During the 1960's and 1970's, radio listeners were often greeted during sports commentaries with the exclamation: "Oh, goodness gracious." That was unmistakably Raffie Knowles in the heat of an exciting moment, giving listeners his own, peculiar but lively broadcast.

And no one knew the events better than Knowles, who had a long and brilliant career at football and hockey, his best sport, and cricket, a game he played with remarkable success as a youth. He was a member of the excellent St. Mary's football and cricket teams of the early 1930's, becoming captain for both teams.

A tough competitor at football, Knowles played a splendid centre-half with fairly good right-foot shot. Centre-forwards whom he marked were often frustrated by his close attention, never giving them breathing space. He represented Trinidad and Tobago at hockey on many occasions. At cricket he was a fine right-handed batsman who relished a crisis, but who had good front-of-the wicket shots when attacking. He joined Casuals in 1934 and his football career blossomed. He also became a member of Queen's Park and in 1937 was chosen one of the "Five Cricketers of the Year" after the local season. To prove his versatility at sport, Knowles took up lawn tennis and in 1941 was champion in the Tranquillity Handicap Doubles Tournament. By that time, also, he was being considered as one of the top hockey players in Trinidad and Tobago.

Elected captain of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association team in the inter-league series in 1940, he led the side to a trophy sweep and repeated it the following year. He captained the combined touring team to Barbados in 1942; Knowles was again a successful leader. He continued as a top Casuals member to a memorable win in the FA Trophy final against powerful TPD side from South. Knowles became a noted sports writer and commentator. And in nightly sports news programmes amazed Television viewers with details and statistics without referring to any script.