Brad Knighton
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 Knighton with Carolina RailHawks in 2011 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Bradley Burton Knighton | ||
| Date of birth | February 6, 1985 | ||
| Place of birth | Hickory, North Carolina, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] | ||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||
| College career | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2003–2006 | UNCW Seahawks | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2006 | Indiana Invaders | 11 | (0) |
| 2007–2009 | New England Revolution | 6 | (0) |
| 2008 | → Portland Timbers (loan) | 8 | (0) |
| 2010 | Philadelphia Union | 8 | (0) |
| 2011 | Carolina RailHawks | 28 | (0) |
| 2012–2013 | Vancouver Whitecaps FC | 21 | (0) |
| 2014–2022 | New England Revolution | 50 | (0) |
| 2015 | → Richmond Kickers (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 2021 | New England Revolution II | 2 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of October 13, 2022 | |||
Bradley Burton Knighton (born February 6, 1985) is an American former professional soccer player. He is currently the Goalkeeper coach for Revolution II.
Knighton Was born in Hickory, North Carolina, on February 6, 1985 but was raised in Richmond, Virginia. Knighton played his entire youth career with Richmond Strikers Soccer Club. During this period he earned an invite to the US Youth Soccer’s Olympic Development Program. As a senior at Mills E. Godwin High School, Knighton led the team to an undefeated record of 22-0 and a state championship.[2]
College and amateur soccer
Knighton played four years of college soccer at UNC-Wilmington. During his time with Wilmington he would be named a two-time All-State selection and two-time All-CAA pick, including First-Team during his senior year in 2006. He was named to the NSCAA/Adidas All-Region team following an outstanding final season with the Seahawks. He played a record 6,891 minutes for the program’s goalkeepers. He ranks second all-time in goals against average 1.08, games play (75) and games started in goal 73.[3]
Prior to his junior year in college, Knighton spent three weeks training with then English Premier League side Middlesbrough FC. During his senior year he went to Spain to train with Burjassot CF.[2]
He would also play for the Indiana Invaders in the USL Premier Development League.
Professional career
Undrafted by Major League Soccer, he attended a New England Revolution tryout in early 2007 and was good enough to be invited on trial for the preseason. He impressed during the trial in Bermuda, winning a spot as the Revolution's third-choice keeper and a developmental contract with the club.[4] The signing made him the first soccer player from UNC-Wilmington to be on a MLS roster.
After spending his first year and a half with the Revs behind Matt Reis and Doug Warren, he was loaned to the Portland Timbers on July 2, 2008, for the remainder of the 2008 Major League Soccer season.[5] The move was aimed at getting Knighton some valuable playing time as he had seen no first team action while with New England. He has now moved on to coaching the academy .
Knighton was selected by Philadelphia Union in the 2009 MLS Expansion Draft on November 25, 2009.[6] His first action with the team was a start in a friendly against Manchester United in which he allowed no goals before being replaced at halftime. He made his league debut for Philadelphia on August 8, 2010, against FC Dallas away, but was sent off for denying of an obvious goalscoring opportunity in 22nd minute. In his next start, he shut out the Chicago Fire at PPL Park on September 11, 2010, earning his first professional clean sheet, and also Philadelphia's first in franchise history. He was given a second consecutive start of the season vs. San Jose but was not able to hold down the starting position over the rest of the season, finishing with just 8 appearances.
On January 25, 2011, Knighton was waived by Philadelphia.[7] In April 2011 he signed with Carolina RailHawks FC of the North American Soccer League.[8] That year he played every minute for the club and finished runner-up for the league’s Golden Glove award after recording eight clean sheets and a goals-against average of 0.94 in 28 starts. He helped lead the team to a regular season title and being named NASL Best XI, however they lost in the playoff semifinals to NSC Minnesota Stars in a penalty shootout.[2]
Knighton signed with Vancouver Whitecaps FC of MLS in January 2012.[9] After Joe Cannon, the starting goaltender for most of the season, had a blunder against the Portland Timbers in August 2012, Knighton established himself as the starting goalkeeper.
Knighton was traded back to New England in December 2013 in exchange for a conditional pick in the 2015 MLS SuperDraft.[10]
Knighton would spend the last 7 years of his career with the revolution mainly in a backup role. In 2016 Knighton was pivotal in the team’s run to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, starting four matches in the tournament. In 2021 he would appear in 6 games going 5-1 with 3 clean sheets as the revolution went on to win the Supporters shield. He would play his final season in 2022 before ultimately retiring.[11] He would finish his time in the MLS with 82 starts and 85 appearances overall. A 33-29-20 record with 19 cleans sheets.
Managerial career
After retirement Knighton would stay a member of the Revolution now in a Managerial role. On January 4th 2023 he would be named manager of revolution U19 academy team. In just his first year he would lead the team to a MLS NEXT Cup championship.[12] He would stay as head coach for one more year the following season.
On January 25th 2025 he was named the goalkeeping coach of the Revolution 2.[13]
Career statistics
Honors
New England Revolution
- NASL Supporters Cup: 2011
individual
- New England Revolution Humanitarian of the Year: 2022
- UNC Wilmington hall of fame (2018)[3]
- NASL Best XI: 2011
- NSCAA/Adidas All-Region: 2006
- 2x All-CAA pick
- 2x All-State selection
Managerial
- U19 MLS next cup champion: 2023