While at King Edward VI Grammar School, Guilford, Arthur Knight also played for Godalming and won his Surrey county cap at the age of 17, but in 1909 he went to live in Portsmouth and was immediately signed up by the local club. After a season with the reserves, he won his place in the Portsmouth first team and played regularly until the outbreak of war. Initially, he served in India and Egypt as a Private in the Hampshire Regiment, but was later commissioned in the Border Regiment and during service in France he rose to the rank of Captain. After the war, Knight’s solid tackling and skills in the air were again welcome at Fratton Park and in the first four post-war seasons he played in 69 matches for Portsmouth at left-back. He won 30 amateur international caps between 1910 and 1923, and earned his only full international honours against Ireland on 20 October 1919, representing Portsmouth, which joined the Third Division a year later. Following his gold medal in 1912, Knight made a second Olympic appearance in 1920 when Great Britain were surprisingly beaten by Norway in their opening match. He ended his playing days with the Corinthians and later gained the rare distinction of being made an honorary life member. As the manager of an insurance office in Portsmouth, he occasionally played cricket for Hampshire as an opening bat. Having served in the Army in World War I, he was a squadron leader with the RAF in World War II.
Great Britain