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{{short description|English football manager}}
{{one source|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox football biography
 |     name = Leslie Knighton
 |       fullname = Albert Leslie Knighton
 |    birth_date  = {{birth date|df=y|1887|3|15}}
| birth_place = [[Church Gresley]], [[Derbyshire]], England
 |    death_date  = {{death date and age|df=y|1959|5|10|1887|3|15}}
| death_place = [[Bournemouth]], England 
 | manageryears1 = 1912 | manageryears2 = 1919–1925 | manageryears3 = 1925–1928 | manageryears4 = 1928–1933 | manageryears5 = 1933–1939 | manageryears6 =1945–1948
 | managerclubs1 = [[Huddersfield Town A.F.C.|Huddersfield Town]] ''(caretaker)'' | managerclubs2 = [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]] | managerclubs3 = [[Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic F.C.|Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic]] | managerclubs4 = [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham]] | managerclubs5 = [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] | managerclubs6 =[[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]]
}}
'''Albert Leslie Knighton''' (15 March 1887 – 10 May 1959) was an English [[football (soccer)|football]] manager. He managed [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]], [[Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic F.C.|Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic]], [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] and [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]].

==Management career==
Knighton was born in [[Church Gresley]], [[Swadlincote]], [[Derbyshire]]. His own playing career was cut short by injury, after which he moved into coaching and management. He first had spells as an assistant manager at [[Manchester City F.C.|Manchester City]] (1909–12) and [[Huddersfield Town A.F.C.|Huddersfield Town]] (1912–19) – and was briefly [[caretaker manager]] of the latter in 1912. In 1919 Knighton was appointed secretary-manager of [[Arsenal F.C.|Arsenal]], shortly after the club had been promoted to the [[Football League First Division|First Division]].<ref name="soartyler">{{cite book |author1=Soar, Phil  |author2=Tyler, Martin | title=The Official Illustrated History of Arsenal | publisher=Hamlyn | year=2005 | isbn=0-600-61344-5 | page=41 }}</ref>

He oversaw the club for six years, but Arsenal never finished higher than mid-table, their best finish during his tenure being ninth in [[1920-21 in English football|1920-21]].<ref name="fchd">{{cite web | title=Arsenal | url=https://www.fchd.info/ARSENAL.HTM | work=Football Club History Database}}</ref> Neither did Arsenal do well in the [[FA Cup]] under Knighton - in only one season, [[1921-22 in English football|1921-22]], did Arsenal get beyond the second round of the competition, eventually losing to [[Preston North End F.C.|Preston North End]] in a quarter-final replay.<ref name="fchd"/>

During his time at Arsenal, Knighton had numerous fallings-out with Arsenal chairman [[Henry Norris (businessman)|Sir Henry Norris]]; Norris put a strict cap of £1,000 on [[transfer fees]] and refused to sign any player under 5'8" tall or eleven [[stone (Imperial mass)|stone]].<ref name="soartyler"/> When Knighton signed the 5' tall Hugh "Midget" Moffatt from [[Workington A.F.C.|Workington]] in 1923, Norris was furious when he found out; he overruled his manager and promptly sold the player to [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]] before he'd played a League game.<ref>Soar & Tyler (2005), pp.42-43</ref> To get round Norris's rules, Knighton used his guile to sign some unusual transfers, such as the amateurs [[Reg Boreham]] and [[Jimmy Paterson]] - the latter was the Arsenal club doctor's brother-in-law, and went on to play nearly 80 games for Arsenal.<ref>Soar & Tyler (2005), p.42</ref>

Despite Norris's interfering, Knighton, thanks to an informal scouting system of his friends and former colleagues in the North, signed several high-quality players for Arsenal; these included [[Bob John]], [[Jimmy Brain]] and [[Alf Baker]], all of whom would be part of Arsenal's trophy-winning side of the early 1930s. However, he could never knit together a solid winning side and Arsenal's performances gradually declined towards the end of his tenure; they finished 19th in [[1923-24 in English football|1923-24]] and 20th in [[1924-25 in English football|1924-25]].<ref name="fchd"/>

During his final season at Arsenal, Knighton was involved in one of the first recorded cases of [[Drugs in sport|doping]]; before a January 1925 FA Cup first round tie against [[West Ham United F.C.|West Ham United]], Knighton gave the players what he described as "little silver pills", given to him by a [[Harley Street]] [[Physician|doctor]] who was a fan of the club; although the pills were successful in increasing the players' energy, the side-effects caused them to have raging thirst. Arsenal drew the match 0-0 and before the replay they rebelled and refused to take them; Arsenal eventually lost 1-0 in the second replay after the first finished 2-2.<ref name="soartyler"/> Knighton's activities, entirely legal under the rules at the time, were not made public until he recounted the episode in his memoirs.

Norris dismissed Knighton in the summer of 1925 and replaced him with [[Herbert Chapman]]. Knighton later alleged that Norris has only sacked him to avoid paying him a bonus (estimated at up to £4,000) from a benefit match that he was due.<ref>Soar & Tyler (2005), p.43</ref> Norris denied this and instead cited Arsenal's poor record that season (having finished 20th and knocked out of the FA Cup first round), but later regretted his dismissal, stating it was the one mistake in his career<ref>Soar & Tyler (2005), p.46</ref> and in his will left Knighton £100.

After leaving the Gunners, Knighton went on to manage [[Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic F.C.|Bournemouth & Boscombe Athletic]] (1925–28), [[Birmingham City F.C.|Birmingham]] (1928–33), whom he led to the [[1931 FA Cup Final]], [[Chelsea F.C.|Chelsea]] (1933–39) taking over from the long serving [[David Calderhead]], and [[Shrewsbury Town F.C.|Shrewsbury Town]] (1945–48), before their election to [[the Football League]]. Knighton retired to [[Bournemouth]] after suffering ill health and took on the less pressurised job of a golf club secretary, during which he found time to write an autobiography, ''Behind the Scenes in Big Football'' (1948). He died in 1959, aged 72.

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{Huddersfield Town F.C. managers}}
{{Arsenal F.C. managers}}
{{AFC Bournemouth managers}}
{{Birmingham City F.C. managers}}
{{Chelsea F.C. managers}}
{{Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Knighton, Leslie}}
[[Category:1887 births]]
[[Category:1959 deaths]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:People from Church Gresley]]
[[Category:Sportspeople from Derbyshire]]
[[Category:Huddersfield Town A.F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Arsenal F.C. managers]]
[[Category:AFC Bournemouth managers]]
[[Category:Birmingham City F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Chelsea F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Shrewsbury Town F.C. managers]]
[[Category:Manchester City F.C. non-playing staff]]