William Ambrose Wright (6 February 1924 – 3 September 1994) was an English footballer who played as a centre-back. He spent his entire club career at Wolverhampton Wanderers. The first footballer in the world to earn 100 international caps, Wright also held the record for longest unbroken run in competitive international football, with 70 consecutive appearances, although that was surpassed by Andoni Zubizarreta's 86 consecutive appearances for Spain (1985–94). He also made a total of 105 appearances for England, captaining them a record 90 times, including during their campaigns at the 1950, 1954 and 1958 World Cup.

Early life and education

Wright was born at 33 Belmont Road, Ironbridge, Shropshire, his father Thomas was a worker at the Coalbrookdale Company ironworks. He was educated at Madeley Wood Methodist School and Madeley Modern School, playing in the teams of both schools.

Club career

After playing during March–April that year for Cradley Heath in a dual player-groundsman role, playing as both a forward and a defender before he returned to Molineux in 1942. A broken ankle put his career in doubt but he recovered and joined the Kings Shropshire Light Infantry in 1943, serving as a Physical Training Instructor. reaching the landmark in a 1–0 victory over Scotland at Wembley on 11 April 1959. It was more than a decade before his record was broken by another player, Bobby Charlton.

More than 60 years later, just eight other players have made more appearances for the England side than Wright. before turning down the role after being appointed manager of Arsenal in 1962, replacing George Swindin. Initially Arsenal started strongly under Wright, finishing seventh in 1962–63 and qualifying for Europe for the first time in their history, but failed to build on this. Wright enjoyed mixed success with his signings, who included successes such as Bob Wilson, Joe Baker and Frank McLintock, but also less successful players such as Ian Ure.

Arsenal were unable to improve on their seventh in Wright's first season in charge, and their form gradually declined. Wright won only 38.46% of his matches in charge, the lowest rate for any post-war Arsenal manager (caretaker managers excepted). After a poor 1965–66 season – where Arsenal finished 14th and were knocked out of the FA Cup by Blackburn Rovers (who finished bottom of the First Division) — Wright was dismissed by the Arsenal board in the summer of 1966.

Football writer Brian Glanville, discussing Billy Wright's time at Arsenal, wrote: "he had neither the guile nor the authority to make things work and he reacted almost childishly to criticism".

Life after football

thumbnail|Statue of Billy Wright outside Wolves' [[Molineux Stadium]]

Wright was a minor media personality, and his marriage to Joy Beverley of the Beverley Sisters occurred at a time long before the era of footballers being known for having celebrity girlfriends. This was in July 1958, by which time Wright was 34, and proved one of the most successful showbiz marriages.

After leaving Arsenal, Wright successfully overcame alcoholism and he later became a television pundit and Head of Sport for ATV and Central Television, before retiring in 1989. The following year, he joined the board of directors at Wolverhampton Wanderers as part of the takeover by Sir Jack Hayward. On 7 December that year he was present for the friendly game against Honved of Hungary which commemorated the re-opening of Molineux as a rebuilt 28,525-seat stadium. The redevelopment saw three new stands built at the stadium in the space of two years, with the one replacing the Waterloo Road Stand being designated the Billy Wright Stand.

Wright was the subject of This Is Your Life on two occasions: in May 1961 when he was surprised by Eamonn Andrews at the EMI Studios in London's St John's Wood, and in January 1990, when Michael Aspel surprised him at Thames Television's Teddington Studios. Wright went on to be appointed a Commander of the Order of the British Empire on 13 June 1959.

In 2008, Midland Metro named an AnsaldoBreda T-69 tram in his honour.

Honours

Wolverhampton Wanderers

  • First Division: 1953–54, 1957–58, 1958–59
  • Wolverhampton Wanderers FC Hall of Fame: 2009

Further reading

  • Giller, Norman (2003) Billy Wright: A Hero for All Seasons,

See also

  • List of men's footballers with 100 or more international caps

References

  • Official Wolves site profile

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  • Unofficial Wolves website — a tribute to Billy Wright
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  • BBC Tribute to Billy Wright
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