Brad Knighton

Brad Knighton
Knighton with Carolina RailHawks in 2011
Personal information
Full name Bradley Burton Knighton
Date of birth (1985-02-06) February 6, 1985
Place of birth Hickory, North Carolina, United States
Height 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1]
Position(s) 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, correct 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.

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 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.[2] 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.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5] In April 2011 he signed with Carolina RailHawks FC of the North American Soccer League.[6]

Knighton signed with Vancouver Whitecaps FC of MLS in January 2012.[7] 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.[8]

Knighton would spend the last 7 years of his career with the revolution mainly in a backup role. 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.[9] 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.[10] 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.[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played May 5, 2024[12]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Indiana Invaders 2006[13] USL PDL 11 0 — — 11 0
New England Revolution 2007 MLS 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
2008 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
2009 6 0 — 0 0 6 0
Portland Timbers (loan) 2008[13] USL-1 8 0 — — 8 0
Philadelphia Union 2010 MLS 8 0 — — 8 0
Carolina RailHawks 2011[14] NASL 28 0 — — 28 0
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2012 MLS 10 0 2 0 1[a] 0 13 0
2013 11 0 4 0 — 15 0
Total 21 0 6 0 1 0 28 0
New England Revolution 2014 MLS 2 0 3 0 0 0 5 0
2015 3 0 1 0 0 0 4 0
2016 13 0 4 0 — 17 0
2017 6 0 3 0 — 9 0
2018 7 0 1 0 — 8 0
2019 8 0 0 0 0 0 8 0
2020 1 0 — 0 0 1 0
2021 6 0 0 0 6 0
2022 4 0 0 0 0 0 4 0
Total 56 0 12 0 0 0 58 0
Richmond Kickers (loan) 2015[13] USL 1 0 — — 1 0
New England Revolution II 2021 MLS Next Pro 2 0 2 0
Career total 136 0 18 0 1 0 142 0
  1. ^ Appearance(s) in MLS Cup Playoffs

Honors

New England Revolution

Carolina Riverhawks

  • NASL Supporters Cup: 2011

individual

Managerial

  • U19 MLS next cup champion: 2023

References

  1. ^ "Brad Knighton". New England Revolution. Retrieved August 23, 2022.
  2. ^ Knighton to Sign Pact with Revolution Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine UNCW Athletics, February 26, 2007, retrieved March 5, 2007.
  3. ^ "New England Revolution Loans Out Two Players". July 2, 2008. Archived from the original on July 16, 2011. Retrieved July 2, 2008.
  4. ^ Union select 10 players in expansion draft Archived November 28, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  5. ^ Philadelphia Union Communications (January 25, 2011). "Union Waive Goalkeeper Knighton". Philadelphiaunion.com. Archived from the original on May 31, 2012. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  6. ^ "RailHawks Release Roster | North American Soccer League". Nasl.com. April 4, 2011. Retrieved January 17, 2012.
  7. ^ "Whitecaps FC acquire goalkeeper Brad Knighton | Vancouver Whitecaps FC". Whitecapsfc.com. January 17, 2012. Retrieved July 28, 2012.
  8. ^ "Revolution acquires GK Brad Knighton from Vancouver before trade deadline". New England Revolution. Archived from the original on July 21, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2014.
  9. ^ Brad Knighton MLS career summary https://www.mlssoccer.com/players/brad-knighton/#:~:text=BRAD%20KNIGHTON%20AT%20A%20GLANCE%3A&text=Has%20posted%20a%2033%2D29,save%2C%20and%20124%20goals%20against.
  10. ^ Revolution U19s win MLS next cup https://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/revolution-academy-wins-mls-next-cup-championship-in-under-19-age-group#:~:text=FRISCO%252C%2520Texas%2520%E2%80%93%2520The%2520New%2520England,Academy%2520program%2520in%2520the%2520future.%E2%80%9D
  11. ^ New England Revolution II name Brad Knighton goalkeeper coach https://www.revolutionsoccer.net/news/new-england-revolution-ii-name-brad-knighton-goalkeeper-coach
  12. ^ Brad Knighton at Soccerway. Retrieved February 5, 2021.
  13. ^ a b c "Brad Knighton | SoccerStats.us". soccerstats.us. Archived from the original on May 22, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2021.
  14. ^ "Brad Knighton - Vancouver Whitecaps". Archived from the original on February 12, 2012.
  15. ^ UNC hall of fame https://uncwsports.com/honors/uncw-athletic-hall-of-fame/brad-knighton/51
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