Peter Knights
Peter Knights (born
30 March,
1952) is a former
Australian rules footballer and coach. He is the father of the SANFL commentator Ben Knights. Ben also ran for CLEO bachelor of the year. He is also well known for his blonde hair.
He played 267 games with
Hawthorn in the
Victorian Football League (VFL) from
1967 to
1985, and was most well-known for his blond hair and his spectacular high
marking.
Knights was a member of Hawthorn's premiership sides in
1976,
1978 and
1983, represented
Victoria nine times, and won the club championship in
1975.
Contests between Knights and rival team
Essendon Football Club's
Paul Vanderhaar became legendary.
Knights is as much remembered for his failure as a coach as his spectacular success on the field.
In
1986, the VFL expanded to include a team from each of
Western Australia and
Queensland. The
Brisbane Bears, based on the
Gold Coast in
South East Queensland, recruited Knights as their inaugural coach, despite his lack of coaching experience. Expectations of the new side were low but it was considered a significant achievement that the team was able to avoid finishing last in their first season,
1987.
Despite this, the Bears' results in
1988 and
1989 failed to improve, with the club suffering regular thrashings. Knights was dismissed as coach with seven games remaining in the
1989 season and replaced with team
psychologist,
Paul Feltham. Knights was considered to have been unlucky, as ineffective club management and poor relationships amongst his underperforming players seen as major contributing factors in the club's performance.
His former club, Hawthorn, appointed him senior coach for the
1994 season, finishing sixth of fifteen clubsâ€"but one place out of the finals. The following year the team finished second last, however, and Knights was again sacked.
