Tommy Wright (footballer, born 1966)
{{short description|Scottish footballer and coach}}
{{lead too short|date=September 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2025}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Tommy Wright
| image = Wright, Tommy.jpg
| caption =
| fullname = Thomas Elliott Wright{{Hugman|21797|access-date=8 April 2020}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1966|1|10|df=y}}
| birth_place = Dunfermline, Scotland
| position = Winger
| youthyears1 =
| youthclubs1 =
| years1 = 1982–1986
| years2 = 1986–1989
| years3 = 1989–1992
| years4 = 1992–1995
| years5 = 1995–1997
| years6 = 1997
| years7 = 1997–1998
| years8 = 1998
| years9 = 1998–2000
| clubs1 = Leeds United
| clubs2 = Oldham Athletic
| clubs3 = Leicester City
| clubs4 = Middlesbrough
| clubs5 = Bradford City
| clubs6 = Oldham Athletic
| clubs7 = St Johnstone
| clubs8 = Livingston
| clubs9 = Doncaster Rovers
| caps1 = 92
| caps2 = 112
| caps3 = 129
| caps4 = 53
| caps5 = 45
| caps6 = 12
| caps7 = 5
| caps8 = 7
| caps9 = 28
| goals1 = 28
| goals2 = 23
| goals3 = 22
| goals4 = 5
| goals5 = 5
| goals6 = 2
| goals7 = 0
| goals8 = 1
| goals9 = 1
| totalcaps = 455
| totalgoals = 86
| manageryears1 = 2012
| managerclubs1 = Chesterfield (caretaker)
| manageryears2 = 2016
| managerclubs2 = Barnsley (caretaker)
| manageryears3 = 2019
| managerclubs3 = Carlisle United (joint caretaker)
| manageryears4 = 2021
| managerclubs4 = Swindon Town (caretaker)
| manageryears5 = 2022
| managerclubs5 = Oldham Athletic (caretaker)
}}
Thomas Elliott Wright (born 10 January 1966) is a Scottish football coach and former player. A winger, he made nearly 450 appearances in the English Football League and Premier League, and also had short spells in the Scottish League. He was most recently a First-Team Coach at Oldham Athletic.
Career
=Coaching=
Having worked previously as his assistant manager at Oldham Athletic,{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/o/oldham_athletic/5046426.stm |title=Sheridan makes Wright assistant |date=5 June 2006 |publisher=BBC Sport |access-date=5 June 2006}} Wright followed John Sheridan to League Two side Chesterfield to serve in the same capacity, in June 2009. He was made Caretaker Manager following the sacking of Sheridan on 27 August 2012, with Mark Crossley assisting.{{cite news |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/c/chesterfield/8090921.stm |title=Sheridan named Chesterfield boss |date=9 June 2009 |publisher=BBC Sport |access-date=9 June 2009}}{{cite web | url = http://www.doncasterrovers.co.uk/players/UtoW/Wright,Tommy.htm | title = Doncaster Rovers Player Profile | access-date = 22 June 2011}}
Wright was appointed assistant head coach of Barnsley on 25 February 2015{{cite web|url=http://www.barnsleyfc.co.uk/news/article/tommy-wright-assistant-head-coach-2369249.aspx|title=Tommy Wright — Assistant Head Coach|access-date=29 September 2016}}
On 21 June 2018, he linked up with John Sheridan once more when being appointed the new assistant manager of Carlisle United.{{cite web|url=http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/carlisle-utd/latest/article/Tommy-Wright-joins-Carlisle-Utd-as-John-Sheridans-new-assistant-manager-2ab2b939-6e9c-4e4d-b761-8ad2feda0b3d-ds|title=Tommy Wright joins Carlisle Utd as John Sheridan's new assistant manager|date=21 June 2018 |publisher=News & Star|access-date=21 June 2018}}
=Swindon Town=
On 9 July 2019, he joined the coaching team at Swindon Town.{{cite web|title=TOMMY WRIGHT JOINS FIRST-TEAM COACHING STAFF|url=https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2019/july/tommy-wright-joins-first-team-coaching-staff/|website=swindontownfc.co.uk|publisher=Swindon Town F.C.|access-date=31 July 2019|date=31 July 2019}}
In November 2020, Swindon Town F.C. manager John Sheridan stressed that he had no plans to change the existing coaching team. He wanted Wright and Noel Hunt to stay at Swindon Town F.C. and was looking forward to working with them.{{cite web | url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/18871573.john-sheridan-like-tommy-wright-noel-hunt-stay-swindon-town/ | title=John Sheridan would like Tommy Wright and Noel Hunt to stay at Swindon Town | date=13 November 2020 | website=swindonadvertiser.co.uk | accessdate=30 September 2021}}
In the same month, it was reported that former Swindon Town F.C. manager Richie Wellens was planning to bring coach Wright to Salford City F.C. but Wright turned down his offer and continued to coach the Swindon Town F.C. team.{{cite web | url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/18874481.richie-wellens-wants-bring-tommy-wright-salford-city/ | title=Richie Wellens wants to bring Tommy Wright to Salford City | website=swindonadvertiser.co.uk/ | date=16 November 2020 | accessdate=5 October 2021}}{{cite web | url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/18887271.tommy-wright-says-staying-swindon-despite-salford-links/ | title=Tommy Wright says he is staying at Swindon despite Salford links | website=swindonadvertiser.co.uk | date=20 November 2020 | accessdate=5 October 2021}}
In February 2021, Wright admitted he wasn't sure whether he and manager Sheridan would keep their jobs if they won their Wigan Athletic F.C. game.{{cite web | url=https://www.swindonadvertiser.co.uk/sport/19056363.tommy-wright-unsure-win-can-keep-swindon-town-job/ | title=Tommy Wright unsure if win can keep him in Swindon Town job | website=swindonadvertiser.co.uk/ | date=2 February 2021 | accessdate=5 October 2021}}
On 18 April 2021, following the resignation of first-team manager John Sheridan, Wright was placed in charge of the first-team with Swindon sitting bottom of the league, seven points off of safety with four games remaining.{{cite web|url=https://www.swindontownfc.co.uk/news/2021/april/club-statement-john-sheridan/|title=CLUB STATEMENT: JOHN SHERIDAN|website=swindontownfc.co.uk|date=18 April 2021}}
=Oldham return=
On 25 January 2022, following the return of Sheridan to Oldham Athletic, Wright returned to the club as a coach.{{cite web|url=https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2022/january/24012022-tommy-wright-returns/|title=Wright Returns To Latics|website=oldhamathletic.co.uk|date=25 January 2022|accessdate=26 January 2022}} He left the club on 26 September 2022 following the recent change in management.{{cite web|url=https://www.oldhamathletic.co.uk/news/2022/september/24092022-tommy-wright-leaves/|title=Tommy Wright leaves|website=oldhamathletic.co.uk|date=26 September 2022|accessdate=27 September 2022}}
Corruption conviction
{{Main|2016 English football scandal}}
Wright was suspended by Barnsley on 28 September 2016 pending investigation into allegations that he had taken a £5,000 cash bribe to arrange player's transfers.{{cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/09/28/exclusive-the-corruption-at-the-top-of-the-championship/|title=Exclusive: The explosive allegations at the top of the Championship|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |date=29 September 2016 |access-date=29 September 2016|last1=Team |first1=Investigations }} His criminal trial was held in October 2019,{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-50084923|title=Football coach 'took £5,000 bribery bung'|publisher=BBC News |date=17 October 2019}} at which he was convicted of soliciting and accepting bribes.{{cite news |last1=Sawer |first1=Patrick |last2=Hardy |first2=Jack |title=Football for sale: Agent and manager found guilty of bribery |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2019/12/16/football-sale-agent-manager-found-guiltyof-bribery/ |access-date=21 December 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph |date=16 December 2019}}
=Bribery incident=
In August 2018, the City of London Police announced that the former assistant coach of Barnsley F.C., Wright, had been charged with bribery offenses.{{cite web | url=https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11713/11486769/ex-barnsley-assistant-tommy-wright-charged-with-bribery-offences | title=Ex-Barnsley assistant Tommy Wright charged with bribery offences | date=31 August 2018 | publisher=Sky Sports | accessdate=14 September 2021}} In December 2019, Swindon Town F.C.'s first-team coach decided not to sack Wright. Although Wright had been found guilty of taking a bribe for leaking commercial information about players to the public, he was allowed to keep his assistant job.{{cite web | url=https://www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/former-middlesbrough-winger-tommy-wright-17451310 | title=Former Middlesbrough winger Tommy Wright found guilty of bribery – but Swindon job 'is safe' | date=20 December 2019 | website=gazettelive.co.uk | accessdate=22 September 2021}}
Managerial Statistics
| class=wikitable style=text-align:center
|+ Managerial record by team and tenure | ||||
| rowspan=2|Team
!rowspan=2|From !rowspan=2|To !colspan=5|Record !rowspan=2|{{abbr|Ref.|Reference}} | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| {{abbr|P|Matches played}} | {{abbr|W|Matches won}} | {{abbr|D|Matches drawn}} | {{abbr|L|Matches lost}} | {{abbr|Win %|Win percentage}} |
| align=left|Swindon Town (caretaker)
|align=left|18 April 2021 |align=left|26 May 2021 {{WDL|4|2|0|2|decimals=2}} | | ||||
| colspan=3|Total
{{WDLtot|4|2|0|2|decimals=2}} ! |
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Soccerbase}}
{{Leeds United A.F.C. Player of the Year}}
{{Navboxes
| title = Managerial positions
| list1 =
{{Chesterfield F.C. managers}}
{{Swindon Town F.C. managers}}
}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tommy}}
Category:Footballers from Dunfermline
Category:Scottish men's footballers
Category:Men's association football wingers
Category:Leeds United F.C. players
Category:Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players
Category:Leicester City F.C. players
Category:Middlesbrough F.C. players
Category:Bradford City A.F.C. players
Category:St Johnstone F.C. players
Category:Livingston F.C. players
Category:Doncaster Rovers F.C. players
Category:Premier League players
Category:English Football League players
Category:Scottish Football League players
Category:Scottish football managers
Category:Chesterfield F.C. managers
Category:English Football League managers
Category:Oldham Athletic A.F.C. non-playing staff
Category:Chesterfield F.C. non-playing staff
Category:Barnsley F.C. non-playing staff
Category:Carlisle United F.C. non-playing staff