I OWE IT ALL TO SPECIAL BRIGHTON
Grieving Knockaert’s debt to club
For Anthony Knockaert only one thing could have made it any sweeter as he savoured the thrill of promotion in a T- shirt dedicated to his father.
Patrick Knockaert died in November after illness, at the age of 63, a loss which had a profound impact on his son and his relationship with Brighton, forging bonds which will be hard to break.
‘I’ve been thinking of my dad,’ said Knockaert. ‘ You know he’s been amazing in my life, the main man, and I wish he was here with me to celebrate. But that is life.
‘Every day I work so hard for him and if everything happens for me in the right way it is because he gave me the power to fight for him. It’s been a tough one for me but because of this I have an even bigger desire to work hard and to show what he believed about me. I will do it for him.’
Knockaert joined the celebrations wearing a T-shirt bearing a photograph and the message: ‘To Daddy we did it for you. rIP’.
It was not the first time the family had been touched by tragedy. The Frenchman’s elder brother Steve died eight years ago at the age of 27, after suffering a heart attack.
Inspired by these powerful emotions, the 25-year-old winger, who was voted this season’s Player of the Year in the Championship, will play in their honour in the Premier League for Brighton, alongside team-mates who were there when he needed them.
Brighton manager Chris Hughton cancelled training and took the entire squad to France in a show of support for Knockaert at his father’s funeral.
‘If I was playing for any other club in the world I don’t think they would have done that,’ said Knockaert. ‘Coming all the way was something I will never forget.
‘I still don’t know how to say thank you to them. Now, for me they are not just team-mates but friends for ever and this football club, I owe them a lot.
‘That’s why I give every single bit of my life on the pitch and they deserve it because this club is something special and you cannot see that in any club in the world.’
Knockaert’s commitment to Brighton may be all the thanks they need. His brilliance often proved the difference and his family were in the stands to see promotion confirmed with victory against Wigan on Monday.
He has scored 15 goals — many crucial, including both in the 2-0 win at Wolverhampton on Good Friday — and has created many more with his explosive change of pace, flair on the ball and a magical left foot.
‘ He has that X- factor,’ said Brighton chairman Tony Bloom, who fought off interest from Newcastle to keep him last summer, six months after signing the former Leicester player from Standard Tribute: Knockaert enjoys promotion with a T-shirt remembering his late father Liege. ‘ He’d been a player we’d followed for a while,’ added Bloom. ‘He wasn’t settled and wanted to come back to England.
‘It’s been a pleasure watching him. He loves Brighton and playing for this club. We were desperate to keep the main players who had done so well last season.’
Knockaert left France for Leicester at the age of 20 but found it increasingly difficult to hold a first-team place in the Premier League, with riyad Mahrez and Marc Albrighton starting to shine.
Determined to find regular football, he left for Belgium on a free transfer in the summer of 2015 — ahead of Leicester’s miracle season — and joined Brighton in January 2016.
‘I will never regret the choices I made,’ said Knockaert. ‘I wasn’t playing much in the Premier League with Leicester and it was time to go somewhere else and see something else.
‘I always believed in my quality and when I had the chance to come to this club I came straight away. I knew what ambition they had. It was an easy decision to take and obviously now it’s a perfect decision.
‘It’s been a great time and it’s going to be even better in the next few years.’
After the disappointment of defeat in last year’s play- offs, Brighton are up with three games to spare and will clinch the title if they win at Norwich on Friday.
‘All the people in England expected Newcastle to be champions and now we are so close to doing it,’ said Knockaert. ‘It would be an unforgettable season.
‘We worked so hard. We were unlucky last year and wanted to bounce back. In pre- season, we said with the quality we have, we can do it again. It showed we were not wrong. That’s a great feeling.’
When the celebrations are over Brighton will plan for their first campaign in the top flight since 1982-83.
‘We can’t wait,’ said Knockaert. ‘We will prepare as much as we can to stay up and it will be a great experience for this club.
‘We need to enjoy this and with this team spirit we will enjoy this so much. It’s just amazing. This group of lads deserve it. I’m so happy for them. For me, as well. For our families, it is a day we will never forget.’