Richard Wright (footballer)
Encyclopedia
Richard Ian Wright is an English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

 professional goalkeeper, currently playing for Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

, now his third spell with the club having played earlier in the season for the reserves. Born in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

, he joined Ipswich Town as a trainee, going on to play for the club more than 200 times between 1995 and 2001.

He moved to Premiership
Premiership
Premiership may refer to:* The post of Prime Minister or Premier, who is the head of government in many parliamentary systems* Premier League, England's highest-level football league competition...

 club Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

 in 2001 before being signed by Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

 in 2002 where he spent five years. A brief spell on loan from West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 with Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 was followed by a transfer back to Ipswich. Having made over 50 more appearances for the club, he was released at the end of the 2010–11 season.

He has been a member of the England
England national football team
The England national football team represents England in association football and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in England. England is the joint oldest national football team in the world, alongside Scotland, whom they played in the world's first...

 squad, and has two caps.

Ipswich Town

Wright was born in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...

, Suffolk
Suffolk
Suffolk is a non-metropolitan county of historic origin in East Anglia, England. It has borders with Norfolk to the north, Cambridgeshire to the west and Essex to the south. The North Sea lies to the east...

 and joined Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

 as a trainee in January 1995, making his debut as a 17-year-old in a 2–0 victory at home to Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 in May 1995. He played a major role in Ipswich's 1999–2000
1999-2000 in English football
-Premier League:Manchester United were crowned FA Premier League champions with an 18-point margin over runners-up Arsenal and with just 3 league defeats all season. This was despite their failure to retain the European Cup and withdrawal from the FA Cup in order to compete in the FIFA Club World...

 season when the club were promoted from the Football League First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

 to the Premier League via the play-offs, defeating Barnsley
Barnsley F.C.
Barnsley Football Club are a professional English football club based in the town of Barnsley, South Yorkshire. Nicknamed the Tykes, they were founded in 1887 under the name Barnsley St. Peter's...

, and Wright saved an all-important penalty kick. He made a total of 298 league and cup appearances for Ipswich.

Arsenal

Wright joined Arsenal in July 2001 for an undisclosed fee, reported as £6m but claims have suggested it was as low as £2m due to a clause in Wright's contract, a figure subsequently suggested as more likely by the club's accounts. He signed a five-year contract and was signed as manager Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger
Arsène Wenger, OBE is a French association football manager and former player, who has managed English Premier League side Arsenal since 1996...

 envisaged him as a long-term successor to David Seaman
David Seaman
David Andrew Seaman MBE is a former English football goalkeeper who played for several clubs, most notably Arsenal. He retired from the game on 13 January 2004, following a recurring shoulder injury...

 and also as a more experienced competitor for the previous second choice goalkeeper Alex Manninger
Alex Manninger
Alexander "Alex" Manninger is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Juventus F.C. in the Italian Serie A. He has played for a variety of high-profile clubs, almost always as a substitute....

 (who soon left the club). He made his debut against Derby County
Derby County F.C.
Derby County Football Club is an English football based in Derby. the club play in the Football League Championship and is notable as being one of the twelve founder members of the Football League in 1888 and is, therefore, one of only ten clubs to have competed in every season of the English...

 on 29 September, but despite an injury to Seaman which gave him an extended run in the team, his season soon fell apart. He punched the ball into his own net in a 4–2 home defeat to Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic F.C.
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, in the London Borough of Greenwich. They compete in Football League One, the third tier of English football. The club was founded on 9 June 1905, when a number of youth clubs in the southeast London area,...

 and then limped off with injury in a UEFA Champions League
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 match against Deportivo La Coruna. Wright later slipped to third-choice behind youth goalkeeper Stuart Taylor and only played FA Cup
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

 matches for the remainder of the season, although Seaman replaced him for the final, which Arsenal won 2–0 against Chelsea
Chelsea F.C.
Chelsea Football Club are an English football club based in West London. Founded in 1905, they play in the Premier League and have spent most of their history in the top tier of English football. Chelsea have been English champions four times, FA Cup winners six times and League Cup winners four...

. He made his last Arsenal appearance on the final day of the 2001–02 season, a 4–3 victory over Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

. He was substituted in the 85th minute for Taylor, which gave both goalkeepers enough appearances to qualify for a Premier League winners' medal that season. Wright made 22 appearances for Arsenal in total.

Everton

Although initially first-team keeper at Everton, a number of injuries, including a serious knee injury, hampered his playing aspirations. He lost his place at Everton and had to be content with being understudy to veteran Nigel Martyn
Nigel Martyn
Antony Nigel Martyn , more commonly known as Nigel Martyn, is a retired English football goalkeeper. He played for Crystal Palace where he became the first £1million goalkeeper in British football and also won the Full Members Cup. Martyn then left to spend six seasons at Leeds United. He went on...

. During 2005–06
2005-06 in English football
The 2005–06 season was the 126th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:*The rebuilt Wembley Stadium was due to open in time for the FA Cup final in May. However, in August 2005, The Football Association reserved the Millennium Stadium as a backup, as there was some doubt whether...

 Martyn had a spell out with injury, but Wright promptly injured himself whilst warming up in a match against Chelsea. This was a freak accident in which Wright saw a large sign instructing players to use temporary goals but he ignored the warning and fell on the sign, thereby injuring his ankle. This was the second strange injury involving Wright as he had injured himself falling from his loft three years earlier. He did come back to finish the remainder of the season but his form was unimpressive. Despite the retirement of first choice goalkeeper Martyn, Wright remained second in the pecking order for the 2006–07
2006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...

 season behind new arrival Tim Howard
Tim Howard
Timothy Matthew Howard is an American soccer player who plays as a goalkeeper for English club Everton and the United States national team....

.

West Ham United

Wright was released by Everton at the end of the 2006–07
2006-07 in English football
The 2006–07 season was the 127th season of competitive football in England.-Overview:* The number of divisions at Level 8 of the English football league system increased from four to five...

 season and signed for West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

 in July 2007.

On 20 March 2008 he joined Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

 on a month's loan as their first three goalkeepers were all unavailable through injury. He made his debut for Southampton in a 0–0 home draw with Coventry City
Coventry City F.C.
Coventry City Football Club, otherwise known as the Sky Blues owing to the traditional colour of their strip, are a professional English Football league club based in Coventry...

 on 22 March. On 18 April the loan was extended to the end of the 2007–08 season.

Return to Ipswich Town

Wright rejoined Ipswich on 21 July for an undisclosed fee on a two year contract with the option of a third year. He then made his 300th club appearance for Ipswich in a 4–1 loss against Wigan Athletic
Wigan Athletic F.C.
Wigan Athletic Football Club is an English Premier League Association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, having been promoted from the Championship in 2005. Wigan's current spell in the Premier League is the only top flight run in the club's history.They have played at the DW...

 on 23 September in the third round of the League Cup. His fine performances for his hometown club have earnt him the Players and supporters' player of the season awards for the 2008–2009 season. On 1 December 2009 Wright was ruled out for up to 4 months following confirmation of a knee injury suffered during a 2–1 win against Cardiff City
Cardiff City F.C.
Cardiff City Football Club are a Welsh professional football club based in Cardiff, Wales. The club competes in the English football pyramid and is currently playing in the Football League Championship. Cardiff City is the best supported football club in Wales, averaging approximately 22,500 for...

.
Wright was released by Ipswich at the end of the 09/10 season.

Sheffield United

After a brief trial spell, Wright joined Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

 on a free transfer on a four month short term deal in September 2010, having been extended until the end of the season. Despite this Wright spent most of his time at Bramall Lane injured and made only two starts, both times being withdrawn mid way through the game due to further injuries. His contract was terminated with Sheffield United by mutual consent on at the start of April 2011.

Second return to Ipswich Town

Wright returned to Ipswich in the summer of 2011 to train with the club. Having been on trial at other clubs he had impressed enough while training with Ipswich to earn a call up to the reserves, in which he featured in a game against Colchester United
Colchester United F.C.
Colchester United Football Club is an English football club based in Colchester. The club was formed in 1937, and briefly shared their old Layer Road home with now defunct side Colchester Town who had previously used the ground from 1910....

.

Wright re-signed for the club for his third spell on 23 November 2011. Earlier in the week he had stated he wanted to return to the club; "I love Ipswich Town Football Club, I don’t hide that. I think everyone knows that, but at the moment there’s nothing there for me – simple as that, you just get on with it and look elsewhere. If anything changed and something came up (at Ipswich) then I’d be a liar to say I wouldn’t consider it because I would." In his third debut for the club, he conceded three times in a 3–2 home defeat to Reading
Reading F.C.
Reading Football Club is an English association football club based in the town of Reading, Berkshire who currently play in the Championship...

.

International career

Wright has been included in 3 squads and capped twice for England, making his debut against Malta
Malta national football team
The Malta national football team is the national football team of Malta and is controlled by the Malta Football Association. Malta played its first international game in February 1957, and began competing for qualification to major tournaments in 1962. The side's first competitive victory came in...

 in a friendly in 2000; he conceded a penalty kick
Penalty kick
A penalty kick is a type of direct free kick in association football, taken from twelve yards out from goal and with only the goalkeeper of the defending team between the penalty taker and the goal.Penalty kicks are performed during normal play...

 early on but saved a second penalty in the 88th minute as England won 2–1. He was a member of the England Euro 2000
2000 UEFA European Football Championship
The 2000 UEFA European Football Championship, or Euro 2000, was the 11th UEFA European Football Championship, which is held every four years and organized by UEFA, association football's governing body in Europe....

 squad, where he was third-choice behind David Seaman and Nigel Martyn, and won his second cap as a substitute in a friendly against the Netherlands
Netherlands national football team
The Netherlands National Football Team represents the Netherlands in association football and is controlled by the Royal Dutch Football Association , the governing body for football in the Netherlands...

 in 2001. However, he has not been called up to the England squad since 2003.

Club

|-
|1994–95
FA Premier League 1994-95
-Promoted teams:Crystal Palace and Nottingham Forest were promoted from the Football League First Division as winners and runners-up respectively. Leicester City won the 1993-94 playoff.-Controversial incidents:...

||rowspan="7"|Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

||Premier League||3||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||4||0
|-
|1995–96
The Football League 1995-96
The 1995–1996 season was the 96th completed season of the The Football League. It was contested through three divisions, the First Division, Second Division and Third Division.- First Division playoffs :- First Division Table:...

||rowspan="5"|First Division
Football League First Division
The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

||23||0||3||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||27||0
|-
|1996–97
The Football League 1996-97
The 1996–1997 season was the 97th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Bolton Wanderers returned to the Premiership in superb fashion, hitting 100 goals and taking 98 points...

||40||0||1||0||5||0||colspan="2"|-||46||0
|-
|1997–98
The Football League 1997-98
The 1997–1998 season was the 98th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Champions Nottingham Forest and runners-up Middlesbrough won promotion back to the Premiership at the first time of asking. Charlton Athletic won the playoffs to end an eight-year absence from the top...

||46||0||4||0||6||0||colspan="2"|-||56||0
|-
|1998–99
The Football League 1998-99
The 1998–1999 season was the 99th completed season of the The Football League.-First Division:Sunderland were crowned First Division champions with 105 points, then a record, having lost just three games all season, to prove right the many pundits who tipped them for promotion...

||46||0||2||0||4||0||colspan="2"|-||52||0
|-
|1999–00
The Football League 1999-2000
The 1999–2000 season was the 100th completed season of the The Football League.-Overview:The 1999–2000 season saw the league dispense with the traditional 1–11 numbering of players’ shirts in favour of squad numbers, a system that had been adopted by the Premier League a few seasons before...

||46||0||1||0||4||0||colspan="2"|-||51||0
|-
|2000–01
FA Premier League 2000-01
The FA Premier League 2000-01 season was the third season running which ended with Manchester United as champions and Arsenal as runners-up. Sir Alex Ferguson became the first manager to win three successive English league titles, although three teams had achieved that feat in the past - but with...

||Premier League||36||0||2||0||6||0||colspan="2"|-||44||0
|-
|2001–02
FA Premier League 2001-02
The 2001–02 FA Premier League season was the tenth season of the competition. It began with a new sponsor, Barclaycard, and was titled the FA Barclaycard Premiership, replacing the previous sponsor, Carling...

||Arsenal
Arsenal F.C.
Arsenal Football Club is a professional English Premier League football club based in North London. One of the most successful clubs in English football, it has won 13 First Division and Premier League titles and 10 FA Cups...

||Premier League||12||0||5||0||1||0||4||0||22||0
|-
|2002–03
FA Premier League 2002-03
The 2002–03 FA Premier League was the eleventh season of the Premier League, the top division in English football. The first matches were played on 17 August 2002 and the last were played on 11 May 2003...

||rowspan="5"|Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...

||rowspan="5"|Premier League||33||0||1||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||37||0
|-
|2003–04
FA Premier League 2003-04
The 2003–04 FA Premier League season was the twelfth season of the Premier League. In the end, Arsenal went through the season without a single defeat – only the second ever team to do so and were crowned champions once more, at the expense of Chelsea, who had spent heavily throughout the...

||4||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||4||0
|-
|2004–05
FA Premier League 2004-05
The 2004–05 season of the FA Premier League began on 14 August 2004 and ended on 15 May 2005. Arsenal were the defending champions after going unbeaten the previous season....

||7||0||2||0||3||0||colspan="2"|-||12||0
|-
|2005–06
FA Premier League 2005-06
The 2005–06 season of the FA Premier League began on 13 August 2005, and concluded on 7 May 2006. The season saw Chelsea F.C retain their title after defeating Manchester United 3–0 at Stamford Bridge towards the end of April...

||15||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||16||0
|-
|2006–07
FA Premier League 2006-07
The 2006–07 FA Premier League was the fifteenth season of the FA Premier League since its establishment in 1992. The season started on 19 August 2006 and concluded on 13 May 2007....

||1||0||colspan="2"|-||1||0||colspan="2"|-||2||0
|-
|2007–08||West Ham United
West Ham United F.C.
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Upton Park, Newham, East London. They play in The Football League Championship. The club was founded in 1895 as Thames Ironworks FC and reformed in 1900 as West Ham United. In 1904 the club relocated to their current...

||Premier League||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||3||0||colspan="2"|-||3||0
|-
|2007–08
The Football League 2007-08
The Football League is contested through three divisions in England and Wales. The divisions are the League Championship, League One and League Two. The winner and the runner up of the League Championship will be automatically promoted to the Premier League and they will be joined by the winner of...

||Southampton
Southampton F.C.
Southampton Football Club is an English football team, nicknamed The Saints, based in the city of Southampton, Hampshire. The club gained promotion to the Championship from League One in the 2010–2011 season after being relegated in 2009. Their home ground is the St Mary's Stadium, where the club...

||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

||7||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||7||0
|-
|2008–09
The Football League 2008-09
The Football League 2008–09, titled the Coca-Cola Football League, was the 109th completed season of the Football League. It began in August 2008 and concluded in May 2009, with the promotion play-off finals....

||rowspan="2"|Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

||rowspan="2"|Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

|||46||0||2||0||2||0||colspan="2"|-||50||0
|-
|2009–10|||12||0||0||0||1||0||colspan="2"|-||12||0
|-
|2010–11
2010–11 Football League
The Football League 2010–11, called the Npower Football League, was the 111th completed season of the Football League. It began in August 2010 and concluded in May 2011, with the promotion play-off finals....

||Sheffield United
Sheffield United F.C.
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional English football club based in the city of Sheffield, South Yorkshire.They were the first sporting team to use the name 'United' and are nicknamed 'The Blades', thanks to Sheffield's worldwide reputation for steel production...

||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

||2||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||2||0
|-
|2011–12
2011–12 Football League
The Football League 2011–12, called the Npower Football League, is the 112th season of the Football League. It began in August 2011 and will conclude in May 2012, with the promotion play-off finals....

||Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town F.C.
Ipswich Town Football Club are an English professional football team based in Ipswich, Suffolk. As of 2011, they play in the Football League Championship, having last appeared in the Premier League in 2001–02....

||Championship
Football League Championship
The Football League Championship is the highest division of The Football League and second-highest division overall in the English football league system after the Premier League...

||1||0||0||0||colspan="2"|-||colspan="2"|-||1||0
379||0||24||0||41||0||4||0||448||0
379||0||24||0||41||0||4||0||448||0
Stats accurate as at 12:40, 3 January 2011.

Honours

With Ipswich Town:
  • Division 1
    Football League First Division
    The First Division was a division of The Football League between 1888 and 2004 and the highest division in English football until the creation of the Premier League in 1992. The secondary tier in English football has since become known as the Championship....

     (Level 2) Playoffs: 1999–2000


With Arsenal:
  • FA Premier League
    FA Premier League
    The Premier League is an English professional league for association football clubs. At the top of the English football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with The Football League. The Premier...

    : 2001–02
  • FA Cup
    FA Cup
    The Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, is a knockout cup competition in English football and is the oldest association football competition in the world. The "FA Cup" is run by and named after The Football Association and usually refers to the English men's...

    : 2002

External links

  • Profile on The FA
    The Football Association
    The Football Association, also known as simply The FA, is the governing body of football in England, and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. It was formed in 1863, and is the oldest national football association...

     website
  • ESPNSoccernet.com player profile
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