'Ex-Portsmouth team-mate Alan Knight saved my life': Mark Kelly on surviving cancer and building on a Legend's legacy
The late Alan Knight’s campaigning for men to seek help over prostate cancer convinced Mark Kelly to see his doctor - and saved his life
There was a text, always a text, checking how he was, cheerily offering support and imparting welcome words of comfort. How are you doing, Buddy?
Even the month before Alan Knight’s passing, Mark Kelly was receiving WhatsApp messages from the Pompey legend, asking after his progress having undergone treatment for prostate cancer.
They often met for morning coffees at the Blues’ training ground, albeit in the adjacent cafe at the Pompey Health & Fitness Club, away from the attention of players and staff.
Kelly had been diagnosed with the disease in February 2026, just four months after his wife Angie learnt she had breast cancer. The only person he confided in outside his family was his former Fratton Park team-mate and long-time friend.
Following his own prostate cancer diagnosis in September 2024, Knight strode forward to drive public awareness in the condition and raise money for a number of cancer charities. Naturally, for Kelly, he would be among the first people to call.
Besides, it was the ex-goalkeeper’s tireless campaigning for the cause which had compelled him to seek a PSA test, despite not displaying any symptoms or ill health.
Last week, Knight died at the age 65, leaving a city to mourn the loss of an icon who made 801 Pompey appearances, before devoting his life to serving Portsmouth’s community.
Kelly credits him with saving his life - now he wants to continue his friend’s remarkable legacy.
‘Alan Knight saved my life’
‘I have absolutely no doubt that Alan Knight saved my life,’ Kelly told The News in his first interview about his cancer diagnosis.
‘I had no symptoms, absolutely nothing, but, as a consequence of his bravery in standing up and speaking out about his prostate cancer, I am sitting here today.
‘I wouldn't have got it checked, I know 100 per cent I wouldn’t. It wouldn’t even have come into my thought process, even though my dad had it. I’m healthy, nothing wrong with me.
‘Yet here was a man battling cancer and rather than going off into obscurity or whatever - like most of us would do in his situation - he digested it and then wanted to spread the word for people to look after themselves. Thankfully I listened.
‘Knightsie had his own health problems, but was still totally reaching out all the time. He was always giving, that’s what everybody loved about him, he wanted to help people all the time. He was at his happiest sharing with others.
‘Outside my family, he was the only person I confided in. I’m not the type of person to get counselling or lean on anyone, yet we’d meet up for coffee mornings at Pompey’s training ground and talk. The prostate cancer coffee morning, we’d call it.
‘He was there, he was always there. Not only when I was reaching out, but also pre-emptive. Hi Kells, how did it go? What did they say? Where is it? We’d have a laugh about the biopsy and legging it out the door. Sorry doc, I can't sit here, I ain't got time!
‘Yet Knightsie never mentioned his illness whatsoever. I'm sure behind closed doors he had his personal upsets, frustrations, but he didn’t openly say, even when he was getting quite bad.
‘My questions about his health were always passed back. It was never about himself, so he would pass it back. When it was obviously getting worse and starting to affect him quite badly, he still just wanted to talk about me, to help me.
‘Even if we couldn’t meet, there would be messages. If you look at my phone, it’s Knightsie, Knightsie, Knightsie, right up until the very end.
‘I joined Portsmouth Football Club at the age of 15, so we’ve had a lifetime of association, both living locally and both later working at the club together after our playing retirement. Then we connected through cancer. He saved me - and then he was there for me.’
Knight raised £42,000 for three prostate cancer charities
In September 2024, Knight was diagnosed with high-grade prostate cancer, an aggressive form of the disease, with it soon spreading to his left hip.
A desire to raise awareness of the disease and encourage men to seek medical help saw him go public with his condition, with an emotional interview with The News.
When Knight decided to organise a football match to raise funds for cancer charities, his call to arms naturally attracted a number of former team-mates from his four decades as a Blues player, among them Kelly.
As a left winger whose prodigious talent earned him a Republic of Ireland debut at the age of 18 - 11 days before his full Pompey debut - Kelly would share a dressing room with the iconic goalkeeper for six seasons.
However, in January 1991, a challenge from Tim Breacker on Luton’s unforgiving artificial pitch saw the highly-rated youngster’s right knee lock, snapping medial collateral ligaments.
There were many comebacks amid eight operations, but no more first-team appearances. At the age of 24, the Basingstoke-born attacker’s career was over after 56 appearances, two goals and four international caps.
In May 2025, the 55-year-old Kelly dusted off his boots to represent an Alan Knight XI in the Fratton Park charity match, with £42,000 raised for three prostate cancer charities.
Inspired by his friend’s work, he would later book an appointment at Stakes Lodge Surgery, Waterlooville, for a PSA test. It changed his life.
‘At the same time, my wife Angie had breast cancer and a tumour removed’
Kelly added: ‘Knightsie was grateful for the lads turning up for that charity match. You're thinking, I'm just here to support a mate and do what I can. It never occurred to me that cancer would be soon affecting me as well.
‘My dad, Martin, had a strain of prostate cancer, yet, ultimately, he died of dementia. While I had it in the family, it was Knightsie being so vocal about getting self-checked which convinced me to do something in November (2025).
‘It was literally a finger prick, they take a bit of blood and off you go home. Then came the phone call from the doctor - my PSA was a little raised. They weren’t too concerned, it wasn’t overly high, I didn’t need to go in straight away to discuss it. But it was still a bit raised.
‘It was decided to refer me, then that became a scan at St Mary’s Hospital. Now it’s, well there might be something there, so can you come back again? That’s when I had the biopsy, which is not very nice.
‘At the same time, my wife Angie had breast cancer and a tumour removed, she ended up having three operations. I’m not even digesting what’s happening to me, she’s my entire focus. I was never thinking about myself.
‘By coincidence, the same day I had the biopsy at QA Hospital, Angie was in the next ward, which is one the same corridor. She was receiving the results following her second breast cancer test.
‘When I came out of the biopsy room, I was told I needed to stay for a few hours, yet I couldn’t, I had to be there for Angie. I was only going next door, if there was a problem then I’d be straight back.
‘The following month (February 2026) I was called in to see the consultant. It’s cancer, it’s aggressive, it needs to come out now.’
‘I'm sitting there going There's nothing wrong with me. What are you on about?’
Mark and Angie Kelly have strived to build a family environment for their two sons constructed upon a foundation of openness and trust, where talking is encouraged.
Oldest son Liam, a former Pompey Academy footballer who later secured a scholarship in Economics, finance and banking at Fairleigh Dickinson University in New Jersey, USA, has this week joined the Navy.
While Aidan, aged 18, is an apprentice quantity surveyor in Portsmouth’s Dockyard, working for Concept Building Services.
In October 2025, the family were devastated after learning of Angie’s cancer diagnosis - and, four months later, they were sat down at their Purbrook home and told their dad had stage 3 prostate cancer.
‘The tough bit was sitting down with the boys. They’d already had to deal with their mum's situation - now I have to tell them it's me,’ said Kelly.
‘I am pretty much a healthy person, I would notice if there was something wrong with me. There were no indicators, the wee and all that, I’ve had none of it.
‘At the beginning, I was questioning why I was even going in for a check up. Even up to the point where I'm being told it's cancer. I'm sitting there going “No, there's nothing wrong with me. What are you on about? There isn’t anything to deal with”.
‘You're telling me I have cancer and if I don't get this done now then this is going to be a major problem? Wow, okay.
‘Ange was in the consultancy room with me, everything she was going through and now this. They were telling me that the prostate would be removed, nerve endings will be taken out, there’s going to be this, there’s going to be that. All I’m thinking is what is this conversation? What are you on about?
‘The reality is that’s the reality. I've dealt with so many injuries over the years, my career finished because my lateral medial and cruciate snapped, then I was on a run of coming back, breaking down, coming back, breaking down. Operation after operation. I'm used to hospitals.
‘From that point of view, I was kind of well-versed. But this type of operation was totally different to anything I had ever experienced.
‘We sat Liam and Aidan down in the lounge, we’ve always been quite open, so let's deal with it. I know you've been dealing with your mum’s illness, well unfortunately this is now going on with me. Boy, that was tough.’
Life has changed, but the scars remain
Under the July Mediterranean sun, Kelly had clocked lingering looks from fellow passengers around the pool while on his daily swim, but forgave their natural curiosity.
A total of six small scars are peppered across his chest. The bullet holes, as he calls them with a chuckle, serve as calling cards for the cancer operation he underwent at QA Hospital in April 2026.
Some three months later, joined by Angie, Liam and Aidan, the Kelly family holiday consisted of a fortnight with Celebrity Cruises, taking in Athens, Santorini, Mykonos, Turkey, Malta and Barcelona.
Life has changed, although the scars remain.
He added: ‘If the cancer is contained and doesn’t go anywhere else, then I’ll be fine now. It's just about getting back to as much of a normal life as you can do.
‘I have these six scars on my chest, they look like healed bullet holes. It’s because the operation was carried out by a robot, which needed to find the precise areas to enter.
‘When we went on a cruise in July, I could tell people were looking at me as I walked around by the pool or whenever I was about to jump in and have a swim. They were definitely staring.
‘It affected my youngest, Aidan, more than me. I remember him saying “What are people staring at?”. My response was well it does look like I've been stabbed a bit or shot a few times! There's holes everywhere.
‘It’s a big operation, you’re lying there with your legs in stirrups for a procedure which lasts 3-4 hours. Your prostate sits in between lots of canals and avenues, so they cut it out, bag it up inside you, then pull the bag out.
‘I wore a catheter and bag for two weeks afterwards, but I’m absolutely fine going to the toilet now. I've mended, I've healed really, really well - I always did as a player through my many operations.
‘I am totally back to life as it was, bar the bits of retraining and rehabbing which you have to go through. I won't be too graphic! Thankfully Angie is also in remission, now we’re both getting on with our lives.’
Saying farewell to Knightsie at Fratton Park
Alan Knight’s widow, Heather, was joined by his children Jade and Rebekah, and Pompey chief executive Andy Cullen in laying down wreaths before kick-off against Cardiff.
Having passed away four days previous, last Saturday’s Championship fixture at Fratton Park was chosen as the occasion for a city to commemorate the man universally known as ‘The Legend’.
An emotional Kelly surveyed the touching moment from the press box through his commentary role with Express FM, having 48 hours earlier taken up the baton from his friend.
After preferring privacy during own cancer battle, he had decided to go public through a LinkedIn post - and the subsequent reaction has reinforced his belief that he can now build on Knight’s excellent work.
Kelly said: ‘Life can have sliding doors moments, mine was in April 2025 when I was due to start a job at Auckland FC in the A-League.
‘They are owned by Bill Foley, who also has Bournemouth, and I had agreed to become their director of youth. I was that close to getting on the plane, but there was family stuff I needed to do.
‘My dad had died a couple of years before and I was helping my mum, so I couldn't go to the other side of the world just yet. Had I taken that job, I wouldn’t have been around Knightsie and I wouldn’t have got myself tested - why would it even occur to me when living in New Zealand?
‘Just 10 months after turning that down, I was in a consultant’s room being told this operation needs to happen now, because if it doesn’t then your cancer is going to spread.
‘I never got the chance to say goodbye to Knightsie. Even though we were privately having conversations and being open and honest, you're still thinking something will come in, the doctors will sort something out. We'll just have another cup of coffee. You always think you've got time. Unfortunately, that time never came.
‘He last responded to a text on August 6 - the next week should be good to meet up, we’ll try to do that. But it never happened. When he told me he was now staying in hospital, that’s family time, that’s for them to be close, it’s not for me to intrude.
‘This is the legacy he leaves behind, where blokes actually start talking about prostate cancer and acting upon it. As I said to him, I'm sitting here as one of those who have hopefully benefited from his immense bravery.
‘After I put something on LinkedIn about my own experiences, a lad came up to me at Saturday’s game and said he was concerned about himself, but hadn’t sought help because he had a few things going on. He was also scared about the potential outcome.
‘Okay, but the reality is if you don't go, you're going to have a lot more to face. Catching it at the right time is so important, it can change pictures - I should know.
‘That’s Alan Knight’s legacy. A former Pompey team-mate, a former colleague, a lifetime friend. He saved my life, now it’s my turn to help others.’