Stephen John Wright (born 8 February 1980) is an English former professional footballer who works for Liverpool academy as a coach.
Club career
Liverpool
Born in Bootle, Liverpool, Wright joined Liverpool on a youth contract in June 1996, choosing to join Liverpool over rivals Everton, the club he supported as a boy. Wright turned professional a year later in August 1997, and the following season was named as an unused substitute for the UEFA Cup clash with Celta Vigo on 24 November 1998 alongside Steven Gerrard.
Following two successful loan spells with Crewe Alexandra in the 1999–2000 season,
Initially starting out as a centre back, Wright made the transition to right back during the 2001–02 season, where he established himself as a useful member of the Liverpool squad. On 27 October 2001, Wright saw red for the first time in his career, after being sent off against Charlton Athletic at The Valley.
Sunderland
After finding first team opportunities increasingly difficult to come by, Wright joined Sunderland in a £1.5 million deal, which would eventually rise to £3 million. Wright was handed the number 2 shirt and made first choice right back, replacing Bernt Haas, who had moved on loan to FC Basel. Wright's tough and uncompromising style made him initially popular with the Sunderland faithful, however, a drastic loss of form, combined with Sunderland's dreadful form in the league saw him criticised towards the end of the season. Sunderland were eventually relegated with a record low of 19 points, in a season that saw manager Peter Reid sacked just weeks after signing Wright, and his replacement, Howard Wilkinson, sacked five months into his role.
Wilkinson was replaced by former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, who often alternated between Wright and teammate Darren Williams for the right back slot during the 2003–04 season. With the club performing well in the league, Wright's confidence grew as a player, and he soon won over his critics with a series of solid displays. Wright scored his first goal for the club on 25 August 2003 against Watford at the Stadium of Light. However his time at Stoke was overshadowed by injuries and therefore made only 17 appearances before being sent back to Sunderland in January 2008.
Back to Sunderland
His loan spell with Stoke ended in January 2008. He returned to Sunderland in January hoping to get back in the starting XI but failed to do so. Wright was released by Sunderland at the end of the 2007–08 season.
Coventry City
Over the course of the summer of 2008, several clubs, including Hull City, expressed an interest in signing Wright. He spent pre-season training on trial with Coventry City, playing an active part in their pre-season fixtures. After an extended period of negotiations, Wright signed a two-year contract with Coventry on 8 August 2008, the day before the first game of the season. On 14 July 2009, Wright was appointed as Coventry captain by manager Chris Coleman. At the end of the 2009–10 Coventry City told Wright he was surplus to requirements and he was subsequently released.
Later career
Following his release from Coventry Wright joined Brentford on trial and appeared in a reserves match against Leyton Orient. He signed a contract on 29 October 2010.
In August 2011 he was training with Hartlepool United, and featured in a reserve team game away at Gateshead. He subsequently signed a short-term deal with Hartlepool, making his debut in a 2–0 victory over Exeter City. After playing eleven matches for Hartlepool,
On 2 March 2012, he signed a deal at Wrexham until the end of the season. His debut for the club came the following day against Kettering.
In 2006, Wright became an investor in Golf Punk magazine, alongside former Sunderland teammates Phil Babb, Michael Gray, Jason McAteer, and Thomas Sørensen, saving the publication from closure.
Career statistics
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
|-
!rowspan="2"|Club
!rowspan="2"|Season
!colspan="3"|League
!colspan="2"|FA Cup
!colspan="2"|League Cup
! colspan="2" |Europe
!colspan="2"|Other
!colspan="2"|Total
|-
!Division!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals
|-
| rowspan="4" |Liverpool
|1998–99
| rowspan="3" |Premier League
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
|0
| colspan="2" |―
|0
|0
|-
|2000–01
|2||0||1||0||1||0
|0
|0|| colspan="2" |―
|4||0
|-
|2001–02
|12||0||1||0||1||0
|3
|1||0||0||17||1
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!14!!0!!2!!0!!2!!0
!3
!1!!0!!0!!21!!1
|-
|Crewe Alexandra (loan)
|1999–2000
|First Division
|22||0||0||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
|0||0||23||0
|-
| rowspan="6"|Sunderland
|2002–03
|Premier League
|25||0||3||0||0||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||28||0
|-
|2003–04
|First Division
|22||1||5||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
|0||0||28||1
|-
|2004–05
|Championship
|39||1||2||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||45||1
|-
||2005–06
|Premier League
|2||0||0||0||0||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||2||0
|-
|2006–07
|Championship
|3||0||0||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―|||4||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!91!!2!!10!!0!!3!!0
! colspan="2" |―
!0!!0!!107!!2
|-
|Stoke City (loan)
|2007–08
|Championship
|16||0||0||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||17||0
|-
|rowspan="3"|Coventry City
|2008–09
| rowspan="2" |Championship
|17||0||3||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||21||0
|-
|2009–10
|38||0||2||0||1||0
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||41||0
|-
!colspan="2"|Total
!55!!0!!5!!0!!2!!0
! colspan="2" |―
! colspan="2" |―!!62!!0
|-
|Brentford
|2010–11
|League One
|11||0||2||0|| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―
|0||0||13||0
|-
|Hartlepool United
|2011–12
|League One
|10||0||1||0||0||0
| colspan="2" |―
|0||0||11||0
|-
| rowspan="4" |Wrexham
|2011–12
| rowspan="3" |Conference National
|12||0|| colspan="2" |―|| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―
| colspan="2" |―||12||0
|-
|2012–13||0||27||1
|-
|2013–14