Mark Wright (footballer born 1963)

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Mark Wright
Personal information
Full name	Mark Wright
Date of birth	1 August 1963 (1963-08-01) (age 44)
Place of birth	Berinsfield, Oxfordshire, England
Playing position	Central Defender
Club information
Current club	None
Senior clubs1
Years	Club	App (Gls)*
1980-1982 1982-1987 1987-1991 1991-1998	Oxford United Southampton Derby County Liverpool	010 (0) 170 (7) 144 (10) 158 (5)
National team
1984-1996	England	045 (1)
Teams managed
2000-2001 2001 2001-2005 2005-2006 2006-2007	Southport Oxford United Chester City Peterborough United Chester City
1 Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. * Appearances (Goals)

Mark Wright (born 1 August 1963 in Dorchester, Oxfordshire, England) was an English international footballer now turned manager.

As a player, he achieved considerable success with Southampton, Derby County and Liverpool during the 1980s and 1990s, and since turning to management (in the lower leagues) in 2001, his biggest success came when he took Chester City back into the Football League as Football Conference champions after a four-year exile.

Contents 1 Playing career 1.1 Oxford United 1.2 Southampton 1.3 Derby County 1.4 Liverpool 1.5 England 2 Management career 3 Statistics 4 Career honours 4.1 Honours As player 4.1.1 Southampton 4.1.2 Liverpool 4.2 Honours As manager 4.2.1 Chester City 5 External links

[edit] Playing career

[edit] Oxford United

Mark Wright started his career with Oxford United, signing professional forms during the 1980-81 season after coming through the ranks as a trainee with his local club. After only 11 appearances, all of which were in his second season as a professional, the outstanding young defender was transferred to First Division Southampton together with Keith Cassells in a deal which took Trevor Hebberd plus £80,000 to Oxford.

[edit] Southampton

He joined the Saints on 25 March 1982 and really made his name as a player with the south-coast club. The 18-year-old made his debut on 17 April 1982 in the 3-1 league win over Leeds United at Elland Road, a game which saw two Saints legends, Kevin Keegan (2) and David Armstrong, score the goals.

Wright's first full season for the club, 1982-83, saw the Saints finish mid-table in 12th place and also saw Mark score his first league goal. It came on 30 April 1983 in the 2-2 league draw with Luton Town at The Dell. He was also voted Southampton's Player of the Year.

During the 1983-84 season, Wright's performances remained high as he helped the Saints to a very creditable runner-up spot to champions Liverpool, 3 points clear of 3rd-placed Nottingham Forest and 4th-placed Manchester United who both finished on 74 points. His performances also earned him an international call-up as then manager Bobby Robson was looking for a long-term replacement for the aging Terry Butcher.

Somewhat surprisingly Southampton accepted an offer of £760,000, a club record fee at the time, from Derby County, who were also taking Wright's fellow international colleague Peter Shilton to the Baseball Ground.

[edit] Derby County

After 222 appearances for the Saints in which he scored 11 goals, Wright signed for Derby County, on 8 August 1987.

Arthur Cox had recently taken the Rams back to the top flight of English football and had the backing of chairman Robert Maxwell to bring in some players who were proven at the top level. Wright made his debut on 29 August 1987 in the 1-0 league defeat to Wimbledon at the Baseball Ground.

Wright was held in very high regard at Derby and was soon awarded the captaincy. He helped Derby to 15th position by the end of the 1987-88 season and then a very respectable 5th spot by the end of the following campaign. However, behind the scenes things were going wrong for Derby: Maxwell was leaving and Derby had to came up with the money they owed him. This meant that quality players such as Wright and Welsh striker Dean Saunders had to be sold.

Wright stayed for one more campaign but it saw Derby relegated back to Division 2, not the way Wright would have wanted to leave the Rams, if he wanted to leave at all. He had played 171 times for Derby scoring 10 goals.

[edit] Liverpool

Not willing to play outside the top division, as it would diminish his chances of international football, Wright joined Graeme Souness' Liverpool on 15 July 1991 for £2.5 million, just 4 days before team-mate Dean Saunders signed for the club.

He made his Liverpool debut a month later on 17 August in the 2-1 league victory over Oldham Athletic at Anfield. He settled in quickly at Liverpool in the daunting role as replacement for Liverpool legend and former captain Alan Hansen, a player Wright was sometimes likened to.

Wright scored his first goal for the club on 1 September 1992; his 61st-minute equaliser salvaged a point against his former club Southampton at Anfield.

Wright was a regular until his retirement on 1 August 1998 at the age of 35. During his time at Anfield he captained the side to the FA Cup final in which they beat Sunderland 2-0 in 1992 but missed out on the 2-1 Coca-Cola League Cup win over Bolton Wanderers through injury. Wright was a major influence on the mainly young Liverpool team that consisted of players like Jamie Redknapp, Steve McManaman and Robbie Fowler, a side who came close, but never managed to end rivals Man Utd's domination of the Premiership during the 1990s.

Under new boss Roy Evans, Wright struggled somewhat and was publicly criticized by Evans. He also started to pick up injuries which impeded his chances of winning over the Liverpool manager. He finally overcame the injury problems and came back into arguably the best form of his entire career, as evidenced by Terry Venables' decision to give Wright a surprising recall at international level. Unfortunately Wright suffered another injury setback, and wasn't able to take his place in the squad for Euro 96. Injury finally brought an end to Mark's career - during his time at Anfield he had made 210 appearances scoring 9 goals.

[edit] England

It was Bobby Robson who saw Wright as an international-quality player and gave him his deserved England debut on 2 May 1984 in the 1-0 Home International Championship defeat to Wales at the Racecourse Ground, Wrexham.

His only international goal couldn't have been a more important one. England were struggling to find their footing during the group stages of the 1990 FIFA World Cup in Italy having drawn 1-1 and 0-0 with Ireland and Holland in their opening games. The group's so-called whipping boys, Egypt, were up next on 21 June 1990 in the Stadio Sant'Elia, Cagliari. Egypt defended in numbers and England couldn't unlock the door that would lead to an all-important goal, until Paul Gascoigne sent over an inviting free-kick for Wright to rise high above the Egyptian defence to head home what turned out to be the only goal of the game, and only their second goal of the group stages.

His impressive performances during this World Cup at centre-back and sweeper were one of the reasons why Liverpool bought him from Derby. He was originally a surprise selection for the tournament as he was ahead of the higher-rated Tony Adams, who was not fully fit when the squad was named. Some suspected he was an emotion-driven choice, as he had missed the 1986 tournament with a broken leg. However, his inclusion was justified as he was one of England's many stars that year as they reached the semi-final only going out to the eventual winners, Germany, on penalties.

Wright ended up with 45 England caps but he would surely have passed 50 if he hadn't become injured just prior to the Euro 96 championship in England. His performances for Liverpool had alerted manager Terry Venables who gave him a shock recall for the international friendly with Croatia on 24 April 1996, 4 years after his last cap. He also played in the friendly with Hungary on 18 May, his final international appearance, before he got injured.

[edit] Management career

Following a brief spell in charge of Southport of the Conference, in June 2001, Mark Wright made his Football League management debut with the club at which he began his career, Oxford United, who had just been relegated to the fourth level of the Football League (then called Division Three) after an absence of more than 30 years. But his appointment was not a success after he was sacked for allegedly racially abusing a match official in December after an unremarkable start to the season.

Wright was not out of work for long. He was put in charge of Conference strugglers Chester City and did well to keep them clear of relegation to the Northern Premier League. The following season, 2001-02 season, Chester were pushing hard for promotion but lost to eventual winners Doncaster Rovers in the playoff semi-finals. A year later they went one better by finishing top of the division and regaining their league status four years after losing it, but Wright suddenly announced his resignation just 48 hours before the Coca-Cola League Two campaign began. This was, allegedly, following a long-running affair with a player's wife.

Having been given what people viewed as a last chance to resurrect his career with Peterborough United, he managed to get them into contention for promotion, and all appeared well. However, on 25 January 2006 Wright was suspended from his position as manager pending an internal inquiry. Six days later he was sacked for gross misconduct after failing to appear in front of the board members. It is alleged that a racial comment was made towards one of his staff, something that he has consistently denied and court action is pending over the issue.

A month after leaving Peterborough, Wright rejoined Chester City as manager. His initial contract with the club lasted until the summer of 2006. Wright staved off relegation upon his return to Chester and was rewarded with a two-year contract. However, after only three wins in his last 20 games in charge at City, Chairman Stephen Vaughan showed Wright the door with just one game remaining of the 2006/7 campaign.

[edit] Statistics

Club Performance

Club	Season	League		FA Cup		League Cup		Europe		Others		Total
		App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals	App	Goals
Liverpool FC	1997-98	6	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	0
	1996-97	33	0	2	0	3	1	5	1	0	0	43	2
	1995-96	28	2	7	0	3	0	4	0	0	0	42	2
	1994-95	6	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	6	0
	1993-94	31	1	0	0	5	0	0	0	0	0	36	1
	1992-93	33	2	0	0	4	1	3	1	1	0	41	4
	1991-92	21	0	9	0	1	0	4	0	0	0	35	0
Derby County	1990-91	37	0	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	37	0
	1989-90	36	6	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	36	6
	1988-89	33	1	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	33	1
	1987-88	38	3	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	38	3
Southampton FC	1986-87	30	1	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	30	1
	1985-86	33	2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	33	2
	1984-85	36	0	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	36	0
	1983-84	29	1	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	29	1
	1982-83	39	2	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	39	2
	1981-82	3	0	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	?	3	0
Oxford United	1981-82	10	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	11	0
	1980-81	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Total		482	21	20	0	16	2	17	2	1	0	536	25

[edit] Career honours

[edit] Honours As player

[edit] Southampton

Runner Up

• 1983-84 League Championship (Level 1)

[edit] Liverpool

Winner

• 1992 FA Cup

Runner Up

• 1992 Charity Shield
• 1996 FA Cup

[edit] Honours As manager

[edit] Chester City

Winner

• 2003-04 Football Conference

[edit] External links

• Thisisanfield.com Forgotten Heros
• Mark Wright career stats at Soccerbase
• Mark Wright management career stats at Soccerbase
• Mark Wright England profile at Englandstats
• Player profile at LFChistory.net
• Official past players at Liverpoolfc.tv
• Mark Wright on RSSSF-site
• Mark Wright at Sporting-heroes.net

Awards
Preceded by Kevin Keegan	Southampton F.C. player of the season 1982-83	Succeeded by David Armstrong
Sporting positions
Preceded by Ronnie Whelan Steve Nicol	Liverpool F.C. captain 1991–1993	Succeeded by Ian Rush

v • d • e England squad - 1990 FIFA World Cup Fourth Place 1 Shilton • 2 Stevens • 3 Pearce • 4 Webb • 5 Walker • 6 Butcher • 7 Bryan Robson • 8 Waddle • 9 Beardsley • 10 Lineker • 11 Barnes • 12 Parker • 13 Woods • 14 Wright • 15 Dorigo • 16 McMahon • 17 Platt • 18 Hodge • 19 Gascoigne • 20 Steven • 21 Bull • 22 Beasant • Coach: Bobby Robson

v • d • e England squad - UEFA Euro 1992 1 Woods • 2 Curle • 3 Pearce • 4 Keown • 5 Walker • 6 Wright • 7 Platt • 8 Steven • 9 Clough • 10 Lineker • 11 Sinton • 12 Palmer • 13 Martyn • 14 Dorigo • 15 Webb • 16 Merson • 17 Smith • 18 Daley • 19 Batty • 20 Shearer • Coach: Taylor

Template:Southport F.C. managers

v • d • e Oxford United F.C. – Managers Thompson (1949–58) • Turner (1959–69) • Saunders (1969) • Summers (1969–75) • Brown (1975–79) • Asprey (1979–80) • Greaves (1980–82) • J. Smith (1982–85) • Evans (1985–88) • Lawrenson (1988) • Horton (1988–93) • D. Smith (1993–97) • Shotton (1998–99) • D. Smith (2000) • Kemp (2000–01) • Wright (2001) • Atkins (2001–04) • Rix (2004) • Díaz (2004–05) • Talbot (2005–06) • J. Smith (2006–07) • Patterson (2007–)

v • d • e Chester City F.C. – Managers Hewitt (1930–36) • Mansley (1936) • Raisbeck (1936–38) • Brown (1938–53) • Page (1953–56) • Harris (1956–59) • Pearson (1959–61) • Lambton (1962–63) • Hauser (1963–68) • Roberts (1968–76) • Oakes (1976–82) • Sear (1982) • Sainty (1982–83) • Storton (1983–84) • Sear (1984) • McGrath (1984) • Speight (1984–85) • McNally (1985–92) • Barrow (1992–94) • Pejic (1994–95) • Mann (1995) • Ratcliffe (1995–99) • Smith (1999–2000) • Atkins (2000) • Barrow (2000–01) • Hill (2001) • Mungall (2001) • Spink (2001–02) • Porter (2001–02) • Wright (2002–04) • Mathias (2004) • Rush (2004–05) • Bell (2005) • Curle (2005–06) • Wright (2006–07) • Davies (2007) • Williamson (2007–2008) • Davies (2008–)

v • d • e Peterborough United F.C. – Managers Porter (1934–36) • Taylor (1936–37) • Poulter (1937–38) • Madden (1938–48) • Blood (1948–50) • Gurney (1950–52) • Fairbrother (1952–54) • Swindin (1954–58) • Hagan (1958–62) • Fairbrother (1962–64) • Clark (1964–67) • Rigby (1967–69) • Iley (1969–72) • Cantwell (1972–77) • Barnwell (1977–78) • Hails (1978–79) • Morris (1979–82) • Wilkinson (1982–83) • Wile (1983–86) • Cantwell (1986–88) • Jones (1988–89) • Lawrenson (1989–90) • Booth (1990–91) • Turner (1991–92) • Fuccillo (1992–93) • Still (1994–95) • Halsall (1995–96) • Fry (1996–2005) • Wright (2005–06) • Bleasdale (2006) • Alexander (2006–07) • Taylor (2007) • Ferguson (2007–)