| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Thomas James Wright[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1963-08-29)29 August 1963 (age 61) | ||
| Place of birth | Ballyclare,County Antrim, Northern Ireland | ||
| Position(s) | Goalkeeper | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Northern Ireland U21 (manager) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| Linfield | |||
| 1988–1993 | Newcastle United | 73 | (0) |
| 1991 | →Hull City (loan) | 6 | (0) |
| 1993–1997 | Nottingham Forest | 11 | (0) |
| 1996 | →Reading (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 1997 | →Manchester City (loan) | 5 | (0) |
| 1997–2001 | Manchester City | 29 | (0) |
| 1999 | →Wrexham (loan) | 16 | (0) |
| 1999 | →Newcastle United (loan) | 3 | (0) |
| 2001 | →Bolton Wanderers (loan) | 4 | (0) |
| 2001 | Bolton Wanderers | 0 | (0) |
| Total | 169 | (0) | |
| International career | |||
| 1989–1999 | Northern Ireland | 31 | (0) |
| Managerial career | |||
| 2003–2005 | Limavady United | ||
| 2005–2008 | Ballymena United | ||
| 2009–2011 | Lisburn Distillery | ||
| 2013–2020 | St Johnstone | ||
| 2021 | Kilmarnock | ||
| 2023– | Northern Ireland U21 | ||
| *Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Thomas James Wright (born 29 August 1963) is a Northern Irishfootball coach and former player who currently is themanager of Northern Ireland's under 21 team.
As a player, he was agoalkeeper who notably played in thePremier League withNottingham Forest,Newcastle United andManchester City. He also played in theFootball League withHull City,Reading,Wrexham andBolton Wanderers, as well as in his native country withLinfield. He was capped 31 times byNorthern Ireland.
Since retiring as a player he has worked as a coach ormanager forLimavady United,Ballymena United,Shamrock Rovers andSt Johnstone. He guided St Johnstone to their win in the2014 Scottish Cup Final, which won the first major national trophy in their history; he left his role there in May 2020. Wright was appointed Kilmarnock manager in February 2021, but was sacked in December of that year. In September 2023 he was appointed as manager of Northern Ireland U21's.
Wright was born inBallyclare. After playing in his native Northern Ireland until he was 25, he entered English football withNewcastle United in the1988–89 season and had a spell as first choice goalkeeper afterDave Beasant was sold toChelsea in January 1989, but Newcastle went down to the Second Division that season.
After losing his place toPavel Srnicek in the early 1990s, he eventually moved toNottingham Forest where he went straight into the starting line-up, however after an injury absence he failed to regain his place fromMark Crossley. He also saw relatively little first team action in later spells atManchester City and a number of clubs where he played on loan. Early in the1999–2000, he returned to Newcastle on a loan deal and played for them three times.
Injuries blighted his playing career, and he found dislodging other goalkeepers, once he regained fitness, difficult or impossible.
Wright won 31 caps forNorthern Ireland in a ten-year period from 1989 to 1999. The high point of his Northern Ireland career was his performance inNuremberg in 1996, as Northern Ireland earned a 1–1 draw againstreigning European champions,Germany, in a1998 FIFA World Cup qualification match. Wright had not played an international match in over two years prior to that point and had just returned to club action, on loan atReading, after a prolonged injury absence.
Wright was first a goalkeeping coach forNorwich City but left whenGlenn Roeder resigned. He was then appointed Youth Development Officer atBallyclare Comrades. In November 2003 he made his first move into management atLimavady United[2] and stayed for a couple of years. Wright was then appointed manager ofBallymena United and reached theCounty Antrim Shield against Linfield at Seaview. Wright resigned at the end of the 2007–08 season.
He was a full-time goalkeeping coach atShamrock Rovers for the2009 League of Ireland season under his former teammateMichael O'Neill. In September 2009 he was appointed manager ofLisburn Distillery.[3] His first game was against his former club Ballymena United, which Lisburn won by a single goal.
Wright left Distillery in November 2011 to become assistant manager ofScottish Premier League clubSt Johnstone.[4]
AfterSteve Lomas left thePerth club to manageMillwall in June 2013, Wright was promoted to manager.[5] Wright's first game in charge was a UEFA Europa League tie in Norway againstRosenborg. St Johnstone won 1–0, their first-ever away victory in European competition.[6] The second leg ended in a 1–1 draw, putting St Johnstone through 2–1 on aggregate, and through to the third round of the qualifying stages for the first time.[7] Despite winning 1–0 win againstMinsk in the first leg of the next round, they went on to lose on penalties.[8] After the match, Wright criticised Minsk, believing they lacked class in victory.[9] After winning two games and drawing once in October, Wright won the Scottish Premiership Manager of the Month award.[10]
In March 2014, Wright was involved in a touchline incident withDundee United managerJackie McNamara.[11] This resulted a one-match ban for Wright.[12] A few days later, Wright was taken to hospital after suffering stomach pains.[13] Despite being in the hospital, Wright was still involved in the squad selection ahead of a match againstHibernian.[14] The operation was a success, and Wright made his return in a match againstPartick Thistle.[15][16]
After Wright led the club to a top-six position in the Premiership, he guided them to their first Scottish Cup Final after a 2–1 win overAberdeen.[17] They were victorious in the 17 May,Final meeting withDundee United atCeltic Park. It was St Johnstone's first major trophy win.[18] Wright signed a new contract with St Johnstone in August 2014.[19] He signed another contract with St Johnstone in October 2015, soon after the club had rejected an approach from Dundee United for Wright.[20]
He was votedPremiership Manager of the Season for the2015–16 season, leading St Johnstone to another fourth-place finish[21] and a third domestic cup semi-final, losing out toHibernian.[22]
St Johnstone secured a third successive fourth-place finish in the Premiership in2016–17 under Wright, with two games remaining, also qualifying forEurope again.[23]
Wright resigned as St Johnstone manager on 2 May 2020.[24]
Wright was appointedKilmarnock manager on 8 February 2021.[25] Kilmarnock finished the2020–21 Scottish Premiership in 11th place, and were then relegated to theChampionship after they lost a play-off toDundee.[26] Wright was sacked by Kilmarnock in December 2021, with the club sitting in 5th place in theChampionship.[27]
Wright was appointedNorthern Ireland U21 manager on 14 August 2023
Wright from time to time does co-commentary work forBBC Northern Ireland's football coverage[28] as well as some punditry work forBT Sport's Scottish football coverage.[29]
| Team | From | To | Record | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| G | W | D | L | Win % | Ref. | |||
| Limavady United | November 2003 | May 2005 | 54 | 23 | 15 | 16 | 042.59 | |
| Ballymena United | May 2005 | April 2008 | 117 | 44 | 29 | 44 | 037.61 | |
| Lisburn Distillery | September 2009 | November 2011 | 97 | 36 | 16 | 45 | 037.11 | |
| St Johnstone | 10 June 2013 | 2 May 2020 | 309 | 126 | 67 | 116 | 040.78 | |
| Kilmarnock | 8 February 2021 | 18 December 2021 | 42 | 20 | 7 | 15 | 047.62 | |
| Northern Ireland U21 | 14 August 2023 | Present | 5 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 020.00 | |
| Total | 625 | 250 | 134 | 241 | 040.00 | — | ||
Newcastle United
Bolton Wanderers
Lisburn Distillery
St Johnstone
