Mark Wright (born 1 August 1963) is an English football manager and former player.
As a player, he had spells with Liverpool, Derby County, Southampton and Oxford United during the 1980s and 1990s. He made 45 appearances for the England national team, and was a member of the team which reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup in 1990.Mark Wright Statistics FIFA. Retrieved 24 January 2010. At club level, the central defender won the 1992 FA Cup final as captain of Liverpool. Phil Reade, Liverpool News. 7 March. Retrieved 13 January 2017
Since retiring as a player in 1998, Wright has worked as a football manager, pundit, and businessman. He has had three stints as manager of Chester City, during the first of which he led the club back into the Football League as Football Conference champions after a four-year exile. He has also had spells managing Peterborough United, Oxford United and Southport.
He is a regular pundit on LFC TV, Liverpool's official TV channel, and uses his experience as a foster carer and ambassador to advocate for more people to help children in need. Liverpool News. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 13 January 2017
Along with Michael Owen, another ex-Liverpool and England player, Wright is a founder of Red Sports, a Liverpool-based company that specialises in soccer school and coaching education programmes in China. Red Sports. Retrieved 2 February 2017
Wright also founded Premier Legends, a company that gives fans around the world the chance to join ex-England and Premier League players for stadium tours, exhibition games, golf outings, dinners and audience Q+A sessions. Premier Legends. Retrieved 2 February 2017
Early life Wright was born in Dorchester on Thames, Oxfordshire. Oxford Mail. 27 October 1999. Retrieved 14 January 2017 He said he got into professional football late because he had stayed in school an extra year in order to get qualifications to become a PE teacher.
Playing career Oxford United Wright began his career with Oxford United, eventually signing his first professional contract in August 1980. LFC History. Retrieved 3 February 2017 He was handed his first team debut at the age of 16 by manager Ian Greaves when the club were playing in the Third Division. The tall central defender made only ten appearances for the club, all of which came in his second season as a professional, when he helped Oxford finish fifth in the league.
Wright did not finish the 1981–82 campaign with Oxford, however, as on 25 March 1982 (deadline day) he was transferred to Southampton, who were then playing in the top flight of English football. Wright moved to Southampton for a transfer fee of £80,000 along with Oxford United forward Keith Cassells in a deal that saw Trevor Hebberd move the other way.Sporting-Heroes.net. Retrieved 3 February 2017
Southampton Wright was only 18 when he arrived at the Dell and the Saints were flying high at the top of the table under manager Lawrie McMenemy. He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 win over Leeds United at Elland Road on 17 April 1982, a game which saw two Saints legends, Kevin Keegan and David Armstrong, score the goals. He featured in two of the Saints' remaining five league matches that season as Southampton eventually finished seventh in the league and qualified for the UEFA Cup.
In the 1982–83 season, Wright's first full campaign with the club, the Saints finished 12th in the old First Division. Wright scored his first league goal for the club in a 2–2 draw with Luton Town at The Dell on 30 April 1983.MoreGoalsTV. Retrieved 3 February 2017 After finishing with two goals in 39 appearances, he was voted Player of the Year by the club's supporters.
Wright's star continued to rise during the 1983–84 season as he helped Saints to second place in the league – their highest ever finish. They finished only three points behind Liverpool, who also won the European Cup that season. A Southampton team that included England goalkeeper Peter Shilton also reached the FA Cup semi-finals that season, losing in extra-time to eventual winners Everton. Wright's performances at the heart of Saints' defence that year resulted in him making his debut for England in May 1984.
The following season Southampton performed strongly again, finishing fifth in the league, and after Chris Nicholl replaced McMenemy as manager in July 1985, Wright helped the club reach the 1986 FA Cup semi-final. Southampton took on Liverpool at White Hart Lane in what would prove a particularly disappointing day for Wright. Ten minutes before half-time Shilton rushed from his line to help the defender cut off a Liverpool attack but the goalkeeper then collided with his own player. Wright was stretchered off due to injury and Southampton again lost after extra-time against the eventual champions. Soon afterwards it was confirmed that Wright had broken his leg, ruining his chances of making England's 1986 World Cup squad.Bob Thomas. Getty Images. Retrieved 3 February 2017. Wright bounced back from that setback to feature 30 times in the 1986–87 season and Southampton finished 12th in the table.
In July 1987, Wright's international colleague Shilton joined Derby County, who were returning to the top flight after a seven-year absence. Soon afterwards Derby also made a bid to bring Wright to the Baseball Ground. Saints accepted the offer and Wright completed his move in August for a then-club record fee of £760,000.
Derby County Arthur Cox was the Derby County manager when Wright arrived at the East Midlands club, who had been promoted as champions of the Second Division at the end of the 1986–1987 season. Derby County FC. Retrieved 3 February 2017 Publishing magnate Robert Maxwell, the former chairman of Oxford United, had helped save Derby from going out of business in 1984. Derby Telegraph. 4 March 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017 Installed as the club's chairman in 1987, Maxwell spent heavily to bolster the Rams' squad for their return to the First Division. Derby Telegraph. 5 November 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2017
Wright joined Derby four games into the new season and made his debut on 29 August 1987, a 1–0 home defeat in the league against Wimbledon. Sporting Heroes. Retrieved 3 February 2017 Wright was soon made club captain but, despite the new signings, the Rams found life at the top table of English football tough. A strong defensive record, however, helped them finish 15th, one point above the relegation zone.
Maxwell continued to invest significantly and Welsh international striker Dean Saunders joined from Oxford for £1 million in October 1988. With Saunders hitting the ground running, Derby enjoyed a strong season, which included wins at Manchester United and eventual league winners Arsenal. The Rams ended the campaign fifth in the table and would have qualified for the UEFA Cup were it not for the ongoing ban on English clubs taking part in European competitions in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster in May 1985. Wright's contribution as part of one of the best defences in the league led to Derby fans selecting him as the 1988–89 player of the season.
Derby's debts were spiraling under Maxwell's watch, however, and the following season they only managed to finish 16th. Despite their lowly position, the Rams once again had one of the best defensive records in the First Division. Six goals from Wright also helped the club avoid relegation and he was once again voted Derby's player of the season. In so doing, he became the first player to win the Jack Stamps Trophy in two consecutive seasons. Wright then had a memorable experience at the 1990 World Cup and in 2009 he revealed that he had received offers to join Roma and Fiorentina as a result. retrieved 24 May 2017.
Instead he returned to Derby to find that the club's off-field problems were mounting. Maxwell introduced a freeze on transfers for the 1990–1991 campaign and a week into the season he put the club up for sale. Inevitably the Rams' form suffered and they endured a record 20 game winless run on their way to being relegated. K. Ganley, Derby Telegraph. 26 November 2016. Retrieved 14 January 2017
Wright left Derby for Liverpool that summer but he is still fondly remembered by Rams supporters. In 2009, as part of the club's 125th anniversary celebrations, he was voted as the fourth best centre back in Derby's history. Derby Telegraph. 1 June 2009. Retrieved 18 January 2017 He had played 144 times for Derby scoring 10 goals.
Liverpool With Derby in desperate need of raising cash and Wright aware that playing outside the top flight would diminish his chances of continuing his England career, a transfer in the summer of 1991 was always likely. Liverpool had tried to sign Wright a few months previously and their need for a quality central defender had grown following the injury problems and subsequent retirement of captain Alan Hansen. New Reds boss Graeme Souness returned with a fresh bid for Wright and the 27-year-old completed his move on 15 July 1991. The transfer fee was £2.2 million – a record sum for a defender in English football. Talksport. 15 July 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2017
Wright made his debut on 17 August 1991 in a 2–1 league win over Oldham Athletic at Anfield but he suffered an injury that kept him out for three months soon afterwards. Liverpool FC. Retrieved 3 February 2017 Having narrowly missed out on the league title the year before Wright's arrival, a much-changed Liverpool squad finished a disappointing sixth in the table in his first season. They were knocked out of the UEFA Cup by Genoa at the quarter-final stage but the season ended on a positive note with victory in the FA Cup. Wright captained the side as they beat Second Division Sunderland 2–0 in the decider. Phil Reade, Liverpool FC News. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2017
Wright was captain again for the 1992–93 campaign and he headed home his first goal for the Reds in a 1–1 draw with his former club Southampton in September 1992. Phil Shaw, Independent. 1 September 1992. Retrieved 14 January 2017 Spartak Moscow beat the Reds in the European Cup Winners Cup second round despite Wright getting on the scoresheet in the first leg.YouTube The title holders were knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup by Bolton Wanderers and another sixth-placed finish in the league meant there would be no European football for Liverpool the following season.
Wright lost the captaincy for the 1993–94 campaign but a poor season for the club followed as Liverpool finished eighth in the league after Roy Evans replaced Souness as manager midway through the year. LFC History The arrival of Phil Babb and John Scales, as well as a series of injuries, restricted Wright to just six appearances in the 1994–95 campaign, which saw Liverpool finish fourth and beat Bolton to win the League Cup.
Having missed almost a year of football, and aged 32 when the 1995–1996 campaign kicked off, Wright proved many doubters wrong by regaining a starting place at club level. Liverpool finished 3rd in the league and were runners-up to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. Wright's return to form earned him a recall to the England national team. Another injury meant Wright missed out on Euro 96 but the following season he helped Liverpool to a fourth-placed finish in the league. Wright also scored the second goal in Liverpool's 2–0 win over Paris Saint-Germain in the semi-final of the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. LFC History But the Reds had lost the first leg 3–0 so his header was not enough for them to qualify for the final.