Career
Knowles started his career at Southport, making 63 league appearances for the club He then moved on to Runcorn, winning the Northern Premier League with the club He signed for Wigan from Barrow in October 1984.
After retiring, he worked as a youth coach at Blackpool.
On February 17, 2015 he was appointed as head of youth development of Bharat Football Club in I-League.