Profile: As an amateur, Wright was given free rein to play for whomsoever he pleased, the only restriction being that he could only play for one team in the FA Cup in any one season. As such his list of clubs is varied and it is has proved difficult to attribute exact dates to each club. Although born in London, Wright's father was a vicar ministering in the East Riding and the arrangement that associated him with the Tigers was one whereby he would assist them during College vacations. It turned out that City would be the only club he played League football with and whilst his early outings were sparse in number, his adventures with the renowned amateur side Corinthians meant he was well known, admired and deservedly honoured with international recognition at Amateur and Full level. Whilst there are strong grounds to suggest that he was associated with the Tigers when he made his only full England appearance, there are equally as strong grounds to suggest that he was with Cambridge University as well. Wright was a magician. One minute the ball and Wright were there, within tempting reach of the opposing full-back; the next minute both ball and Wright were gone, heading for the dead-ball line to deliver a tempting cross that the likes of Temple, Toward, the Smiths (Jack and Joe), Shaw and other City forwards were invited to convert to goals. He was not averse however to taking chances for himself. As captain of the side he lead by example and perhaps his absence from the team in the run-in to the 09/10 season, when City came so close to promotion to Division One, was of greater significance than first realised. An eight-year association with the Tigers came to an end in 1913 when he emigrated to South Africa to work as a mining engineer, and where he stayed until his death in 1947. In that time he was always classified as an amateur but it was in name only for all other aspects of his game showed he was the consummate professional. |
