Harold Edward Wright (3 June 1909 – April 1994) was an English professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

and

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

for

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

Aldershot Aldershot () is a town in Hampshire, England. It lies on heathland in the extreme northeast corner of the county, southwest of London. The area is administered by Rushmoor Borough Council. The town has a population of 37,131, while the Alders ...

, and Derby County, and managed the India national team between 1963 and 1964. Wright began his playing career with Harwich & Parkeston, but by 1932 he was on the books at Charlton, where he remained for three years. He spent time with

and then Derby County before the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He also appeared for Southern League sides Chelmsford City and Colchester United. He represented an England XI once in 1935 against an Anglo-Scot team in a friendly game for the

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

Jubilee Trust Fund. Wright took up a coaching role at

Guildford City Guildford City Football Club (formerly Guildford United and AFC Guildford) is a football club based in Guildford, Surrey, England. The club was established in 1921, folded in 1974 and was reformed in 1996. Guildford City play in the . Histo ...

following his retirement in 1949, before holding similar positions at

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands County, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east ...

and Luton Town. He was named as head coach at Everton in 1956, and later coached the

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

youth team between 1961 and 1963 in preparation for the

1963 AFC Youth Championship The 1963 AFC Youth Championship was held in the Federation of Malaya The Federation of Malaya ( ms, Persekutuan Tanah Melayu; Jawi script, Jawi: ) was a federation of what previously had been British Malaya comprising eleven states (nine Mal ...

. In 1963, he inherited Syed Abdul Rahim's India national team, where Wright led the side to the runners-up spot in the 1964 Asian Cup, which remains the most notable triumph in professional football for India.

Club career

Born in

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, London, Wright initially played for

Essex Essex () is a county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the River Thames to the south, and G ...

outfit Harwich & Parkeston, but by 1932 he had joined

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

side

. Between 1932 and 1935, Wright made 38 league appearances, despite being understudy to

Sam Bartram Samuel Bartram (22 January 1914 – 17 July 1981) was an English professional footballer and manager. He played as a goalkeeper and holds the record for most appearances for Charlton Athletic, his only club at the professional level. Career Aft ...

as Charlton rose from the

Third Division In sport, the Third Division, also called Division 3, Division Three, or Division III, is often the third-highest division of a league, and will often have promotion and relegation with divisions above and below. Association football *Belgian Thir ...

to the First Division. During the 1936–37 season, Wright played 28 times for

as they finished bottom of the Football League. However, a fee of £2,500 saw him move to Derby County for the following season, where he played 25 times. In the war years, Wright played at

Layer Road Layer Road was a Football League stadium in Colchester, England. It was only used for football matches and was the home ground of Colchester United before being replaced by the Colchester Community Stadium. The stadium held spectators and was ...

, the ground of his future club Colchester United alongside his future manager Ted Fenton while playing for an Eastern Command side. Having also played for Southern League side Chelmsford City, Wright signed for Essex rivals Colchester United on 11 July 1946. Despite playing 23 times for Colchester, the club initially decided to not retain Wright for the 1947–48 season, but a month later, a change of heart saw Wright re-sign. In his second season, he helped Colchester reach the fifth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

, but within weeks of the beginning of the 1948–49 season, Wright had suffered an injury that saw him lose his place to Ken Whitehead. His attempted comeback on 23 April 1949 against

Merthyr Tydfil Merthyr Tydfil (; cy, Merthyr Tudful ) is the main town in Merthyr Tydfil County Borough, Wales, administered by Merthyr Tydfil County Borough Council. It is about north of Cardiff. Often called just Merthyr, it is said to be named after Tydf ...

ended early due to injury, meaning Colchester were forced to play

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

Vic Keeble Victor Albert Williams Keeble (25 June 1930 – 29 January 2018) was an English footballer who played as a centre-forward for Colchester United, Newcastle United and West Ham United. Early life Victor Albert Williams Keeble was born 25 June 1 ...

in goal. It would be his final appearance for the club. He made 69 appearances for Colchester in all competitions.

International career

Wright made one appearance for an England XI side that played an Anglo-Scots team in the

Jubilee Trust Fund friendly held at Highbury on 8 May 1935. A crowd of 8,944 witnessed the 1–0 defeat for the England side, with

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

George Mutch George Mutch (21 September 1912 – 30 March 2001) was a Scottish footballer. He played as an inside forward. Born in Aberdeen, Mutch started his football career with Avondale before joining Banks O' Dee. He then moved on to Arbroath, and sig ...

scoring the only goal of the game.

Coaching career

On leaving Colchester in the summer of 1949, Wright was appointed trainer-

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

. After qualifying as an FA coach and physiotherapist, Wright would hold coaching positions at

and Luton Town before being appointed head coach of First Division Everton in September 1956. Between 1961 and 1963, Wright spent time in India coaching the Indian youth team in preparation for the

Malaya Malaya refers to a number of historical and current political entities related to what is currently Peninsular Malaysia in Southeast Asia: Political entities * British Malaya (1826–1957), a loose collection of the British colony of the Straits ...

. Wright then inherited Syed Abdul Rahim's side to become the first foreign coach of the

India national football team The India national football team represents India in international football and is governed by the All India Football Federation (AIFF). The team is affiliated to FIFA and Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Indian team, which was once cons ...

after Rahim died in 1963. Wright was tasked with taking his side to the

1964 AFC Asian Cup The 1964 AFC Asian Cup was the 3rd edition of the men's AFC Asian Cup, a quadrennial international football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The finals were held in Israel from 26 May to 3 June 1964. The tournament ...

. They finished as runners-up to hosts

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in the

round-robin tournament A round-robin tournament (or all-go-away-tournament) is a competition Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero ...

, which to-date remains the best achievement in Indian professional football. Wright retired to

King's Lynn King's Lynn, known until 1537 as Bishop's Lynn and colloquially as Lynn, is a port and market town in the borough of King's Lynn and West Norfolk in the county of Norfolk, England. It is located north of London, north-east of Peterborough, no ...

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

, where he died in April 1994.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Harry 1909 births 1994 deaths Footballers from Tottenham Men's association football goalkeepers English men's footballers English football managers Harwich & Parkeston F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Aldershot F.C. players Derby County F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Walsall F.C. non-playing staff Luton Town F.C. non-playing staff Everton F.C. non-playing staff India national football team managers Expatriate football managers in India English Football League players Southern Football League players 1964 AFC Asian Cup managers British Army personnel of World War II Association football coaches