Jason Knight (footballer)

Jason Paul Knight (born 13 February 2001) is an Irish footballer who plays as a midfielder for EFL Championship club Bristol City and for the Republic of Ireland national team.[3]

For other people with the same name, see Jason Knight (disambiguation).

Jason Knight
Personal information
Full name Jason Paul Knight[1]
Date of birth (2001-02-13) 13 February 2001
Place of birth Dublin, Ireland
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Bristol City
Number 12
Youth career
2005–2017 Cabinteely[2]
2017–2019 Derby County
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2023 Derby County 150 (12)
2023– Bristol City 12 (0)
International career‡
2017–2018 Republic of Ireland U17 12 (0)
2018 Republic of Ireland U18 3 (0)
2018–2019 Republic of Ireland U19 6 (1)
2019– Republic of Ireland U21 7 (1)
2020– Republic of Ireland 24 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:07, 7 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:06, 16 October 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Early career

Knight began his career at Cabinteely, playing for the club from age 4.[4] He was signed by Derby County at age 16.[5]

Derby County

During the 2018–19 season, Knight was a part of Derby's U18 Premier League title success.[6] He was an unused substitute in Derby's play-off second leg against Leeds United[7] and the final against Aston Villa in which Derby missed out on promotion to the Premier League.[8]

In the 2019–20 season under a new manager, Phillip Cocu, Knight was a regular in the first team squad and made his first team debut on 5 August 2019 in a 2–1 win away at Huddersfield Town.[9] He scored twice in a 2–1 win over Charlton Athletic on 30 December 2019.[10] On 22 January 2020, he signed a new contract with Derby running until June 2023.[11] Knight made 35 appearances during the season, scoring 6 goals[3] as Derby finished 10th in the table.

The 2020–21 season was a struggle for the club as Cocu was sacked in November 2020.[12] Knight played 45 times scoring twice in the league[3] against Millwall[13] and Birmingham City[14] both in December 2020. On 16 January 2021, Knight was handed his first captaincy for Derby County, in Wayne Rooney's first game as coach against Rotherham United.[15] At the end of the season, Derby avoid relegation by one point.

In the 2021–22 pre-season, Knight received up an ankle injury after a tackle by Rooney in training, which meant he missed the entire pre-season and opening month of the regular season.[16] He returned just before Derby's season was brought into further turmoil when the club was placed into administration in September 2021, ensuring a deduction of 12 points,[17] a further 9 point deduction was imposed in November 2021.[18] Knight made his 100th appearance for the club in 2–0 win over Sheffield United on 15 January 2022.[19] He scored twice in 39 appearances during the season,[3] but the club was not able to overcome the 21 point deduction and was relegated to EFL League One in April 2022.[20]

In the 2022–23 season season, Knight was often deployed as a right wing back by the interim manager Liam Rosenior, showing his versatility as a player.[21] After Paul Warne was appointed manager in September 2022, Knight returned to his regular midfield role and, after an impressive performance against Port Vale, Warne described Knight as a "joy to watch".[22] Knight scored three times in 47 appearances during a season[3] in which Derby missed the play-offs by one point; one of these goals was in his 150th appearance for Derby in a 5–0 win over Morecambe on 4 February 2023.[23] At the end of the 2022–23 season, an option was activated on Knight's contract, triggering an extension until June 2024.[24]

Bristol City

Knight joined Bristol City on 11 July 2023, signing a four-year contract as an undisclosed fee was agreed between the clubs.[25][26] He scored his first goals for Bristol City when he scored twice in a 5-1 win over Oxford United in the EFL Cup on 9 August 2023.[27]

International career

Knight has represented Ireland at every level from under-15 up to under-21 and made his debut for the senior team away to Finland on 14 October 2020. He made his full debut against Bulgaria in the UEFA Nations League on 18 November 2020.[28] He scored his first senior international goal on 3 June 2021 in a 4–1 win over Andorra in a friendly at the Estadi Nacional.[29]

Personal life

Knight was educated at Clonkeen College in Deansgrange, Dublin.[30]

His brother, Kevin Knight, is also a footballer, a former Leicester City youth and Republic of Ireland under-19 international currently playing with the League of Ireland First Division club Bray Wanderers, having previously played for Cabinteely, Shamrock Rovers B, Athlone Town and Longford Town.[31]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 9 August 2023[32]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Derby County 2019–20 Championship 3163010—356
2020–21 Championship 4320021—453
2021–22 Championship 3821000—392
2022–23 League One 38231303[lower-alpha 1]0473
Total 1501271613016614
Bristol City 2023–24 Championship 1200022—142
Career total 1621271833018016
  1. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 16 October 2023[33]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Republic of Ireland 202030
202161
202280
202370
Total241
Scores and results list Republic of Ireland's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Knight goal.
List of international goals scored by Jason Knight[32]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
13 June 2021Estadi Nacional, Andorra la Vella, Andorra Andorra3–14–1Friendly

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Notification of shirt numbers: Derby County" (PDF). English Football League. p. 24. Retrieved 20 October 2019.
  2. "Jason heading off to join the Rams". Cabinteely F.C. 10 September 2014. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  3. Jason Knight at Soccerway
  4. "Jason heading off to join the Rams". Cabinteely Football Club. 10 September 2014.
  5. Watson, Chris (27 August 2019). "How Jason Knight became Derby County first-team prospect". Derby Telegraph.
  6. "Derby County's Under-18 Premier League Champions: Where are they now?". Jobs4Football. 31 May 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  7. "Leeds United 2–4 Derby County (3-4 agg)". BBC Sport. 15 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  8. "Aston Villa 2–1 Derby County". BBC Sport. 27 May 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  9. "Huddersfield 1–2 Derby". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2019.
  10. "Derby County 2–1 Charlton Athtletic". BBC Sport. 30 December 2019. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  11. "Derby Duo Knight And Whittaker Pen New Contracts". Derby County. 22 January 2020. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  12. "Phillip Cocu: Derby part company with manager with club bottom of Championship". BBC Sport. 14 November 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  13. "Millwall 0–1 Derby County". BBC Sport. 5 December 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  14. "Birmingham City 0–4 Derby County". BBC Sport. 29 December 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  15. "Knight captains Derby as Rooney begins with late defeat". RTÉ Sport. 16 January 2021.
  16. "Wayne Rooney injures Derby's Jason Knight with training-ground challenge". The Guardian. 27 July 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  17. "Derby County: Championship Club formally enter administration". BBC News. 22 September 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  18. "Derby County: Championship bottom club docked nine more points for accounting rule breaches". BBC Sport. 16 November 2021. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  19. "RAM IN FOCUS: JASON KNIGHT". Derby County. 19 January 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  20. "Queens Park Rangers 1-0 Derby County". BBC Sport. 18 April 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  21. "Liam Rosenior reveals what he told Jason Knight with Derby County 'close' to transfers". Derbyshire Live. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  22. "Paul Warne: Derby County boss says Jason Knight 'a joy to watch' after Port Vale win". BBC Sport. 25 January 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  23. "Birthday boy Jason Knight developing into the most exciting Irish midfielders of his generation". The Irish Independent. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  24. "Derby County Retained List - May 2023". Derby County. 10 May 2023. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  25. "KNIGHT LEAVES DERBY TO JOIN BRISTOL CITY". Derby County. 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  26. "CITY SIGN KNIGHTpublisher=Bristol City". 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
  27. "Bristol City 5-1 Oxford United". BBC. 9 August 2023. Retrieved 10 August 2023.
  28. "Ireland's miserable run continues with goalless draw against Bulgaria". The 42. 19 November 2020. Retrieved 20 November 2020.
  29. "Troy Parrott brace rescues Ireland from humiliating defeat to Andorra". The 42. 3 June 2021. Retrieved 4 June 2021.
  30. "Kevin Knight". Extratime.
  31. "Republic of Ireland - K. Knight - Profile". Soccerway.
  32. "Jason Knight". Soccerbase.
  33. "Jason Knight". eu-football.info/. Retrieved 21 November 2020.
  34. "Jack Byrne and Celtic's Lee O'Connor among FAI Player of the Year Awards winners". The42. 4 August 2020. Retrieved 30 June 2021.
  35. Malone, Emmet (18 March 2018). "Shane Duffy named FAI Player of the Year". The Irish Times. Under-16 Men Jason Knight.
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