Soccer Show: Former Revolution Goalkeeper Brad Knighton on New England’s bright future
With Homegrown Players like Esmir Bajraktarevic, Noel Buck, and Jack Panayotou, all contributing to the New England Revolution’s strong 4-1-1 start this season, it’s clear that the club’s Pro Player Pathway is reaching its goal to produce MLS-ready talent. Bajraktarevic, Buck, and Panayotou, who made history two weeks ago when they became the first trio of players 18 years old or younger to start a match for the Revolution in New England’s 2-1 win at D.C. United, are graduated from the New England Revolution Academy- a program former goalkeeper Brad Knighton is now part of as head coach of the Academy’s Under-17 team.
Knighton joined DJ Bean on the Soccer Show to discuss his new role within the organization and how the sport has evolved over the course of his career. Youth soccer players of today are incredibly different from those of years past, with Academy teams following similar training, tactical, and nutritional plans as those at the professional levels. Knighton noted how this change, along with continued commitments in these programs, has impacted teams leaguewide.
“What these MLS Academy teams have done within the last 10-15 years is incredible,” Knighton said. “To see as many players coming through each individual Academy, not just ours, and featuring for their first team, it’s a testament to the owners putting in the money to find products for their own teams in the local area and identifying these players and then developing these players.”
To date, a total of 10 Academy products have signed Homegrown Player contracts with the New England Revolution, while a number of others develop their careers with New England’s second team, Revolution II, where they gain their earliest experiences at the professional level.
“The pathway is huge here,” Knighton said. “We’re developing these kids at a young age to hopefully transfer within our second team and then after that transfer within our first tea or if they have good enough quality to jump directly to our first team, and it’s awesome.”
Knighton also spoke on another key component to New England’s success: goalkeeper coach Kevin Hitchcock, who he played under for four seasons in Foxborough. The England native joined the Revolution in 2019 following an expansive playing career including 13 years spent with Chelsea.
“Not many people know about this guy, but when you mention the goalkeeping core, you mention the coaching staff, this is the guy behind the scenes doing all of the dirty work and he gets, kind of not really any credit for any of it,” Knighton said. “I mean the guy goes above and beyond in any way he can and that’s just how he is as a person. He’s not doing it just because it’s his job, it’s because he loves the game, he loves interacting with players, he loves developing players. He wants to make players better day in and day out and he comes from a professional environment. He’s done it for the last 40 years.”
Hitchcock played an impactful role in former Revolution goalkeeper Matt Turner’s rapid ascension from undrafted rookie to landing a transfer to English Premier League club Arsenal. Now he’s taking on a similar role in current New England goalkeeper Djordje Petrović’s progression. Petrović, who joined New England as a 22-year-old from Serbia one year ago, is now among the top goalkeepers in MLS.
“The guy is something special,” Knighton said of his former goalkeeper coach. “He’s the best I’ve ever been around. He’s great at what he does. He knows how to get the most out of every single player that’s around him and he makes practice and training and everything fun, so it’s that environment that you want to be in. And he empowers you, so when you add a combination of all of that together, there’s a reason Matt is where he is, there’s a reason why Djordje is doing what he’s doing, and the whole goalkeeping core from when I was there to where they are now are where they’re at. It’s just because that’s the way Kevin rolls and that’s how he wants it to be and it’s always going to be that way. He is by far the best in the business in MLS.”
The Revolution host CF Montréal tonight at Gillette Stadium. The match kicks off at 7:30 p.m. and will stream live on MLS Season Pass on the Apple TV app and on 98.5 The Sports Hub HD2 with Brad Feldman and Charlie Davies on the call.