me and then she passed away. Now, I
talk to my wife, Kerry, because I want
her view on any projects I’m involved
in. I value her opinion. I’m working on a
new project now, but I can’t say anything
about it!
character, and he was jumping up in
the directors’ box. “We’ve beaten you,
Dick, we’ve beaten you.” I’m going to the
Millennium Stadium.” Then Adam flicks it
in, penalties. We win on penalties.
So I’ve gone down onto the pitch in the
pouring rain with all the fans and Sky
want to interview me. I’m in front of the
media board doing this live interview
on Sky… out of the corner of my eye
I see Willy coming out of the Swindon
dressing room down the steps, looking
absolutely down, walking towards me,
and I’m live on the television. I said,
“Excuse me a minute, I need to just
commiserate with my friend here”. So
I went over, with the camera following
me, and I put my arms around Willy
who’s soaking wet and said, “Willy,
I’m so sorry, we’ve nicked it in the last
minutes.” And he turned round to me
and said, “You lucky bastard. You know,
you’ve bloody stolen it, right. We were
much the better team, you bastard!” This
was all live on Sky! And I can hear over
the mic, they’re saying, “Brilliant, keep
it.” Then Willy realised he was on live
TV “But, I love you really.” And then he
planted this big kiss on me.
LE: Ok, so tell us what does the future
hold for Dick Knight?
DK: Well, I’m not the retiring type. I
would have liked to have stayed on
a little longer at the Albion. I inherited
a club that 17 Football League clubs
voted to throw out of the league - saved
it, turned it around and put it on the
right tracks for the future. Some of that
experience might have been useful
to Tony (Bloom). Ideally, I would have
stayed to lead the team out alongside
Tony for the first game at our new
stadium, and then handed over the keys
of the club to him. That would have been
my perfect exit.
I only stood down in 2013 as Chairman
of Albion in the Community, which
incidentally we haven’t even talked about
and is one of my passions…
LE: We haven’t sorry, I’m just conscious
that we can’t get everything in.
The other momentous occasion was
the final in the Millennium Stadium a
few weeks later in 2004, because we
were able to convey the message to the
national audience how much we needed
our stadium. If you remember we had
billboards all around in the crowd and
there were 30,000 Brighton fans there
that day.
Then there are other games where I
wondered whether it was all worth it,
like in the first season when I took over.
We were playing away at Walsall in the
League Cup. It was pouring with rain
and foggy, I’m the only Brighton Director
there and they hammered us 5-0. We
were just awful in that first season at
Gillingham. I was thinking to myself, “My
god, have I got an uphill battle here? I
need to sort this team out completely.”
LE: Your proudest moment? I think I
know what the answer is?
DK: That’ll be the first game at the
Amex, you know, because we fans had
fought for it, using our absolute ingenuity
and resourcefulness and persistence
and creativity, all the things you wouldn’t
necessarily expect football fans to show.
Our stadium, Laurence, had a history
before a ball was kicked there.
I hope the fans are not allowed to
forget the battle that went on to get
the stadium, because it was unique in
football history, without a doubt. No
club in English football has ever had two
plus public inquiries to overcome, and
travelling 75 miles for a home game.
We had away games that were closer
to Brighton than our home games, and
although I come from the world of makebelieve in terms of creating ads, whoever
thought that it would take 14 years from
the last game at the Goldstone to the first
game at the Amex? I couldn’t make that
up. It was only absolute determination
that got us there and so when I stood
in the stadium at the Doncaster game
and saw the blue and white everywhere,
knowing that this stadium is going to
be here long after I’m gone, that’s what
made me feel so proud because it was
such a battle to get it.
LE: Who would be the biggest influence
on you personally?
DK: Although I seem to be quite
headstrong and know it all, I always listen
to my wife’s opinion. I had one wife for
36 years who always knew how to steer
DK: No, of course, and I’m really proud
of Albion in the Community. But, I’m still
active in my two areas of expertise, one
is marketing and the other is football. I’m
very much enjoying being a grandfather
as well. I’m a better grandfather than I
was father. I’m looking forward to doing
a bit more travelling as I feel I owe it
to Kerry to visit a few new places. My
priority is to keep my mind occupied
because then I’ll stay young - and I keep
my mind occupied by doing things that
I’m good at.
LE: Thank you for your time today
Dick. It’s been an absolute privilege and
a pleasure listening to you and when I
bump into Sean Connery I’m going to let
him know you want him to play you.
DK: Well, you know, tell him I’m
prepared to let him take the role .…
rather than Tom Hiddleston.
LE: Tom Huddlestone from Hull City
FC?!?.
DK: I think he’s going to be fully
occupied trying to keep Hull in the
Premier League this season!
LE: I’ll let Sean know when I see him
next. Thank you.
By Laurence Elphick
19