Stephen Wright (soccer player, 1980)
| Stephen Wright | ||
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| Personnel | ||
|---|---|---|
| Surname | Stephen John Wright | |
| birthday | February 8, 1980 | |
| place of birth | Bootle , Liverpool , England | |
| size | 183 cm | |
| position | Defense | |
| Juniors | ||
| Years | station | |
| 1996-1997 | Liverpool FC | |
| Men's | ||
| Years | station | Games (goals) 1 |
| 1997-2002 | Liverpool FC | 14 (0) |
| 1999 | → Crewe Alexandra (loan) | 5 (0) |
| 1999-2000 | → Crewe Alexandra (loan) | 17 (0) |
| 2002-2008 | Sunderland AFC | 92 (2) |
| 2007-2008 | → Stoke City (loan) | 16 (0) |
| 2008-2010 | Coventry City | 55 (0) |
| 2010-2011 | Brentford FC | 11 (0) |
| 2011–2012 | Hartlepool United | 10 (0) |
| 2012-2014 | Wrexham FC | 55 (1) |
| National team | ||
| Years | selection | Games (goals) |
| 2000-2002 | England U-21 | 10 (0) |
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1 Only league games are given. As of September 6, 2014 |
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Stephen John Wright (born February 8, 1980 in Bootle , Liverpool , England ) is an English football player .
Athletic career
Liverpool FC
As a youth player, Stephen Wright joined Liverpool FC in June 1996 , despite the fact that he had been a supporter of local rivals Everton FC since childhood . In August 1997 he was promoted to the club's professional division and was on the bench for the first time on November 24, 1998 at the UEFA Cup game against Celta Vigo .
In order to get match practice, he was loaned out twice to Crewe Alexandra in the second division in the 1999/2000 season , where he spent a short successful period as a regular player. On November 29, 2000 he finally made his debut for Liverpool FC and was part of the team that defeated Stoke City 8-0 in the League Cup . Wright was substituted on for Markus Babbel at halftime. This was followed by four more appearances for Liverpool FC, including an appearance in February 2001 at his future club AFC Sunderland in the Stadium of Light .
The trained central defender and U-21 national player moved to the right wing position during the 2001/02 season and was able to establish himself better and better in the team. His first red card in the game against Charlton Athletic at The Valley Stadium was followed just three days later by the first goal for Liverpool in a 2-0 win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League .
Sunderland AFC
Since Wright should ultimately not succeed in the final breakthrough, he moved in August 2002 in the amount of a total transfer volume of three million British pounds - and an immediate payment of 1.5 million pounds - to the league rivals AFC Sunderland . There he received the jersey with the number 2 and immediately became a regular in his position as the right defender, replacing Bernt Haas who had migrated to FC Basel . His uncompromising and duel-oriented style of play made him a crowd-pleaser right away, but after a negative series of the club, he too was at the center of criticism due to clearly declining form. Sunderland AFC was relegated with only 19 points in the entire championship round, with coach Peter Reid being dismissed by Wright just a few weeks after his engagement and his successor Howard Wilkinson only surviving five months in this position.
As the successor to Wilkinson, Mick McCarthy, a former Irish national coach, was hired, who in the 2003/04 season frequently rotated on the right-back position between Wright and Darren Williams . When the club showed consistently good performance again, Wright was able to stabilize his performances and scored his first goal on August 25, 2003 at the Stadium of Light for Sunderland AFC against Watford FC .
However, hopes of an immediate return to top division football had to be buried as Sunderland lost in the play-off game against Crystal Palace . Although McCarthy's squad including through the obligation of the right-back Mark Lynch of Manchester United strengthened, Wright remained the first choice in his position. After a weak start to the season, Sunderland AFC returned to the Premier League in 2005 by winning the second division championship and the formerly heavily criticized Wright was now praised for his not unimportant role in the promotion race.
However, these positive signs for further good development in top division football quickly received a setback as Wright sustained a serious knee injury that forced him to take a six-month break after just one game. On his comeback on February 4, 2006, he was sent off against West Ham United and suffered an ankle injury during training that required surgery. For Wright, this meant the premature end of a season after only two games, in which AFC Sunderland said goodbye again with a negative point yield from the English elite class.
Mick McCarthy's successor was his former teammate Niall Quinn , who was to hold the office of club chairman and later to hand over the coaching business to Roy Keane . Quinn decided in the first few games not to field Wright and put midfielder Rory Delap in his position. For his first game in seven months Wright came back in the 3-2 defeat by Plymouth Argyle on August 12, 2006, but injured himself after two more games in the game against Bury again. As a result, he finally lost his regular place against Nyron Nosworthy and the meanwhile loaned Danny Simpson on the position of right back.
Stoke City
On August 3, 2007 Wright was loaned to the second division club Stoke City for a period of five months.
Further stations
Wright played for Brentford FC , Hartlepool United and Wrexham FC later in his career .
Web links
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Wright, Stephen |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Wright, Stephen John |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | English soccer player |
| DATE OF BIRTH | February 8, 1980 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Bootle , Liverpool |