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| Personal information | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Cyril Barry Knowles | |||||||
| Date of birth | (1944-07-13)13 July 1944 | |||||||
| Place of birth | Fitzwilliam,West Riding of Yorkshire, England | |||||||
| Date of death | 30 August 1991(1991-08-30) (aged 47) | |||||||
| Place of death | Middlesbrough, England | |||||||
| Position | Left-back | |||||||
| Youth career | ||||||||
| Hemsworth F.C. | ||||||||
| Monckton Colliery Welfare | ||||||||
| Senior career* | ||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||
| 1963–1964 | Middlesbrough | 39 | (1) | |||||
| 1964–1976 | Tottenham Hotspur | 402 | (15) | |||||
| Total | 441 | (16) | ||||||
| International career | ||||||||
| 1967–1968 | England | 4 | (0) | |||||
| Managerial career | ||||||||
| 1983–1987 | Darlington | |||||||
| 1987–1989 | Torquay United | |||||||
| 1989–1991 | Hartlepool United | |||||||
| ||||||||
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | ||||||||
Cyril Barry Knowles (13 July 1944 – 30 August 1991) was afootballer who playedleft-back forTottenham Hotspur andEngland. He was the son of the rugby league footballerCyril Knowles,[1] and the older brother of fellow professional footballerPeter Knowles.[2]
Knowles was born inFitzwilliam, West Yorkshire, and started his career as aleft winger with local side Hemsworth before rejection from three of the country's leading sides –Manchester United,Blackpool andWolverhampton Wanderers – left him questioning his future prospects as a professional footballer.
However,Middlesbrough recognised his talents as a potentialleft-back and Knowles was accepted into their amateur squad. He made his debut late in the1962–63 season and after just 39 first team appearances legendary Spurs managerBill Nicholson signed Knowles in 1964 for £45,000.
Knowles was seen as a young replacement forRon Henry, a member of the Spurs team that famously wonthe Double in1960–61, theFA Cup in 1962 and theEuropean Cup Winners Cup in 1963. His first competitive match for Spurs was in a 2–0 win overSheffield United at White Hart Lane on the opening day of1964–65First Division campaign.
Knowles would spend 11 years atWhite Hart Lane, where he was famed for his crossing ability, creating countless opportunities from open play as well as set pieces. He is also remembered for his excellent partnership with Irish right-backJoe Kinnear and his valuable contribution towards the acceptance of the overlapping, attacking full-back in modern football.
A stalwart of the Spurs first team, he missed only one league match between 1965 and 1969 and representedEngland four times, making his international debut against theSoviet Union in December 1967. Knowles also represented the English Under-23 team on six occasions and played for Young England against the England senior side and theFootball League against theScottish League in 1968 and 1969. Only the consistent performances ofLeeds United starTerry Cooper restricted Knowles to a fringe role in the national team.
Knowles made his final appearance as a professional footballer in a 2–2 draw with Everton in December 1975. Regular knee problems forced his premature retirement at the age of 31 but his contributions and loyalty to Tottenham Hotspur were rewarded with a testimonial match against arch-rivalsArsenal in the same season. An example of his quality was the memorable display against Leeds United in one of his final appearances for the club. With Spurs needing victory to avoid relegation against the reigningFirst Division champions and 1975European Cup finalists, Knowles scored twice in a 4–2 victory to keep them in the First Division.[3]
He scored 17 goals in 507 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur, winning theFA Cup in 1967, theLeague Cup in 1971 and 1973 and aUEFA Cup winners medal in 1972. After announcing his retirement from professional football, Knowles started his managerial career as aYorkshire based scout for Spurs. This was followed by a brief spell as manager ofHertford Town in 1976 and he was first team coach atDoncaster Rovers between 1977 and 1981.
He was the inspiration for the popular record "Nice One Cyril", performed by Cockerel Chorus, which peaked at number 14 in the UK Singles Charts in March 1973, and is widely regarded as the greatest left-back in the history of Tottenham Hotspur by both supporters and critics.[4]
In the summer of 1981, he was appointed assistant manager of Middlesbrough, where he started his career, but resigned two years later to become manager ofFourth Division strugglersDarlington. His second season,1984–85, was a great success as he transformed the club's playing fortunes and guided them to third place in theFourth Division, ensuring promotion to theThird Division. Knowles guided Darlington to 13th place in the Third Division for 1985–86, and remains the only manager to have preserved their third-tier status in the modern era.
He resigned as Darlington manager in 1987 following relegation to the Fourth Division, but soon returned to management withTorquay United. As manager of Torquay, Knowles developed the talent ofLee Sharpe, the youngwinger who would star forManchester United in the early 1990s and later play forLeeds United andSampdoria. He transformed a poor side that had almost been relegated from theLeague the previous season, taking them to the brink of play-offs in his first season and the final of theAssociate Members' Cup the following year.
He resigned as manager of Torquay in October 1989 after a disappointing start to the1989–90 season but returned to management in December, at Fourth Division basement clubHartlepool United. He revived Hartlepool and they finished 12 points clear of relegation. Their form in1990–91 was even better, and they eventually gained promotion in third place.
He was diagnosed with a brain tumour in February 1991 and coachAlan Murray took temporary charge of the first team. At the end of the season, Murray took over on a permanent basis, with Knowles unable to continue following brain surgery.
Knowles failed to recover from the cancer and he died on 30 August 1991 at the age of 47. Three months after his death a memorial match was played at White Hart Lane and in 1995 a new stand at Hartlepool'sVictoria Park stadium was renamed in his honour.
Knowles married Betty Grundy in 1967, with whom he had a son, who died in a freak traffic accident when a stone was thrown up from the road and crashed through the window of the car he was in and hit him in the head.[5][6][7] Knowles was aLabour Party supporter.[8]
Tottenham Hotspur
Darlington
Torquay United
Hartlepool United
| Team | From | To | Record | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | L | D | Win % | |||
| Darlington | July 1983 | March 1987 | 190 | 67 | 71 | 52 | 35.3 |
| Torquay United | June 1987 | October 1989 | 120 | 46 | 46 | 28 | 38.3 |
| Hartlepool United | November 1989 | June 1991 | 85 | 40 | 27 | 18 | 47.1 |
