The New York Knights were an Arena Football League (AFL) team based in New York City. They played in the league for one season, 1988. They played their home games at Madison Square Garden. After going 2–10 overall in their only season the team ceased operations. The league then went several years before attempting to re-enter the nation's largest media market with the New York CityHawks.
History
The Knights became an expansion team of the Arena Football League in 1988. The team announced Jim Valek as the first coach in franchise history. The Knights won their first game in franchise history, 60–52 over the Los Angeles Cobras. After winning the season opener, the Knights lost 4 straight games before returning home to a smaller crowd, losing 22–36 to the Cobras. The Knights would lose 8 straight games before they defeated the Cobras 40–30 in Los Angeles. The team folded after a disappointing 2–8 season.
Notable players
Roster
{| class="toccolours" style="text-align: left;"
|-
! colspan="7" style="background:navy; border:2px solid #C40233; color:white; text-align:center;"| New York Knights roster
|-
| style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Quarterbacks
- Mark Casale
- Jim Crocicchia
- Stan Yagiello
Wide receivers/Defensive backs
- Lewis Bennett
- Greg Best
- Vince Courville
- Elbert Gray
- Stan Hunter
- Edwin Lovelady
- Jim Mauro
- Pat Morrison
- Rex Motes
- O'Donovan Murphy
- Ken Sanders
- Al Washington
| style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Fullbacks/Linebackers
- Derek Hughes
- Al Neri
- Johnny Shepherd
Offensive linemen/Defensive linemen
- Alec Gibson
- Mark Grandy
- Walter Housman
- Chris Jones
- Quinton Knight
- John Reed
- A. J. Sebastianelli
- Pete Walters
| style="font-size: 95%;" valign="top" | Wide receivers/Linebackers
- Mark Streeter
Kickers *** Patrick Ragusa *** Injured Reserve
- Jack Kratochvil
- Eric Schubert
<small>Rookies in italics</small><br>
<small>Roster updated February 27, 2013</small><br>
<small>29 Active, 0 Inactive, 0 PS</small>
→ More rosters
|-
|}
All-Arena players
The following Knights players were named to All-Arena Teams:
- WR/DB Vince Courville
- OL/DL Quinton Knight
Head coaches
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! rowspan="2" style="width:140px;"|Name
! rowspan="2" | Term
! colspan="4" | Regular season
! colspan="2" | Playoffs
! rowspan="2" | Awards
|-
! W
! L
! T
! Win%
! W
! L
|-
| style="text-align:center;"|Jim Valek
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"|2
| style="text-align:center;"|10
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|0
| style="text-align:center;"|
|}
Season results
{| class="wikitable"
|bgcolor="#FFCCCC"|ArenaBowl Champions
|bgcolor="#DDFFDD"|ArenaBowl Appearance
|bgcolor="#D0E7FF"|Division Champions
|bgcolor="#96CDCD"|Playoff Berth
|}
<!--START OF THE MAIN TABLE-->
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 95%; width:70%;"
|-
!rowspan="2" style="width:5%;"|Season
!rowspan="2" style="width:5%;"|League
!rowspan="2" style="width:5%;"|Conference
!rowspan="2"|Division
!colspan="3"|Regular season
!rowspan="2"|Postseason results
|-
!Finish
!Wins
!Losses
|-
|align="center" Colspan="9" style="background: navy"|<span style="color: #C40233">New York Knights</span>
|-
|align="center"|1988
|align="center"|AFL
|align="center"|-
|align="center"|—
|align="center"|6th
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|10
|
|-
!align="center" rowSpan="3" colSpan="5"|Total
|align="center"|2
|align="center"|10
|colSpan="2"|(includes only regular season)
|-
|align="center"|0
|align="center"|0
|colSpan="2"|(includes only the postseason)
|-
!align="center"|2
!align="center"|10
|colSpan="2"|(includes both regular season and postseason)
|-
|}