Billy Wright (born 4 November 1962) is a 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 lea ...

who played as a striker. His senior career included stints with Burnley F.C. (England), Dundalk (Ireland) as well as

National Soccer League The National Soccer League (NSL) was the top-level soccer league in Australia, run by Soccer Australia and later the Australian Soccer Association. The NSL, the A-League's predecessor, spanned 28 seasons from its inception in 1977 until its ...

clubs

Blacktown City Demons Blacktown City Football Club is an Australian semi-professional soccer club based in Blacktown, New South Wales. Founded in 1953, the club currently competes in the National Premier Leagues NSW. Blacktown City's home ground is Landen Stadium in ...

, West Adelaide and Morwell Falcons. Born in England, he represented the New Zealand national team at international level. Wright was perhaps best known for his three separate stints with the Morwell Falcons - first joining the club in 1989, where he played a pivotal role in a dynamic partnership with Croatian striker Darko Basara. The pair combined for 19 league goals as the Falcons broke through for their second Victorian state championship in six years. He also hit a memorable hat-trick in just 24 minutes against Maribyrnong Polonia in the second round of the Dockerty Cup. He then signed for West Adelaide - the very club who defeated Morwell for promotion to the National Soccer League in 1989. He would rejoin Morwell in 1992 for their debut in the National Soccer League and played a pivotal role as the Falcons went within a point of making the finals in just their season season in the top flight. He would come back to the Latrobe Valley in 1996 for a final two-year spell, although by then he was in his mid-30s and spent much of his time mentoring future Socceroos international Archie Thompson. Wright would finish his career in the lower divisions of Victorian football and still remained particularly prolific into his late 30's. Wright made his full debut for New Zealand in a 2–0 win over

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

on 21 June 1988 and ended his international playing career having played 26 times for the ''All Whites'', including 15 A-internationals in which he scored 9 goals, his final official cap being in a 1–0 loss to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

on 30 May 1993. Wright has since moved to coaching where he has found his calling combining his talent and love of the game with his tough play style.

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* 1962 births Living people New Zealand men's association footballers English men's footballers Men's association football forwards New Zealand men's international footballers English Football League players Cypriot First Division players Burnley F.C. players Crewe Alexandra F.C. players Apollon Limassol FC players Dundalk F.C. players Blacktown City FC players West Adelaide SC players Falcons 2000 SC players Uni-Mount Bohemian AFC players Miramar Rangers AFC players Dandenong Thunder SC players English expatriate men's footballers English expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus People from Corbridge Footballers from Northumberland 20th-century New Zealand sportsmen {{NewZealand-footy-forward-stub