June 2012 after a probationary clause in his contract was invoked by the club.

Playing career Knight began his career as a trainee at Chelsea (where he made one appearance in the UEFA Cup against Levski Sofia), During his spell at Huddersfield, he reignited the Terriers' play-off push and formed an unlikely partnership with local hero Andy Booth, earning himself the nickname 'Neon Light'. Unfortunately, he was sent off in the penultimate game of the season and was suspended for the play-off games. After a short spell on loan with Barnsley, he joined Milton Keynes Dons in January 2007. On 19 August 2008, Knight's contract was "terminated by mutual consent", after he scored five goals in 20 appearances during his short stay with Wycombe. but was transfer listed on 29 October, along with Lee Tomlin, Curtis Woodhouse, Andy Burgess, Phil Gulliver, Sagi Burton, Lee Phillips and Dean McDonald, after the club's poor start to the season. On 12 December, Rushden & Diamonds confirmed that Knight had been sacked after continual breaches of conduct between November and December 2008. Despite his contract having been terminated, Rushden & Diamonds retained the player's registration, preventing Knight from joining another English club until the term of his contract had expired, unless £30,000 in compensation was paid to the club. Knight was later released by Hamilton on 14 January 2010. The next day, Knight joined Dumfries club Queen of the South until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 1–1 draw with Dundee on 23 January. but his transfer was blocked by previous club Rushden, who had held onto his registration and demanded £30,000 for the deal to be completed. Knight responded by criticising Rushden & Diamonds on his Twitter account, saying that he has chosen not to buy-out his contract as a matter of principle. "Rushden have said they don't want the money from Darlington, they want it from me – I refuse to pay them out of principle. If I wanted I could raise the money and pay them but I don't want to give them the satisfaction."

The following month, Knight elected to continue his career outside England by signing for Northern Irish side Coleraine. He scored twice on his debut in a 2–1 win away to Glenavon on 16 October 2010. and finished the 2010–11 season with 15 goals from 25 matches. Two weeks later, Knight was transfer-listed and suspended by Coleraine for failing to appear for training and matches. He also breached club rules by stating his desire to return to England and play for another IFA Premiership club. However, a fortnight later, Knight signed a new two-year contract with the club. "I said things about wanting to leave and at the time I felt it was right for me, but things change," he said. "I've spoken at great length with the manager over the last three or four days and I came back to him wanting to work something out. Agreeing a new two-year deal shows my commitment to the club and that I'm eager to put the last few weeks behind me."

In January 2012 however, Coleraine asked Knight to either live in Northern Ireland or pay his own travel costs, as he was still living in London and had to travel over to Northern Ireland for each game, which was costing Coleraine £1,000–£1,500 per month. An agreement could not be reached, and Knight joined Glentoran on 30 January 2012. His stay at Glentoran was relatively short lived, as the club released him in June 2012 when they invoked a probationary clause in his contract after he allegedly made homophobic comments on Twitter.

Coaching career On 18 March 2015, Knight was appointed Barnton's first team manager, also continuing to play for the club. On 15 February 2016, Knight resigned as manager of Barnton.

International career Knight played for England at under 18, under 19 and under 20 level.

Personal life Knight was born in Hackney, London, to a Jamaican mother and St. Lucian father, and was educated at Raine's Foundation School, Bethnal Green, He has three sisters, He is the cousin of Grime MC Trim. Knight was a good all-around sportsman and a third dan black belt in karate as a child. Knight was suspended by Glentoran on 10 May 2012, pending investigation into the aforementioned remarks. This later led to his release by the club in June 2012. In June 2019, he came to public attention again for repeatedly making sexist tweets during the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. It provoked a response from West Ham midfielder Kate Longhurst whom he asked "how many headers can you do?" In response he then demanded a preseason friendly with a team made up of some his Twitter followers called Men United. Knight received no response from West Ham.

Career statistics +Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals

2000–01 Premier League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2001–02 Premier League 0 0

0 0 1 0

1 0

0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 Queens Park Rangers (loan) 2000–01 First Division 24 3 1 0 2 0

27 3

2003–04 Second Division 46 26 1 0 2 0

6 2 55 28 2004–05 Championship 39 4 1 0 1 0

41 4 2005–06 Championship 25 5 0 0 1 0

26 5

110 35 2 0 4 0

6 2 122 37

2005–06 League One 11 7 0 0 0 0

0 0 11 7

28 15 0 0 0 0

7 4 35 19 Barnsley (loan) 2006–07 League Two 18 0 0 0 1 1

0 0 19 1

34 0 0 0 1 1

2 0 37 1 Wycombe Wanderers 2007–08 Conference Premier 12 4 1 0

13 4 Thrasivoulos 2008–09 Super League Greece 3 0

3 0 Hamilton Academical 2009–10 Scottish Premier League 6 0 0 0 1 0

7 0 Queen of the South 2009–10