Tommy Wright

The ‘Ballyclare Barman’ went a long way. From under-appreciated reserve at Linfield to international acclaim, it was a bumpy road…

Name: Thomas James Wright
Born: 28 September 1963, Ballyclare
Height: 6.01 ft
Weight: 13.05 st
Position: Goalkeeper

Representative Honours: Northern Ireland: 31 Full Caps (1989-1999); Irish League ‘B’ Division Representative; Football League: 1 Cap (1992).
Club Honours: (with Linfield Swifts) Irish League ‘B’ Division Champion; George Wilson Cup Winner; (with Newcastle) Football League Division One Champion 1992/93; (with Forest) Football League Division One Runner-Up 1993/94.

Club Career:
Clubs............ --Seasons-- Signed --Fee-- -League- -FACup- -FLCup- Other
Brantwood ....... (Irish League ‘B’ Division)
Linfield ........ 83/84-87/88 Dec-83 ........ ..7(0)/0 2(0)/0 ....... 1(0)/0
Newcastle United. 87/88-93/94 Jan-88 £ 30,000 .72(1)/0 4(0)/0 .6(0)/0 1(0)/0
Hull City ....... 90/91...... Feb-91 ....Loan ..6(0)/0
Nottingham Forest 93/94-96/97 Sep-93 £450,000 .11(0)/0 ...... .2(0)/0
Reading ......... 96/97...... Oct-96 ....Loan .17(0)/0
Manchester City.. 96/97-00/01 Mar-97 £450,000 .34(0)/0 2(0)/0 .1(0)/0 1(0)/0
Wrexham ......... 98/99 ..... Feb-99 ....Loan .16(0)/0
Newcastle United. 99/00 ..... Sep-99 ....Loan ..3(0)/0
Bolton Wanderers. 00/01 ..... Jan-01 ....Free ..3(1)/0
Ballymena United. 01/02 ..... Aug-01 ....Free ..6(0)/0 ...... .1(0)/0
Linfield......... 02/03 ..... Aug-02 ....Free ..0(0)/0
Totals.............................. £930,000 175(1)/0 8(0)/0 10(0)/0 3(0)/0

Biography:
For a player who’s career in the Irish League was limited almost exclusively to Linfield Swifts and who’s experiences in England were severely blighted by injury, Tommy Wright ranks amongst the most popular ever Northern Ireland ‘keepers.

He will forever be remembered for his performance in Nuremburg in 1996 as Northern Ireland claimed a famous 1-1 draw against reigning European Champions, Germany. The circumstances surrounding it make that performance even more astounding. Wright hadn’t played an international match in almost two-and-a-half years to that point and had just returned to club action on loan at Reading after a prolonged injury nightmare. Germany’s Jurgen Klinsmann would later decry the wall built in front of Wright’s net, but truly this was the match of the ‘keeper’s life.

Thirty-one caps was scant reward for a player of Wright’s ability, but he remained much sought after until the end of his career in England. He returned to the Irish League in August 2001, rejecting an offer from Bolton, to join Ballymena. Injuries struck again and he played just seven times for the Sky Blues before hanging-up his gloves and joining the coaching staff at Linfield. At Windsor Park he briefly re-registered as a player during an injury crisis but was not called-upon for firstteam action.

Manager of Limavady United from 2003-2005 and Ballymena from May 2005 to April 2008, Wright has also worked for the Irish FA in Youth Development and was Northern Ireland goalkeeping-coach for a time under Sammy McIlroy. In May 2008 he took the job of goalkeeping coach at Norwich City having previously turned the position down.

More to follow.

Northern Ireland Cap Details:
26-04-1989 Malta......... A W 2-0 WCQ
26-05-1989 Chile......... H L 0-1 FR
06-09-1989 Hungary....... H L 1-2 WCQ
18-05-1990 Uruguay....... H W 1-0 FR
11-09-1991 Faroe Islands. A W 5-0 ECQ
16-10-1991 Austria....... H W 2-1 ECQ
19-02-1992 Scotland...... A L 0-1 FR
02-06-1992 Germany....... A D 1-1 FR
09-09-1992 Albania....... H W 3-0 WCQ
14-10-1992 Spain......... H D 0-0 WCQ
17-02-1993 Albania....... A W 2-1 WCQ
31-03-1993 Rep of Ireland A L 0-3 WCQ
28-04-1993 Spain......... A L 1-3 WCQ
25-05-1993 Lithuania..... A W 1-0 WCQ
02-06-1993 Latvia........ A W 2-1 WCQ
08-09-1993 Latvia........ H W 2-0 WCQ
13-10-1993 Denmark....... A L 0-1 WCQ
17-11-1993 Rep of Ireland H D 1-1 WCQ
23-03-1994 Romania....... H W 2-0 FR
20-04-1994 Liechtenstein. H W 4-1 ECQ
03-06-1994 Colombia...... N L 0-2 FR
11-06-1994 Mexico........ N L 0-3 FR sub
09-11-1996 Germany....... A D 1-1 WCQ
14-12-1996 Albania....... H W 2-0 WCQ
22-01-1997 Italy......... A L 0-2 FR
11-02-1997 Belgium....... H W 3-0 FR
29-03-1997 Portugal...... H D 0-0 WCQ
02-04-1997 Ukraine....... A L 1-2 WCQ
10-09-1997 Albania....... A L 0-1 WCQ
27-04-1999 Canada........ H D 1-1 FR sub
18-08-1999 France........ H L 0-1 FR sub

Summary: 28(3)/0. Won 13, Drew 6, Lost 12.