Matt Knowles (soccer)
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matt Knowles | ||
| Place of birth | Troy, New York, United States | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) | ||
| Playing position | Defender | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1990-1991 | Penn-Jersey Spirit | ||
| 1990-1992 | Illinois Thunder (indoor) | ||
| 1992 | Fort Lauderdale Strikers | 3 | (0) |
| 1992-1993 | Denver Thunder (indoor) | 3 | (3) |
| 1993-1996 | Milwaukee Wave (indoor) | 116 | (109) |
| 1993 | Tampa Bay Rowdies | 9 | (0) |
| 1996-1997 | Cleveland Crunch (indoor) | 14 | (12) |
| 1996-1998 | MetroStars | 32 | (0) |
| 1997-1999 | Philadelphia KiXX (indoor) | 75 | (90) |
| 1998 | Miami Fusion | 3 | (0) |
| 1998 | → Staten Island Vipers (loan) | 1 | (0) |
| 1999-2001 | Detroit Rockers (indoor) | 57 | (29) |
| 2001-2002 | Harrisburg Heat (indoor) | 35 | (22) |
| 2002 | Carolina Dynamo | 3 | (0) |
| 2002 | Kansas City Comets (indoor) | 0 | (0) |
| 2002-2003 | Philadelphia KiXX (indoor) | 4 | (1) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. |
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Matt Knowles (born December 6, 1986 in Troy, New York) is a former U.S. soccer defender who spent most of his career playing indoor soccer. However, he also spent time in the American Professional Soccer League in the early 1990s and Major League Soccer in 1996 and 1997.
Knowles grew up in Troy and attended Shaker High School from 1985 to 1988. Most sources state that Knowles turned professional immediately after high school. Knowles went on to play at Wake Forest University but left after 2 seasons and turned pro. he signed with the Penn-Jersey Spirit of the American Professional Soccer League (APSL). In 1991, Knowles played nineteen games with the Spirit, scoring one goal. The Spirit folded at the end of the 1991 season and Knowles moved to the Fort Lauderdale Strikers for the 1992 APSL season. While he was an integral part of the Spirit, Knowles saw time in only three games with the Strikers. In 1993, he moved to the Tampa Bay Rowdies where his playing time increased to nine games.In 1997 Knowles signed with Philadelphia Kixx and making it the highest contracted in the indoor game at 130,000 per season.He played both indoor and outdoor for the next 8 seasons.
In 1990, Knowles signed with the expansion Illinois Thunder of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) He spent two seasons with Illinois, earning NPSL Defender of the Year honors for the 1991-1992 season. That season, he scored forty-five goals in forty games as a defender. In addition to his Defender of the Year Award, Knowles was selected to the first team All NPSL team. The Thunder moved to Denver at the end of the 1991-1992 season, and Knowles played three games there before being traded to the Milwaukee Wave. In the fall of 1993, he tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. The injury put him out of all but five games of the 1993-1994 season. He bounced back the next season, gaining ninety-four points, making him the second highest scorer on the Wave. He continued his excellent play in the 1995-1996 season, earning his second Defender of the Year title and first team All NPSL recognition while racking up 123 points on 47 goals and 36 assists.
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