Jeffrey George "Jeff" Wrightson (born 18 May 1968) is an English former

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 made 170 appearances in

the Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in Association football around the wor ...

playing as a defender for Newcastle United and Preston North End. He went on to play for a number of

non-League Non-League football describes football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is specifically used to d ...

clubs, in particular Gateshead where he made more than 200 appearances and where from 2007 to 2010 he was assistant manager.

Career

Wrightson was born in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne ( RP: , ), or simply Newcastle, is a city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. The city is located on the River Tyne's northern bank and forms the largest part of the Tyneside built-up area. Newcastle is ...

. He began his football career as a member of Wallsend Boys Club, then signed apprentice forms with his hometown club Newcastle United when he left school in 1984. He played alongside future

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

international Paul Gascoigne in the Newcastle youth team that won the 1985 FA Youth Cup. Wrightson played four games in the Football League First Division before being released at the end of the 1986–87 season. Wrightson joined Preston North End, newly promoted to the Third Division and managed by former Newcastle United defender John McGrath. Used mainly as a substitute in his first few months with the club, he played more regularly later in the season and helped the club to a mid-table position. The following season, Preston adopted a three-man defensive line, with Wrightson playing alongside Bob Atkins and Adrian Hughes; they reached the end-of-season

playoffs The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eit ...

only to lose to eventual winners

Port Vale Port Vale Football Club are a professional football club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent, England, which compete in . Vale are the only English Football League club not to be named after a place; their name being a reference to the valley o ...

. Wrightson won the club's

Player of the Year Several sports leagues honour their best player with an award called Player of the Year (POY) . In the United States, this type of award is usually called a Most Valuable Player award. Association football In association football, this award is he ...

award in the 1990–91 season, but was released at the end of the next season after turning down the offer of a new two-year contract. He had scored five goals from nearly 200 games in all competitions. After an unsuccessful trial with Blackpool he returned to his native north-east, where he signed for non-league Gateshead. In five seasons with the club he made a total of 226 appearances, before enjoying spells with

Yeovil Town Yeovil Town may refer to: * Yeovil Town F.C., an English football team based in Yeovil, Somerset * Yeovil Town L.F.C. Bridgwater United Women's Football Club are an English women's association football club based in Bridgwater, Somerset who wer ...

, Spennymoor United and

Blyth Spartans Blyth Spartans Association Football Club is a football club based in Blyth, Northumberland. They are currently members of and play at Croft Park. They were founded in September 1899 by Fred Stoker, who was the club's first secretary before fo ...

. He coached juniors at Walker Central BC for three years, before returning to Gateshead in May 2007 as assistant to former Newcastle and Preston teammate

Ian Bogie Ian Bogie (born 6 December 1967) is a former footballer, and former manager of Gateshead and Stockport County. He spent two decades as a professional player, from 1985 up until 2001 he was playing in the English Football League, where he made ...

, newly appointed as first team manager. In 2008 they led the club to promotion to the

Conference North The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Syst ...

, and promotion to the Conference National the following season. Wrightson left Gateshead after the 2009–10 season, as he was unable to commit to a full-time role for the following season.

Personal life

His son Kieran played youth and reserve football for Newcastle United and currently plays Non-League football for North Shields F.C.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wrightson, Jeff 1968 births Living people Footballers from Newcastle upon Tyne English men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Wallsend Boys Club players Preston North End F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Gateshead F.C. players Yeovil Town F.C. players Spennymoor United A.F.C. players Blyth Spartans A.F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Gateshead F.C. non-playing staff