Levi George Wright (15 January 1862 – 11 January 1953) was an English footballer and
first-class cricket
First-class cricket, along with List A cricket and Twenty20 cricket, is one of the highest-standard forms of cricket. A first-class match is one of three or more days' scheduled duration between two sides of eleven players each and is officiall ...
er. He played association football for
Derby County
Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group.
Founded in 1884 ...
and
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League (division), National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 2 ...
and cricket for
Derbyshire
Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands, England. It includes much of the Peak District National Park, the southern end of the Pennine range of hills and part of the National Forest. It borders Greater Manchester to the nor ...
from 1883 to 1909 being captain for a season and a half in 1906–07. He scored over 15,000 runs in his first-class career and took 237 catches. He was one of nineteen sportsman who achieved the Derbyshire Double of playing cricket for Derbyshire and football for Derby County.
Wright was born at
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
and moved to
Derby
Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...
in 1881 to become a teacher at St Anne's School. He first played for the Napier Cricket Club, a pub team based at 'Sir Charles Napier' in Derby and then for the Derby Midland Club.
[Bygone Derbyshire – Levi Wright]
/ref> He played for Derbyshire from 1883 through to 1909, his career including the period from 1888 to 1894 when Derbyshire were demoted from first-class status because of poor results. They were reinstated in 1894 and admitted to the County Championship
The County Championship (referred to as the LV= Insurance County Championship for sponsorship reasons) is the domestic first-class cricket competition in England and Wales and is organised by the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). It bec ...
in 1895. He captained Derbyshire for part of 1906 and for the whole season in 1907, although the team finished bottom of the Championship in both seasons.
Wright was a right-handed batsman and a renowned fieldsman at point. He also occasionally kept wicket. Wright made almost 15,000 runs for Derbyshire at an average of 26 runs per innings. His best seasons came as he got older: he scored 1,000 runs in a season six times, the first when he was 37 years old, and his best season of all was 1905, when in all matches he scored 1,855 runs, at an average of more than 42 runs per innings. The citation as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year
The ''Wisden'' Cricketers of the Year are cricketers selected for the honour by the annual publication ''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', based primarily on their "influence on the previous English season". The award began in 1889 with the naming ...
in the 1906 edition of Wisden
''Wisden Cricketers' Almanack'', or simply ''Wisden'', colloquially the Bible of Cricket, is a cricket reference book published annually in the United Kingdom. The description "bible of cricket" was first used in the 1930s by Alec Waugh in a ...
paid tribute not just to his run-getting at the age of 43, but also his continued quick reactions as a fielder.
He took many brilliant catches, standing within four or five yards of the bat, and on one occasion came in so close that he caught the bat instead of the ball.
Football career
Levi Wright played association football for local club Derby Midland
Derby railway station (, also known as Derby Midland) is a main line railway station serving the city of Derby in Derbyshire, England. Owned by Network Rail and managed by East Midlands Railway, the station is also used by CrossCountry servic ...
from 1887 until 1888. He was signed by Derby County before the inaugural Football League season began in September 1888.
Levi Wright, playing at centre–half, made his Derby County and League
League or The League may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
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Sports
* Sports league
* Rugby league, full contact footba ...
debut on 29 September 1888 at County Ground, the then home of Derby County. The visitors were Preston North End
Preston North End Football Club, commonly referred to as Preston, North End or PNE, is a professional football club in Preston, Lancashire, England, who currently play in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league syste ...
and Derby County lost the match 3–2. Levi Wright also scored his debut and only League goal in this match. He scored Derby County' second goal to put Derby County 2–0 in the lead. On 13 October 1888 Levi Wright was supplanted as the oldest Derby County League player by William Chatterton
William Chatterton (27 December 1861 – 19 March 1913) was an English cricketer and footballer. He played first-class cricket for Derbyshire between 1882 and 1902 and for England on their tour of South Africa in 1891–92. He captained Derbys ...
. Wright appeared in four of the 22 League matches played by Derby County in season 1888–89.
Levi Wright only played the four League matches for Derby County, scoring the one goal, and was not retained for 1889–90 season and was signed by Notts County but he never played for them and never played top-flight football again.
Wright died at Normanton, Derbyshire
Normanton is an inner city suburb and ward of the city of Derby in Derbyshire, England, situated approximately south of the city centre. Neighbouring suburbs include Littleover, Pear Tree, Rose Hill and Sunny Hill. The original village of Norman ...
at the age of nearly 91.
Football Statistics
Source:
See also
*List of English cricket and football players
This is a list of sportspeople who have played both first-class cricket and top level football in England. The list includes thirteen sportspeople who are dual internationals, having represented England's national team at both sports.
Footballer ...
References
External links
– Run Crazy Derbyshire A Cricket Record
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Levi
1862 births
1953 deaths
English footballers
English cricketers
Derbyshire cricket captains
Gentlemen cricketers
Wisden Cricketers of the Year
Derby Midland F.C. players
Derby County F.C. players
Notts County F.C. players
Association footballers not categorized by position
North v South cricketers
Footballers from Oxford
Cricketers from Oxford