Jake Maxwell Wright (born 11 March 1986) is an English
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 ...
who last played as a
defender for
Boston United.
Wright started his career with
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
, but played only one senior game for them, before he joined
Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
where he had previously spent a
loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
spell. He spent two years at Halifax, but after they were demoted from the
Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...
, he moved to
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
in June 2008 before transferring to
Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
in July 2009. After that he spent seven years at
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
where he made 278 total appearances, captained the club and won two promotions. He is currently signed to
Sherwood Colliery F.C.
Sherwood Colliery F.C. is an English football club based in Mansfield Woodhouse, Nottinghamshire. They are currently members of the . The club is a FA Charter Standard Club affiliated to the Nottinghamshire County Football Association.Sherwood ...
based in Nottinghamshire.
Career
Born in
Keighley
Keighley ( ) is a market town and a civil parish
in the City of Bradford Borough of West Yorkshire, England. It is the second largest settlement in the borough, after Bradford.
Keighley is north-west of Bradford city centre, north-west of ...
, West Yorkshire,
[ Jake Wright started his football career as a youngster with ]Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The team competes in League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system and are currently managed by Mark Hughes.
...
and, in April 2005, was one of four defenders to be given a one-year contract. In August 2005, he and fellow Bradford City player Danny Forrest moved to Conference National club Halifax Town
FC Halifax Town is a professional association football club based in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England. They currently compete in and play at the Shay. They replaced Halifax Town A.F.C., which went into administration in the 2007–08 season. ...
on loan
In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that ...
—Wright's an initial one-month loan deal. He made his debut on 10 September 2005, in a 4–0 Conference victory over Tamworth at The Shay
The Shay is a sports stadium in Halifax, West Yorkshire, England.
The stadium is owned by Calderdale Metropolitan Borough Council and leased by the Shay Stadium Trust, a not-for-profit company set up to preserve the ground as a sports stadi ...
. He twice extended his loan deal, staying with Halifax for three months, during which time he played 11 league games and three cup games, before he returned to Bradford. Wright made his Bradford debut as a second-half substitute against Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...
on 4 February 2006, replacing Richard Edghill
Richard Arlon Edghill (born 23 September 1974) is an English football coach and former professional footballer.
He played as a defender from 1993 to 2008, spending the majority of his career with his home town club, Manchester City. He spent ...
, who had broken his ankle. It would be his only senior appearance for Bradford.
During June 2006, Wright rejoined Halifax, this time on a permanent basis, along with Forrest and Hereford United
Hereford United Football Club was an association football club based in Hereford, England. They played at Edgar Street for their entire history. They were nicknamed 'The Whites' or 'The Lilywhites', after their predominantly white kit, or 'Th ...
goalkeeper Craig Mawson. Wright scored his first senior goal to help Halifax to their first home victory of the 2006–07 season, in a 3–1 win over Dagenham & Redbridge on 19 September 2006. Wright finished the season with two goals from 27 league games, before playing a further 36 games the following season. During the campaign, he picked up his first red card of his career, in a 1–0 defeat to Aldershot Town
Aldershot Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Aldershot, Hampshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in the spring ...
. Halifax Town avoided relegation despite a final-day defeat, because Altrincham
Altrincham ( , locally ) is a market town in Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, south of the River Mersey. It is southwest of Manchester city centre, southwest of Sale and east of Warrington. At the 2011 Census, it had a population ...
also lost, but they faced liquidation and were eventually demoted, giving Altrincham a reprieve. Halifax were demoted and applied to join the Northern Premier League Division One North, but instead Wright moved back to the Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...
, by signing for Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The club was founded as Crawley Football Club in 1896, changed its name to Crawley Town Football Club in 1958. The team com ...
in June 2008. He had played 63 league games for Halifax during his two years. After an impressive season making 41 League appearances, Wright attracted the interest of Football League clubs including 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 ...
and Colchester United.
On 27 July 2009, Wright was invited for a trial at League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
side Brighton & Hove Albion
Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club (), commonly referred to simply as Brighton, is an English professional football club based in the city of Brighton and Hove. They compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league ...
and featured during the 1–0 pre-season friendly defeat to Torquay United
Torquay United Football Club is a professional football club based in Torquay, Devon, England. The team currently compete in the , the fifth tier of English football. They have played their home matches at Plainmoor since 1921 and are nicknamed ...
. Brighton beat off competition from an unnamed Scottish Premier League club to sign Wright and completed the transfer with Wright signing a two-year contract with the Seagulls.
On 31 December 2009, Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
signed Wright on loan for the remainder of the season. Wright made 26 appearances during his loan spell at the Kassam Stadium
The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam.
The Kassam Stadium currently hosts League One (third t ...
.[ On 30 June 2010, Wright signed a three-year contract with Oxford on a free transfer after a successful loan spell that saw the club gain promotion back to the Football League. He was appointed club captain in July 2011] and extended his contract by a year in October 2011. After six seasons, and having made 278 appearances and captained the squad to second place in League Two and promotion in the 2015–16 season, Wright – the club's longest-serving player – left Oxford by mutual consent on 9 July 2016. Later that day, he signed for League One club Sheffield United
Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...
on a two-year contract.[
Wright's first appearance for the Blades was on 27 August 2016 against his former club Oxford United. This was the club's first win of what became a promotion-winning season. Wright made 30 appearances in his first season as a Blade and remained unbeaten throughout the whole campaign, entering the record books in the process.
In the 2017–18 season Wright made 17 appearances for Sheffield United in the EFL Championship. This was the highest level Wright played at in his career (although he remained a Sheffield United player until part way through the club's 2019–20 season in the ]Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...
, he made no appearances).
On 2 September 2019, Wright joined EFL League One side Bolton Wanderers on loan until January and was one of nine players Bolton signed on deadline day. He made his debut on 14 September, starting against Rotherham United
Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...
in a 6–1 defeat.
His contract with Sheffield United was terminated by mutual consent on 31 January 2020. He signed for Hereford on 18 September 2020. On 14 November 2020, Wright was released by Hereford.
On 26 February 2021, Wright joined League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side Mansfield Town
Mansfield Town Football Club is a professional football club based in the town of Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed 'The Stags', they play in a blue and ...
on a contract until the end of May 2021.
On 22 July 2021, Wright signed for Conference North side Boston United. Wright was released at the end of the 2021–22 season.
Style of play
He can play at left back or centre back
In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring.
Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...
.
Career statistics
Honours
Club
Oxford United
*Conference Premier
The National League, known as the Vanarama National League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest level of the National League System and fifth-highest of the overall English football league system. It is the highest league that is semi-professi ...
play-offs: 2010
*Football League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
runner-up: 2015–16
Sheffield United
* EFL League One: 2016–17
References
External links
Jake Wright profile
at the Sheffield United F.C. website
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Jake
1986 births
Living people
Footballers from Keighley
English men's footballers
Men's association football defenders
Bradford City A.F.C. players
Halifax Town A.F.C. players
Crawley Town F.C. players
Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players
Oxford United F.C. players
Sheffield United F.C. players
Bolton Wanderers F.C. players
Hereford F.C. players
Mansfield Town F.C. players
Boston United F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players