Jermaine Wright

Jermaine Wright
Personal information
Full name Jermaine Malaki Wright[1]
Date of birth (1975-10-21) 21 October 1975[1]
Place of birth Greenwich, England
Height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Playing position Midfielder, Defender
Youth career
000?–1992 Millwall
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1992–1994 Millwall 0 (0)
1994–1998 Wolverhampton Wanderers 20 (0)
1996 → Doncaster Rovers (loan) 13 (0)
1998–1999 Crewe Alexandra 49 (5)
1999–2004 Ipswich Town 184 (10)
2004–2006 Leeds United 38 (3)
2005 → Millwall (loan) 15 (2)
2006 → Southampton (loan) 13 (0)
2006–2008 Southampton 78 (1)
2008–2009 Blackpool 3 (0)
2010 Croydon Athletic 0 (0)
2010–2011 Lewes 26 (0)
Total 439 (21)
National team
1993 England U18 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:43, 24 August 2008 (UTC).


Jermaine Malaki Wright (born 21 October 1975 in Greenwich) is an English former footballer who played as a midfielder and could also operate as a defender.

Football career

Wright started his career at Millwall as a trainee, but moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers in 1994.[2] At Wolves he scored once; his goal coming in a League Cup tie against Fulham in September 1995.[3] After a loan spell at Doncaster Rovers he joined Crewe Alexandra in February 1998 for a fee of £50,000. At Crewe, his career took off under the guidance of Dario Gradi, who switched him from the right wing to a creative role in the centre of midfield.

In July 1999, after rejecting the offer of a new contract, he was transferred for a fee of £500,000 to Ipswich, where George Burley saw him as a replacement for Kieron Dyer, who had just been sold to Newcastle United. His career thrived under the guidance of Burley but then stalled after he surprisingly opted to move to relegated Leeds United rather than Everton in July 2004.

However he fell out of favour at Leeds in 2005 and was loaned out first to Millwall (where he had started his career) and then, in January 2006, to Saints where he linked up with Burley once more. It took a few weeks for him to regain match fitness but he then shone during the successful run at the tail-end of the 2005–06 season.

After his loan spell ended, he returned to Elland Road where the remaining year of his contract was cancelled by mutual consent. He returned to Southampton for a trial during pre-season training and signed with the club on 10 July 2006 on a two-year deal keeping him at St Mary's until June 2008.[4] He scored his only Saints goal in the 2–1 home defeat by QPR on 30 September 2006.[5]

Wright was released by Southampton on 2 July 2008. During his two years at St Mary's, Wright made exactly 100 appearances, either in midfield or more often at right-back.

On 11 July 2008, Wright signed for Blackpool on a one-year deal with the option of a second.[6] He made his debut for the Seasiders on 9 August 2008 in a 1–0 home defeat to Bristol City. However, he suffered an Achilles tendon injury in his third league match for the club against Sheffield United on 23 August and a month later he underwent an operation which kept him on the sidelines for more than four months and he never managed to establish himself in the side on his return.[7]

On 9 June 2009, Blackpool confirmed that Wright had not been offered a new deal and that he was being released.[8] In July 2010 it was announced that new promoted Ryman Premier League side Croydon Athletic had signed Wright for the new season. Following allegations that Croydon owner Mazhar Majeed was using the club for money laundering purposes, Wright followed former Crydon boss Tim O'Shea to Lewes FC in October 2010.[9] Wright played an important role in helping Lewes recover from being adrift in last place but the team fell just short by one point of staying up and Wright retired at the end of the 2010–11 season.

Personal life

Wright is the cousin of former Arsenal star Ian Wright,[2] and played alongside Ian's son, Bradley, at Southampton. Meanwhile, Jermaine's own son, Drey, is currently on professional terms with Colchester, signing his first deal at the age of 17 in the summer of 2012.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Hugman, Barry J. (ed) (2008). The PFA Footballers' Who's Who 2008–09. Mainstream. ISBN 978-1-84596-324-8.
  2. 1 2 Moore, Glenn (24 December 1994). "FA set to bring in Howe". The Independent. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
  3. ↑ "From the archive - rare League Cup success". expressandstar.com. 11 August 2015. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  4. ↑ "Happy to be here". Southampton F.C. 10 July 2006.
  5. ↑ "Southampton 1-2 QPR". BBC Sport. 30 September 2006. Retrieved 4 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "Blackpool sign Wright". BBC Sport. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 11 July 2008.
  7. ↑ "Midfield Blow For Pool". Blackpool F.C. 25 September 2008. Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  8. ↑ "Eight Released As Retained List Is Announced". Blackpool F.C. 9 June 2009. Retrieved 9 June 2009.
  9. ↑ "Dawn of a new era". Lewes FC. 29 October 2010. Retrieved 9 November 2010.
  10. ↑ "U's quartet sign new contracts". Colchester Gazette. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
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