Martin Knight

For the cricketer, see Martin Knight (cricketer).

Martin Knight
Martin Knight in 2010
Born	21 December 1957(1957-12-21) Epsom, Surrey
Occupation	Novelist, Biographer
Notable work(s)	Battersea Girl, Common People, Gypsy Joe, Scoring at Half-time
london-books.co.uk/Authors/martinknight.htm

Martin Knight is a British author born in Epsom in Surrey in 1957 mainly associated with working class culture and football literature. In 1999 "Hoolifan" and "The Naughty Nineties" were released; both books dealing with the subject, culture and history of football hooliganism. Knight was co-author with Martin King whose hooligan memoirs form the core of the books. As partners, Knight and King produced "On the Cobbles" the story of Jimmy Stockin a renowned gypsy prize fighter, "Ossie - King of The Bridge" - the autobiography of Chelsea footballing legend Peter Osgood and "Grass" covering the exploits of major drug smuggler and Howard Marks' cohort Phil Sparrowhawk.

In 2000 Knight produced his first novel "Common People" being a thinly disguised autobiography. In 2003 he collaborated with George Best on his final memoirs before his death, "Scoring At Half Time". In 2004 "The Real Mackay" was released being the autobiography of Spurs, Derby and Scotland football hard man Dave Mackay. During 2006 saw the launch of "Battersea Girl" a partly fictionalised account of Knight's grandmother and an autobiography of Chelsea, Dundee and Aberdeen maestro Charlie Cooke.

In partnership with author John King, London Books was launched in 2006.^[1] King and Knight edited the company's first title "The Special Ones", a collection of memories and opinions of Chelsea fans and in 2007 books by vintage authors Gerald Kersh, James Curtis and Alan Sillitoe were republished.^[2] In 2009 "Gypsy Joe: Bareknuckle Fighter and Professional Golfer" was selected by The Observer as their Sports Book of the Year.^[3]

His next book, We Are Not Manslaughterers (2010), deals with the events surrounding the Epsom Riot of 1919.^[4]

Knight also had a long business career starting as a library assistant at the Financial Times and then working for Arab Banking Corporation in Bahrain before founding Presswatch Media now part of TNS and co-founding Precise Media which was sold to 3i in 2005.^[5]

Bibliography

• Martin Knight (2010). We Are Not Manslaughterers. ISBN 978-1907183140. 
• Joe Smith/Martin Knight (2009). Gypsy Joe. ISBN 978-0955185175. 
• Martin Knight/John King (2007). The Special Ones. ISBN 978-0955185106. 
• Martin Knight (2006). Battersea girl. ISBN 1-84596-150-1. 
• Charlie Cooke and Martin Knight (2006). The bonnie prince : Charlie Cooke : my football life. ISBN 1-84596-181-1. 
• Dave Mackay and Martin Knight (2004). The real Mackay : the Dave Mackay story. ISBN 1-84018-840-5. 
• George Best and Martin Knight (2003). Scoring at half time : adventures on and off the pitch. ISBN 0-09-189034-9. 
• Peter Osgood, Martin King and Martin Knight (2003). Ossie : king of Stamford Bridge. ISBN 1-84018-764-6. 
• Phil Sparrowhawk, Martin King and Martin Knight (2003). Grass. ISBN 1-84018-706-9. 
• Jimmy Stockin, Martin King and Martin Knight (2000). On the cobbles : the life of a bare-knuckle Gypsy warrior. ISBN 1-84018-384-5. 
• Martin Knight (2000). Common people. ISBN 1-84018-332-2. 
• Martin King and Martin Knight (1999). Hoolifan : thirty years of hurt. ISBN 1-84018-174-5. 
• Martin King and Martin Knight (1999). The naughty nineties : football's coming home?. ISBN 1-84018-191-5. 

References

1. ^ Resurrecting a lost era of working-class fiction, The Guardian
2. ^ Interview with John King, The Book Depository
3. ^ Gypsy Joe strikes a literary blow for golfers everywhere, The Observer
4. ^ We Are Not Manslaughterers Synopsis
5. ^ Knight Banner bought by 3i, Growing Business

External links

• London Books
• We Are Not Manslaughterers at Tonto Books

Persondata
Name	Knight, Martin
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	21 December 1957
Place of birth	Epsom, Surrey
Date of death
Place of death