Tyreik Samuel Wright (born 22 September 2001) is an Irish professional

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 plays as a winger for Plymouth Argyle. Wright is a product of the

Aston Villa Academy The Aston Villa Under-21s, formerly known as Aston Villa Reserves and Aston Villa Under-23s, are the most senior youth development team of Aston Villa and compete in Premier League 2 (Division 2) of the Professional Development League, the Pr ...

, having signed as a junior from Irish youth side Lakewood Athletic. He has played on loan at

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 ...

sides

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre in the West Midlands County, England. Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located north-west of Birmingham, east of Wolverhampton and from Lichfield. Walsall is th ...

, Salford City,

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 ...

and

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 has represented the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern ...

at youth levels up to under-21.

Club career

Aston Villa

Wright is from

Ovens, County Cork Ovens (), formerly also Athnowen, is a small village adjacent to the town of Ballincollig, County Cork, Ireland. The 2006 census recorded that the population of the village was 1,703 - an increase of 62.1% from the 2002 Census. Ovens is within ...

and began his career with local club Lakewood at the age of 5, before signing for English club Aston Villa in July 2018. He moved on loan to

on 13 January 2021. On 23 January, Wright made his professional debut in a 3–1 away league victory against

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 ...

. On 6 July 2021, Wright was amongst several Academy players who were given new professional contracts, and on 17 August, Wright joined Salford City in

on a season-long loan. He made his Salford City debut the same day, as a substitute in a 2–1 defeat 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 ...

. On 28 August, he scored his first professional goal in Salford's 3–0 home win against Newport County, opening the scoring in the first minute of his side's first win of the season. He was recalled from his loan on 14 January 2022. On 31 January 2022, he moved on loan to

. He made his Colchester United debut on 5 February, in a 1–0 away victory over

Leyton Orient Leyton Orient Football Club is a professional football club based in Leyton, East London, England, who compete in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are the second oldest football club in London to play at a profession ...

. On 12 February, Wright scored his first goal for Colchester, in a 2–2 League Two draw against Carlisle United. On 1 September 2022, Wright returned to League Two when he joined

on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season. After two substitute appearances, he made his full debut on 17 September, scoring one goal and setting up another in a man-of-the-match display. In October 2022 local media said that his "form continues to impress".

Plymouth Argyle

On 9 January 2023, Aston Villa recalled Wright from his Bradford City loan. Later that day he signed for Plymouth Argyle.

International career

He has played for the Republic of Ireland at under-17, under-18 and under-19 youth levels. He made his Republic of Ireland under-21 debut in a 2–1 win over Wales under-21 in March 2021. On 3 September 2021, Wright scored his first goal for Ireland under-21 in a

2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification The 2023 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying competition was a men's under-21 football competition to determine the 14 teams that would be joining the automatically qualified co-hosts Romania and Georgia in the 2023 UEFA European Under ...

match against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. He was recalled to the under-21 squad in September 2022, meaning he would miss one Bradford City game. He said he hoped to regain his club first-team place upon his return, after scoring one goal and setting up another in a man-of-the-match display. Wright missed a penalty as Ireland under-21s lost on penalties to Israel in the European Championship qualifying play-offs.

Playing style

Wright is known for his pace. His manager at Bradford,

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh football coach and former player who is the manager of Bradford City. During his playing career he usually operated as a forward or midfielder. He had two spells at Manchester United, an ...

, praised Wright for having "good awareness", noting that he is "calm in possession and keeps the ball".

Personal life

Wright has also played Gaelic football. Wright is a Manchester United fan. On 24 February 2021, Wright's loan club Walsall and parent club Aston Villa released joint statements condemning racist abuse that he had received on Instagram. The messages were reported to both the social media platform and West Midlands Police's Hate Crime Unit for investigation. On 27 September 2021, police charged a 17-year-old from the North East with sending the abusive messages under the

Communications Act 2003 The Communications Act 2003 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. The act, which came into force on 25 July 2003, superseded the Telecommunications Act 1984. The new act was the responsibility of Culture Secretary Tessa Jowell. It ...

Career statistics

Honours

Plymouth Argyle * EFL League One: 2022–23

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tyreik 2001 births Living people Republic of Ireland men's association footballers Aston Villa F.C. players Walsall F.C. players Salford City F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Bradford City A.F.C. players Plymouth Argyle F.C. players English Football League players Men's association football wingers Republic of Ireland men's youth international footballers Republic of Ireland expatriate men's association footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Black Irish sportspeople Republic of Ireland men's under-21 international footballers