About Matthew Knights
Matthew Knights (born 5 October 1970) is an Australian rules football coach and former player who is currently serving as an assistant coach with the West Coast Eagles. Knights played in the midfield for the Richmond Football Club from 1988 to 2002, before going on to forge a coaching career, most notably as head coach of the Essendon Football Club from 2008 to 2010. He later became the head coach of the Geelong VFL Football Club from 2012 to 2014, guiding the Cats to the 2012 VFL Premiership and the 2013 VFL Grand Final. == Playing career == === Richmond === Knights wore the number 33 guernsey in 279 games between 1988 and 2002 for the Tigers whom he captained between 1997 and 2000. Playing in Richmond's midfield for the majority of his career, Knights was known for his ball-winning ability, if not his athleticism. Gifted with excellent "vision" or spatial awareness, and consistently reliable delivery from his left boot, given time and space, Knights was one of the most damaging midfielders in the AFL throughout the 90s. Though rewarded with numerous individual honours playing in a mediocre team, Knights made only two appearances with the Tigers in the AFL Finals Series in 1995 and 2001. He was placed in the top four in the team's annual best and fairest vote seven times between 1990 and 2000, and tied for fourth place in the Brownlow Medal count of 1995. Knights' career was interrupted by a serious ankle injury in Round 2 of 1996 and a knee injury in the pre-season Ansett Cup competition in 1997. Late in 1998, he became one of the first high-profile AFL players to be diagnosed with the debilitating groin condition osteitis pubis, which dogged him through much of the remainder of his career.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.