Lush
Mods' Pet
He's got his faults but Knight will be missed
By Andy Naylor
Back in July 1996 Liam Brady invited me to his rented home in Hove, a goalkick away from the Goldstone.
The former Albion manager was returning to Arsenal as head of youth development.
Brady wanted me to meet the man who would be fronting the consortium he had assembled to take over the crisis-torn Seagulls.
Little did I know then that Dick Knight’s name, for the next 13 years, would become synonymous with the club.
From the struggle to seize control from a despised regime to the roller-coaster ride of promotions, relegations and the fight for a new stadium, he has been the man at the helm.
Like any long relationship, it has been bumpy at times. We have not always seen eye to eye.
I still believe, to this day, that Steve Gritt and Mark McGhee were harshly treated.
And yet, over the piece, Knight has lured a pretty impressive list of managers to the club – Brian Horton, Micky Adams, Peter Taylor, Steve Coppell, McGhee and now Russell Slade.
He has his faults – don’t we all. Terrible time-keeping features prominently among them and you can imagine, particularly early on in his reign as chairman, Board meetings being a parody of that famous Brian Clough interview.
You know, the one where Clough explained he would sit down with a player, discuss the issues and then they would agree he was right!
Knight similarly ruled, to a degree, by sheer force of personality. The trick was knowing how to handle him. Some managers grasped that, others did not.
His greatest achievement – turning the Falmer dream into reality – has ironically and inadvertently also been his downfall.
Knight worked closely with Martin Perry until the stadium project required the chief executive’s undivided attention and Ken Brown was appointed managing director.
Perry was also opposed to the removal of Dean Wilkins as manager. Knight had lost his comfort blanket.
He had lost absolute control before then. The first indication of the increasing influence behind the scenes of his successor, Tony Bloom, was a boardroom split over McGhee’s future three summers ago, after Albion had been relegated from the Championship. McGhee went a few months later.
The generally held view was that Knight would remain as chairman until the move to Falmer.
The changeover has been hastened by Albion’s struggle against relegation this season.
Knight has become an isolated figure in the boardroom as former allies throw their weight behind the future, rather than sticking with the past.
Blame was pinned on him for the re-appointment of Micky Adams, although it is worth remembering Perry’s was the only dissenting voice at the time.
That said, we need not be fearful of what lies ahead. The Bloom family played a big part in the club long before Knight entered the scene.
Also, as the saying goes, if you make your bed ... it was, after all, Knight who reintroduced Ray Bloom – Tony’s uncle – as a director.
He even offered business advice to his successor as chairman when Tony, a brilliant mathematician and sharp-minded businessman, began building his empire.
They are from different eras and have different styles but they are connected by a common bond – they really do love the club.
Albion could have done a lot worse than the chairman they have lost and the chairman they have gained.
By Andy Naylor
Back in July 1996 Liam Brady invited me to his rented home in Hove, a goalkick away from the Goldstone.
The former Albion manager was returning to Arsenal as head of youth development.
Brady wanted me to meet the man who would be fronting the consortium he had assembled to take over the crisis-torn Seagulls.
Little did I know then that Dick Knight’s name, for the next 13 years, would become synonymous with the club.
From the struggle to seize control from a despised regime to the roller-coaster ride of promotions, relegations and the fight for a new stadium, he has been the man at the helm.
Like any long relationship, it has been bumpy at times. We have not always seen eye to eye.
I still believe, to this day, that Steve Gritt and Mark McGhee were harshly treated.
And yet, over the piece, Knight has lured a pretty impressive list of managers to the club – Brian Horton, Micky Adams, Peter Taylor, Steve Coppell, McGhee and now Russell Slade.
He has his faults – don’t we all. Terrible time-keeping features prominently among them and you can imagine, particularly early on in his reign as chairman, Board meetings being a parody of that famous Brian Clough interview.
You know, the one where Clough explained he would sit down with a player, discuss the issues and then they would agree he was right!
Knight similarly ruled, to a degree, by sheer force of personality. The trick was knowing how to handle him. Some managers grasped that, others did not.
His greatest achievement – turning the Falmer dream into reality – has ironically and inadvertently also been his downfall.
Knight worked closely with Martin Perry until the stadium project required the chief executive’s undivided attention and Ken Brown was appointed managing director.
Perry was also opposed to the removal of Dean Wilkins as manager. Knight had lost his comfort blanket.
He had lost absolute control before then. The first indication of the increasing influence behind the scenes of his successor, Tony Bloom, was a boardroom split over McGhee’s future three summers ago, after Albion had been relegated from the Championship. McGhee went a few months later.
The generally held view was that Knight would remain as chairman until the move to Falmer.
The changeover has been hastened by Albion’s struggle against relegation this season.
Knight has become an isolated figure in the boardroom as former allies throw their weight behind the future, rather than sticking with the past.
Blame was pinned on him for the re-appointment of Micky Adams, although it is worth remembering Perry’s was the only dissenting voice at the time.
That said, we need not be fearful of what lies ahead. The Bloom family played a big part in the club long before Knight entered the scene.
Also, as the saying goes, if you make your bed ... it was, after all, Knight who reintroduced Ray Bloom – Tony’s uncle – as a director.
He even offered business advice to his successor as chairman when Tony, a brilliant mathematician and sharp-minded businessman, began building his empire.
They are from different eras and have different styles but they are connected by a common bond – they really do love the club.
Albion could have done a lot worse than the chairman they have lost and the chairman they have gained.
