Billy Wright (footballer, born 1962)

Last updated

Billy Wright
Personal information
Full name William Hardy Rogers Wright
Date of birth (1962-11-04) 4 November 1962 (age 61)
Place of birth Corbridge, England
Position(s) Striker
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
1980–1983 Burnley 0 (0)
1982 → Crewe Alexandra (loan) 3 (1)
1983–1984 Apollon Limassol
1984–1985 Dundalk ? (8)
1985–1988 Mount Wellington
1989 Blacktown City Demons 2 (0)
1989 Morwell Falcons 23 (8)
1989–1990 West Adelaide 11 (3)
1990–1992 Miramar Rangers
1992–1994 Morwell Falcons 25 (9)
1994–1996 South Dandenong 75 (80)
1996–1998 Gippsland Falcons 13 (0)
1998–1999 South Dandenong 19 (8)
2000–2001 Cranbourne Comets 13 (10)
2002 Berwick City 22 (30)
2003 Noble Park 16 (15)
International career
1988–1993 New Zealand 15 (9)
Managerial career
1998 South Dandenong
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Billy Wright (born 4 November 1962) is a former footballer who played as a striker. His senior career included stints with Burnley F.C. (England), Dundalk (Ireland) as well as National Soccer League clubs Blacktown City Demons, West Adelaide and Morwell Falcons. [1] Born in England, he represented the New Zealand national team at international level.

Wright was perhaps best known for his three separate stints with the Morwell Falcons - first joining the club in 1989, where he played a pivotal role in a dynamic partnership with Croatian striker Darko Basara. The pair combined for 19 league goals as the Falcons broke through for their second Victorian state championship in six years. He also hit a memorable hat-trick in just 24 minutes against Maribyrnong Polonia in the second round of the Dockerty Cup.

He then signed for West Adelaide - the very club who defeated Morwell for promotion to the National Soccer League in 1989. He would rejoin Morwell in 1992 for their debut in the National Soccer League and played a pivotal role as the Falcons went within a point of making the finals in just their season season in the top flight. He would come back to the Latrobe Valley in 1996 for a final two-year spell, although by then he was in his mid-30s and spent much of his time mentoring future Socceroos international Archie Thompson.

Wright would finish his career in the lower divisions of Victorian football and still remained particularly prolific into his late 30's.

Wright made his full debut for New Zealand in a 2–0 win over Saudi Arabia on 21 June 1988 [2] and ended his international playing career having played 26 times for the All Whites, including 15 A-internationals in which he scored 9 goals, [3] [4] his final official cap being in a 1–0 loss to Australia on 30 May 1993. Wright has since moved to coaching where he has found his calling combining his talent and love of the game with his tough play style. [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Kosmina</span> Australian soccer player

Alexander John Kosmina, known as John Kosmina, is an Australian former football (soccer) player and manager, most recently being the Senior Head Coach of Brisbane Strikers. He is a member of the Football Federation Australia Football Hall of Fame.

Slobodan "Bobby" Despotovski is an Australian soccer player who played 12 seasons in the top tier of Australian soccer. He played in National Soccer League (NSL) for Heidelberg United and Morwell Falcons before moving to Perth Glory where he played eight seasons in the NSL and two in the A-League.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Noah Hickey</span> New Zealand footballer

Noah Hickey is a New Zealand former footballer who last played for Gisborne City in the Central Premier League and last played professionally for the New Zealand Knights in the Hyundai A-League. He plays as either a striker or a right-winger and was an established member of the New Zealand national team, the 'All Whites'.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vaughan Coveny</span> New Zealand footballer

Vaughan Coveny is a retired football player from New Zealand. Coveny's senior club career spanned 20 years, mostly in Australia, with his most notable stint being at South Melbourne during their National Soccer League era. He was primarily a striker although he also played as a winger. After retiring from playing, he pursued a coaching career. He is currently the head coach of the Western United under 21's side.

Chris Zoricich is a New Zealand association football player who represented the New Zealand national football team in the 1980s and 1990s. Born to Croat parents, he began playing football in his native Auckland for Blockhouse Bay Under-7's and went on to play over 50 times for his country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Adrian Leijer</span> Australian soccer player

Adrian Leijer is an Australian footballer who plays as a centre back.

Stu Riddle is a former footballer who played as a striker. He is currently the assistant men's soccer coach at Bowling Green State University and was formerly the head coach of the men's soccer team at Western Michigan University, University of Buffalo, and Northern Kentucky University.

Jeffrey Campbell is a New Zealand football player, who played for New Zealand and professionally for the Football Kingz. He ended his career in 2017 playing for Takapuna AFC. He has represented his country at U20, U23 and senior levels.

Kevin Hagan is an association football player who represented New Zealand at international level.

Ross Nicholson is an association football goalkeeper who represented New Zealand at international level. He was born at Gisborne, New Zealand in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falcons 2000 SC</span> Football club

Falcons 2000 Soccer Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in the regional Victorian city of Morwell in Latrobe Valley, Gippsland. The club currently participates in the Latrobe Valley Soccer League, currently rated as a Tier 9 league.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Malcolmson</span>

Samuel "Sam" A. Malcolmson is a former footballer who represented New Zealand.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kosta Barbarouses</span> New Zealand professional footballer

Konstantinos "Kosta" Barbarouses is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays in Australia's A-League Men for Wellington Phoenix FC.

Daniel Ellensohn is an association football striker from New Zealand who currently plays for Samoa based League side Kiwi FC. He has also been known to DJ, with popular London clubs Gigalum and Ministry of Sound hosting him.

Keith Robert Nelson was an association football player who represented New Zealand at international level.

Sean Patrick Byrne was an association football player who played as a defender. Born in Ireland, he represented the New Zealand national team at international level.

Mark Foy is a former footballer who represented New Zealand at international level and played for Gippsland Falcons and Adelaide City in the Australian National Soccer League.

Carlo "Charlie" Villani is an Australian former soccer player who played as a forward.

Kris Trajanovski is an Australian association football player and coach.

Francis Walker McIver was an Australian soccer player, coach and administrator. A prolific forward, he represented Victoria and Australia. He was an inaugural inductee into the Football Federation Australia Hall of Fame in 1999 and inducted into the Football Victoria Hall of Fame in 2016.

References

  1. ↑ "Australian Player Database". OzFootball. Retrieved 18 April 2009.
  2. 1 2 "A-International Lineups". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  3. ↑ "A-International Appearances - Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 1 May 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.
  4. ↑ "A-International Scorers - Overall". The Ultimate New Zealand Soccer Website. Archived from the original on 16 June 2009. Retrieved 12 February 2009.


Flag of New Zealand.svg Soccerball mask.svg

This biographical article related to a football forward from New Zealand is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.