Mark Anthony Wright (born 24 February 1982 in

Wolverhampton Wolverhampton () is a city, metropolitan borough and administrative centre in the West Midlands, England. The population size has increased by 5.7%, from around 249,500 in 2011 to 263,700 in 2021. People from the city are called "Wulfrunian ...

) is an English former professional footballer.

Playing career

Walsall

Wright is a product of

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 ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

, and aside from a short spell at

Nuneaton Borough Nuneaton Borough Football Club is an English football club that is based in Nuneaton, Warwickshire. The men's 1st team competes in the , the seventh tier of English football. In 1889, Nuneaton St. Nicholas FC was the first team in Nuneaton t ...

for some first-team experience, he plied his trade steadily at the

Bescot Stadium Bescot Stadium, also known as the Poundland Bescot Stadium for sponsorship purposes, is a football stadium in Walsall, England, and the current home ground of Walsall Football Club. It was built in 1989–90, by GMI Construction, with a reporte ...

with Walsall for seven years. His first appearance in a Walsall shirt came as a late substitute in the 1–1 draw at

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

in the 2000–01

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

second round. Despite a further handful of substitute appearances he did not make the side regularly, and the 2001–02 season saw him spend some time at

. Wright was judged ready for stand-in starting action in 2002, and finally cemented his place in the team by the beginning of 2004.

Milton Keynes Dons

Mark was released by

in May 2007, and subsequently joined

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. At Milton Keynes he enjoyed arguably the best season of his career, netting 13 goals from the right wing, many of them crucial. He finished the 2007/08 season as Milton Keynes' top goalscorer, as the Dons won both the

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 ...

title and the

Football League Trophy The English Football League Trophy, known for sponsorship purposes as the Papa Johns Trophy after restaurant chain Papa John's Pizza, is an annual English association football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL Leag ...

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 19 June 2009, Wright signed a two-year contract 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 ...

rivals

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 ...

. After failing to settle in the area, Wright transferred to

Bristol Rovers Bristol Rovers Football Club are a professional football club in Bristol, England. They compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. They play home matches at the Memorial Stadium in Horfield, they have been c ...

for an undisclosed fee on transfer deadline day, 1 September 2009.One In, One Out
, ''Brighton & Hove Albion F.C.'', 1 September 2009 However, he has also struggled to settle with his new club, and as a result, he was transfer-listed at the end of the season.

Shrewsbury Town (loan)

On 16 July 2010, it was announced he would be loaned to

Shrewsbury Town Shrewsbury Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of English football. The club plays its home games at the New Meadow, having mo ...

. On 23 November 2010, he scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in a 4–0 win for Shrewsbury Town against

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 'The ...

Shrewsbury Town

In the transfer window of January, Wright Signed for the

Shrews Shrews (family Soricidae) are small mole-like mammals classified in the order Eulipotyphla. True shrews are not to be confused with treeshrews, otter shrews, elephant shrews, West Indies shrews, or marsupial shrews, which belong to different fam ...

for an undisclosed fee, on a deal taking him to the end of the 2012/13 season. In all, Wright amassed over 80 appearances for

, including playing a pivotal part in their promotion back to

in 2012. The following season was hampered by injury and Wright was limited to only a handful of appearances after Christmas. In May 2013, after the expiration of his contract, Wright left

Tamworth

On 5 September 2013, Mark Wright joined

Conference National 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-profes ...

side Tamworth; the deal was highlighted as a short-term deal, as it was deemed that Wright was looking to continue his career in

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 ...

, but following a difficult summer period failing to find new club, Wright decided to join Tamworth in a bid to get himself back in the shop window. Following 14 appearances and one goal, Wright left Tamworth on 6 January 2014.

Stourbridge

On 2 October 2015 Wright signed for

Northern Premier League The Northern Premier League is an English football league that was founded in 1968. It has four divisions: the Premier Division (which stands at level 7 of the English football league system), Division One East, Division One West and Divisio ...

side Stourbridge.

Honours

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 ...

(IV): 2007, 2008 Runner up: 2012 *

: 2008

References

External links

Mark Wright player profile
at mkdons.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Mark 1982 births Footballers from Wolverhampton Living people Association football midfielders English footballers Walsall F.C. players Nuneaton Borough F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Brighton & Hove Albion F.C. players Bristol Rovers F.C. players Shrewsbury Town F.C. players Tamworth F.C. players English Football League players National League (English football) players Stourbridge F.C. players