Alan Knight: I've seen Portsmouth team-mates go through living hell because of football's drinking culture. You believe you’re indestructible, but it’s not the case

He was also a cornerstone of Alan Ball’s iconic side of the mid-1980s, a hard-playing, hard-drinking outfit whose camaraderie was constructed in the pub, creating riotous tales still rolled out with relish by supporters to this day.

In the 2020 book Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart, Knight speaks candidly over how Sporting Chance saved his life and subsequently being dry for 12 years during the rebuilding of his life.

Yet his playing days spanned an era in which alcohol was a staple diet for the vast majority of footballers, who felt no intimidation when rubbing shoulders with supporters on a night out.

‘I wouldn’t drink 48 hours before a game – I had boundaries, rules around what I would do,’ Knight told Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart.

‘Some may say I played as if I was drunk, but it wasn’t true. Then, when I retired, those boundaries were no longer needed and I could drink when I liked.

‘The wheels started falling off. I stopped going into work – I couldn’t be bothered – and my routine involved sitting in the pub all day with people buying you drinks.

‘People might think that sounds fantastic, but drinking wasn’t fun at all; I hated it. Luckily Sporting Chance saved me.

‘I could never see the point of just having one drink. If you’re going to have a drink, then get smashed. There are those able to have the occasional drink – good for them – but I would have to get off my face.

‘There was one occasion we had a drink the night before a game, certainly the only one I remember anyway, and that was away at Wolverhampton Wanderers for the final match of the 1990-91 campaign.

‘Tony Barton was caretaker manager and there was nothing riding on the game. Normally we’d stay in a decent hotel, but this was more of a guest house. So, a few of us had some beers the night before. It wasn’t mad, and it wasn’t a case of go and get smashed, but we took liberties.

‘I could try to make excuses, but we were out of order. I wasn’t off my face and it didn’t affect how we played, even if one or two did go a little over the top, with the outcome being a 3-1 defeat.

‘There was another occasion, during Frank Burrows’ first spell as manager, when he dropped me for going out on New Year’s Eve in 1979, despite not drinking.

‘I was aged 18 and, with a Fourth Division match against Aldershot the following day, sitting in my digs alone. Everyone else was out, so I decided to pop into the nearby Some Place Else Club in Palmerston Road at 11.50pm, just to see in the New Year – I wouldn’t even have a drink.

‘As soon as I walked in, the lads said “What are you doing here?”, so I left.

‘I had a shocker against Aldershot the next day, done by three near-post corners in a 3-1 defeat, Alan Rogers netting our only goal for a last-minute consolation. In the dressing room afterwards, I saw the manager handed a piece of paper and, after reading it, he went berserk.

‘Burrows pulled me aside and asked why, 48 hours before a game, I was seen in a place which served alcohol, breaking club rules.

‘It also transpired Joe Laidlaw had partied that night and was another in big trouble with the gaffer. I hadn’t drunk, but shouldn’t have been there, lesson learned. As ever, it always gets back to the club; you think you’re invisible, but everyone sees you.

‘I was dropped after that incident and didn’t play for the next 13 matches, with Peter Mellor recalled. In fact, I played just twice more that season as we won promotion to the Third Division – although Joe Laidlaw remained in the side for the rest of the campaign!

‘During Alan Ball’s first reign, Wednesday was the night out for the boys and we always knew we’d get beasted by the manager on Thursdays!

‘The drinking culture was about building team spirit and, don’t get me wrong, at the time it was fantastic – we were living the dream. However, the consequences weren’t worth it.

‘While I don’t want to talk about other players’ lives, looking back over the course of my time at Pompey and the lads I spent great times with, I have seen some of them go through living hell, while others have passed away.

‘Was it worth it? At the time you think it is; there’s nothing better, and you believe you’re indestructible, but it’s not the case.

‘As young men, you just don’t think it’s ever going to end.’

Pompey: The Island City With A Football Club For A Heart is available from Waterstone’s, Pompey’s club shop and Amazon.

Played Up Pompey (paperback) and Played Pompey Up Three are also on sale from the above.

Alternatively, contact [email protected] for copies autographed by those featured in the books.

A message from the Editor, Mark Waldron

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