Thomas Wright (20 January 1928 – 5 May 2011) was a Scottish

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 played for Sunderland and the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...

as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

Club career

He started his professional footballing career with Partick Thistle, where he made 35 appearances scoring 20 goals ranging from 1946 until 1949. From Partick Thistle, he joined Sunderland in 1949, and made his debut on 12 March 1949 against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

in a 4–1 defeat at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland A.F.C. from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated ...

. He was part of the Sunderland team that finished third in the 1949–50 season and played regularly. Overall, in his Sunderland career he scored 51 goals in 170 league appearances, before moving to East Fife in 1955, in a deal seeing

Charlie Fleming Charles Fleming (12 July 1927 – 14 August 1997) was a Scottish footballer who played for Blairhall Colliery, East Fife, Sunderland and the Scotland national team. Fleming was nicknamed 'Cannonball Charlie' for his shooting ability, and is Ba ...

going the other way. He made 36 appearances scoring 18 goals during 1955 to 1957 at his time at East Fife. He then moved to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. The history of Oldham Athletic be ...

in 1957 where he made 7 appearances and scored 2 goals in a single season. He then moved on a short spell to

North Shields North Shields () is a town in the Borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. Since 1974, it has been in the North Tyneside borough of Tyne and Wea ...

before retiring in 1957.

International career

Wright won his first international cap for

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

against

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

in a 2–1 on 18 October 1952 at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a football stadium in the Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovations during its lifespan and hosted fixtu ...

. He won two further caps for his country, making it three in total, without scoring a goal. A regular at the "Whitegates Comrie" until he was taken to a retirement home in Sunderland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tommy 1928 births Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players 2011 deaths Footballers from Clackmannanshire North Shields F.C. players Men's association football wingers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Blairhall Colliery F.C. players