Following ten years of service for St.Helens R.F.C. and to the sport of rugby league, Morgan Knowles will celebrate his Testimonial year in 2025!
Morgan Knowles is proudly sponsored by Lancashire Fire Solutions.
To date, the tenacious forward has played 218 times for St.Helens and is a proud product of the Saints Academy having joined our club from the age of fourteen and coming through our Scholarship and Academy programme.
Morgan has been an integral player at the Saints, playing an integral part in our four-in-a-row Super League victories between 2019 and 2022. His trophy-laden CV can also boast; three League Leader’s Shields, the 2021 Challenge Cup, and the 2023 World Club Challenge.
The Cumbrian has twelve international caps to his name, firstly playing for Wales on four occasions, including at the 2017 World Cup. He would make he switch to England making his debut in 2021 and would feature at the delayed 2021 Rugby League World Cup in the autumn of 2022. So far, Morgan has eight England appearances on his record including series victories over Tonga and Samoa.
Saints Testimonials are always special, with the match and the supporting events allowing our fanbase the chance to acknowledge and say thank you to a player for their service to our Club. And in 2025, we will together celebrate Morgan Knowles.
Morgs’ events have already got underway, with a sold out ‘Farewell To Tommy’ forum event alongside his longtime teammate Tommy Makinson, and a Legends Match at Ruskin Sports Village which was also supporting The Steve Prescott Foundation.
Morgan Knowles’ official Testimonial Match takes place on Saturday, 25th January 2025 at the Totally Wicked Stadium with kick-off scheduled for 3pm.
Secure your tickets for Knowles’ Testimonial Match online by visiting eticketing.co.uk/saintsrlfc
📖 MORGS’ STORY SO FAR
After being scouted up in Cumbria, Knowles joined the Saints youth programme and was committed to becoming a rugby league player. The Barrow Island native would travel down with his mum and dad for hours just to train in our environment every week. He would be part of our 2013 Academy Tour team that went down to Australia which allowed him the chance to train full-time with our staff and it was clear to see he would become a First Team Saint.
Knowles made his debut in a Challenge Cup fixture in 2015 against York and then made his Super League debut in 2016 against Salford – the team who he will face in his Testimonial Match.
Making his way in the game 2016 was a breakthrough year for Morgan and it saw him establish himself truly as a senior player that can play at this level. He was rewarded with a three-year contract extension, ensuring one of the brightest prospects in Super League would remain a Saint.
By 2017, Morgan was a regular and even played 30 times during that year for the Red V, showcasing versatility in position with stints at hooker, back-row or his now known role of loose-forward. Justin Holbrook came in as Head Coach and continued to back Knowles to be one of his middles, and 2018 was the first of Morgan’s three League Leaders’ Shields.
2019, the Saints retained the Shield but went one better, ending a five-year to win the Super League title at Old Trafford against Salford Red Devils. In that match Morgan was the first try-scorer, playing a big part as the team went on to lift the trophy.
Over the next three years, Morgan’s importance to the Saints’ successes of three more Super League titles was evidenced by his inclusions in the Super League Dream Team four times in a row between 2019 and 2022.
In 2020, Morgan played in one of the most dramatic rugby league matches, the Grand Final against local rivals Wigan. The game was held in Hull on the 27th November due to the covid pandemic which heavily effected the season. A last gasp winning try by Jack Welsby took the headlines, but the efforts of the defences were simply incredible and Morgan was right in the thick of it in that match.
A thirteen year wait was finally brought to an end in 2021 when St.Helens once again lifted the Challenge Cup at Wembley Stadium, with Morgan starting at loose-forward as usual.
Arguably the Saints’ most famous victory happened in 2023, with Knowles yet again playing his role in the side. Our four-peat Champion Saints went down under to contest the World Club Challenge against the Penrith Panthers, and Knowles during that match made a last ditch defensive effort to deny Nathan Cleary a try by swatting the ball and forcing a knock-on. St.Helens would go on to win the match in Golden Point, becoming the first English team in the Super League era of rugby league to go to Australia and be crowned World Club Champions.
Each year Knowles has stepped up in seniority and proven himself to be a leader, he was honoured and humbled to be named Vice Captain in the 2024 season, at the Club he has been at since fourteen.
2025 is a year to celebrate Morgan Knowles, to thank him for his service to St Helens, not only the Club, but the community too, as a supporter of our charitable arm the Saints Community Development Foundation, as well as other good causes in the region.
