Welcome to Last Word on Football’s ‘Families in Football’ series. Over the next few weeks, we take a look at siblings, cousins and even parents and children that have played the beautiful game. Some have played cup finals together while others have been on opposing sides. Ian Wright, along with sons Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips, are in focus today.
Families in Football: Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips and Father Ian Wright
Here we are faced with a trio of relatives. Ian Wright’s story coming through in football is marvellous and following in his footsteps have been Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips. The latter is still action over in MLS whilst the other two no longer play. All three have scored a plethora of goals, competed at the very highest level and in general, have been hugely popular figures in the landscape.
Ian Wright
Starting first then with dad Ian. ‘Wrighty’ is now a beloved TV pundit currently, his beaming smile and infectious laugh accompanying his analysis very well. Before all of this though, he was of course a player in his own right. However, it wasn’t until he was 21-years-old that he made his debut in full-time football.
Just shy of his 22nd birthday, the striker moved to Crystal Palace having been playing non-league football. Wright first broke through at Selhurst Park where he proved to be very prolific in front of goal.
Alongside Mark Bright, he helped the Eagles to promotion to the top flight through the play-offs in 1989, top-scoring with 33 goals and winning the club’s player of the year in the process.
What followed were arguably the two best seasons in the club’s history – in 1990, Wright scored twice as Palace and Manchester United played out a 3-3 classic in the FA Cup final (losing 1-0 in the replay) and in 1991, a club-high third-place finish was achieved
Wright’s performances soon caught the attention of bigger clubs, and he was snapped up by Arsenal in a club-record £2.5 million deal in September 1991.
He finished his Palace career with 117 goals, a post-war record, and in 2005 was named their player of the century.
At Highbury, Wright’s legend only grew, a hat-trick on his league debut kick-starting a season where he would win the first division golden boot with 29 goals.
He became an integral part of the club’s success in the ‘90s, top-scoring for the Gunners in six consecutive seasons, a record only topped by Thierry Henry.
In his seven seasons at Arsenal, he won numerous cups – a league cup and fa cup double in 1993, followed by the European Cup Winners’ Cup the next year.
Wright made 626 career appearances for six different clubs and netted an impressive 324 goals. He also added nine goals from 33 England appearances. During his career, Ian Wright won promotion to the top flight with Palace before winning one Premier League titles, two FA Cups, one League Cup and one European Cup Winners’ Cup while at Arsenal. He also won the Intertoto Cup during a brief spell at West Ham United.
Shaun Wright-Phillips
Now to the older of the two star siblings, Shaun Wright-Phillips. He first played for Ten-em-Bee, an amateur team in Bermondsey that Ian also played for. In terms of a professional level, Manchester City was where it all truly began after he was released by Nottingham Forest at the age of 17.
Wright-Phillips would land a club-record four consecutive Young Player of the Year awards from 2000/03, before landing Player of the Year in 2004.
He enjoyed two stints in the Sky Blue of City either side three seasons at Chelsea where he won both the Premier League and the FA Cup.
Interestingly, Shaun did have his own stint with the New York Red Bulls but it didn’t quite work out for him like it did with his younger brother, Bradley.
Shaun made 36 appearances for England which is more than both Ian and Bradley. Also, prior to the move abroad, Shaun had a spell with Queens Park Rangers where he only managed one Premier League goal.
Bradley Wright-Phillips
Finally to Bradley Wright-Phillips then who is still playing. Bradley is five year’s Shaun’s junior at 35. He made his professional debut at Manchester City in 2004 whilst his brother was at the club too, but his career didn’t quite last the test of time. Southampton, Plymouth Argyle and Charlton Athletic (where he won promotion from the Championship) were clubs where he spent a number of years in England before making a switch to the USA.
Talking of England, the U20s was the highest level at which he represented his country, rejecting the chance to play for both Grenada and Jamaica.
Bradley went across the pond in 2013 and the rest is history. He quickly became a fan favourite with the New York Red Bulls and has gone on to break a number of scoring records. On 117 goals and counting, Bradley is sixth on the overall MLS scoring charts.
Since departing the big apple, he has become less important. His move away from New York may have been with trophies in mind but, whereas he won the Supporters’ Shield three times with the Red Bulls, for LAFC and now the Columbus Crew.
Games Played Together and Against
It goes without saying that Wrighty’s career never crossed paths with that of his sons. Wright saw out his career with a year at Burnley, this coming at the same time as Shaun burst onto the scene.
Shaun and Bradley on the other hand, as previously mentioned, were together with Man City then again shared the field for the Red Bulls. They graced the pitch at the same time on 34 occasions for the two clubs.
Interesting Facts
Ian adopted Shaun, the son of his then-girlfriend Sharon Phillips, before having Bradley with her. Ian has another child named Brett who was also a footballer but to a less successful degree.
Ian and Shaun are one of only two father and sons to both play for England. They were also the first father-son duo to both win the Premier League – since joined by Peter and Kasper Schmeichel.
Shaun’s son D’Margio currently plays in the Stoke City academy.
In 2000, shortly after retiring, Ian Wright was awarded an MBE for services to football.
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