‘Crazy England ace was untouchable at 15 – I thought he’d be a world beater’

  • Bookmark

    • For the latest from the pitch sign up for our football newsletter

    We have more newsletters

    Just about every footballer has a story about an old teammate who was sensational as a kid but didn't quite hit the heights expected.

    And former Manchester United wonderkid Daniel Nardiello is no different.

    Back in the 1990s the best 14-year-olds footballers in England were sent to Lilleshall in Shropshire, where they lived together in a country house, played matches and learned their trade under top coaches. In the same crop as Nardiello were Jermain Defoe, who would go on to star for the likes of Tottenham and England, and Neil Danns, who also had a solid and long career as a professional.

    READ MORE: Cristiano Ronaldo mobbed by fans as Man Utd and Real Madrid legend drives rare £9m car

    But he said none of them came close to their "crazy" striker, Leon Knight.

    Knight, who was a Chelsea trainee, went on to have a decent career, playing and scoring for teams including Brighton and Swansea in the second and third tiers of English football.

    Which teenage footballers fell by the wayside when they could have reached the top? Let us know in the comments section below

    Nardiello, though, said based on his talent at 15, he should have been an "absolute world beater".

    Speaking on the Undr The Cosh podcast, he said: “I shared a room with Knighty for a year. I was a 15 year old lad, just left home, sharing a room with Knighty. Oh my word, he’s crazy. No other words for it.

    “He’s the nicest lad as long as you keep on the right side of him. Get on the wrong side of him and he is absolutely ruthless. Great player, but angry man. Get on the wrong side of him and he’ll never forgive you."

    Knight, a 5ft 5ins striker, has a black belt in karate and had a bone to pick with podcast co-host Jon Parkin who referred to him as a "midget" after he appeared as a guest on the show in 2019.

    Nardiello, now 40, added: “I wouldn’t want to fight him. He’s a tough lad.

    "I remember we played at Barnsley together for a few months, he came on loan. But what he put the young lads through – initiations and stuff like that – he was ruthless. A great lad, some good times with him."

    Asked if the Lilleshall coaches were "pulling their hair out" at Knight's antics, Nardiello revealed he was star boy.

    “He was the best player there," he added.

    "There was Joe Cole who was the the year above us, and obviously he was unbelievable, he was their main man – but we had Leon Knight. At that age there was no one that could touch him.

    "Jermain Defoe was there who obviously went on and had an unbelievable career but Knighty was untouchable. You’d think he’d go on to be an absolute world beater because he was that good at 15, 16.

    "He had a good career, but at that age you couldn’t touch him. And he was small then, obviously.

    "But he just ran rings around teams. We beat everyone every week anyway, as you’d expect, but he was scoring like five, six goals a game. He was playing in the age group above, he was that good.”

    As a boy, Knight, from east London, played for Sunday league side Senrab, alongside Defoe.

    Senrab chairman Tony Carroll echoed Nardiello's assessment of Knight, telling WalesOnline: "They were absolutely unbelievable as a partnership, just like a pair or whippets, so very, very quick.

    "If I had to say which one was better when they were 13 or 14 I would say it was Leon. It was a close-run thing and there wasn't much in it, but he was just ahead on points.

    "You could see he had that bit of class even at that age. Jermain was nearly as good and they just used to dish out the goals between them.

    "The team would win 6-0 and they would score three each. There was always a bit of friendly rivalry to see who could score the most."

    Knight, now 40, had loan spells at QPR, Huddersfield and Sheffield Wednesday while at Chelsea, but left Stamford Bridge without ever making a Premier League appearance.

    He joined Brighton permanently in 2003, helping them achieve promotion to the Championship, but left two years later after a bust-up with manager Mark McGhee.

    Knight was removed from the squad after he voiced his disapproval at the decision to drop goalkeeper Michel Kuipers.

    After leaving for Swansea in 2006, he became something of a journeyman, turning out for Barnsley, MK Dons, Wycombe, Rushden & Diamonds, Thrasivoulos Fylis in Greece, Hamilton Academical and Queen of the South in Scotland, Glentoran in Ireland and non-league outfit Barnton in Cheshire, before calling time on his playing career around 2016.

    He represented England at under 18, under 19 and under 20 level.

    No stranger to controversy, in 2012 Knight came under fire after he posted on Twitter, opposing then-US President Barack Obama's support for same sex marriage. He was consequently suspended then released by Glentoran.

    The same year, he was involved in an explosive Twitter row with former Tottenham midfielder and current talkSPORT broadcaster Jamie O'Hara and his wife at the time, model Danielle Lloyd.

    Knight was investigated by police after appearing to call the pin-up a "raging s**t bag" and a "hoe".

    In 2018, he was accused of being sexist and misogynistic over comments made about women's football and specifically Alex Scott's appearance on Sky Sports during an England men's game.

    He said men and women were "nowhere near equal" and that women "can't kick a ball".

    The following year he drew criticism once more in relation to tweets during the Women's World Cup. When called out by West Ham's Kate Longhurst, he challenged her team to a friendly match with a team made up of his Twitter followers, called Men United.

    And Nardiello suggested his old mate's career could have been more stellar.

    Asked if he thought Knight could have achieved more, he said: “Knighty was obviously at a huge club in Chelsea and I know they loved him there, and he had a bit of a sniff there, didn’t he, but I know he fell out with a few managers in his time.

    "But ability wise, he was incredible.”

    READ NEXT

    • 'I had to show sex skills at Man Utd in front of Beckham and Keane – it was horrible'
    • Footy's hardest got battered by barman with nunchucks then went back to pub
    • 'I won the title with Leicester and went on date with Miss California – but it was w***'
    • Manchester United FC
    • Chelsea FC
    • Queens Park Rangers FC
    • Huddersfield Town FC
    • Brighton Hove Albion FC
    • Sheffield Wednesday FC
    • Swansea City FC
    • Barnsley FC
    • Mk Dons FC
    • Wycombe Wanderers FC
    • England Football Team

    Source: Read Full Article