Shaun Wright-Phillips

Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips (born 25 October 1981) is an English former professional footballer who played as a winger.

He played in the Premier League and Football League for Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers, in Major League Soccer for the New York Red Bulls, in the United Soccer League for the New York Red Bulls II and Phoenix Rising FC, and at senior international level for the England national team.

A Nottingham Forest youth product, he spent 13 seasons playing in the Premier League during spells with Manchester City, Chelsea and Queens Park Rangers.

Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips was born on 25 October 1981 in Greenwich, Greater London.

He is the son of former England international Ian Wright, who adopted him at the age of three.

His younger brother, Bradley Wright-Phillips, is also a professional footballer and the all-time top scorer for the New York Red Bulls.

Wright-Phillips grew up in Brockley and attended Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross Gate.

Wright-Phillips is of Trinidadian and Grenadian descent.

Wright-Phillips was released by Nottingham Forest aged 17 and Manchester City took him to Maine Road.

He made his first-team debut as a substitute in the second leg of a League Cup match against Burnley, replacing Terry Cooke.

His league debut came two months later at Port Vale.

Brought on as substitute striker, he helped his team turn a 1–0 deficit into a 2–1 win.

His shot resulted in the first Manchester City goal, which Wright-Phillips attempted to claim, though the strike was later credited as an own goal instead.

He then started the next two matches in place of Paul Dickov, who was absent through injury.

Once Dickov recovered, Wright-Phillips returned to the reserves, making only one further first team appearance that season.

City finished second in the First Division, resulting in promotion to the Premier League for the 2000–01 season.

Wright-Phillips featured more regularly than the previous season but was still not fully established in the first team, making 12 starts and seven substitute appearances playing in a variety of attacking positions.

Manchester City's stay in the Premier League was brief; at the end of the season they were relegated.

Under Keegan, Wright-Phillips firmly established himself in the first team, not as a forward, but as a wing-back.

Keegan was known for playing attacking football, and decided to use the attacking Wright-Phillips in a traditionally defensive position due to his mobility and dribbling ability.

From 2000 to 2003, Wright-Phillips won Manchester City's Young Player of the Year award four times in succession, surpassing Steve Kinsey's record of three times.

On 17 November 2004, he became one of the main targets of racist chants from sections of the Spanish crowd at an international friendly between England and Spain in Madrid.

However, he brushed that aside with his performance in his next Manchester City appearance at Portsmouth, saying to reporters after the match, "I just let the football do the talking".

He also has a similar response regarding his father, saying in an interview with manchesteronline.co.uk: "The press brought up my adopted father's name. They relate to his name and that is fine by me – it comes with the name, but I will be my own man. I have made my own path and started to take my own steps.".

His son is also going through City's youth ranks at the moment.

On 18 July 2005, Wright-Phillips completed a £21 million move to Premier League champions Chelsea, returning to his native London.

He joined the club on a five-year contract after agreeing to personal terms and passing a medical.

He had previously said he would not leave Manchester City.

His appearances were initially limited, starting only 15 times for Chelsea in 2005–06 and struggling to find scoring form.

An inconsistent first season with Chelsea culminated in him missing out on the opportunity to travel to Germany with the England squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

Despite making few first-team appearances, Wright-Phillips maintained that he was happy at Chelsea and wanted to stay and fight for a first-team place.

He received a boost from his manager José Mourinho, when the latter declined to make an approach for Real Betis winger Joaquín, stating that he had enough options in terms of wingers.

His first goal for the club came in a 2–0 Champions League win over Levski Sofia on 5 December 2006, in his 52nd match and almost 17 months after his transfer.

As 2006–07 progressed, Wright-Phillips picked up form and scored his first league goal against West Ham United on 18 April, following it up with his second in the same match.

Subsequently, he started in several matches towards the end of the season including the 2007 FA Cup Final which Chelsea won.

At the beginning of 2007–08, Wright-Phillips maintained his starting place on the right wing.

He also maintained his place after José Mourinho left Chelsea and under new coach Avram Grant.

The England international scored six goals in 36 appearances for the national team, which included selection for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

In 2015, he joined Major League Soccer club New York Red Bulls alongside his brother, Bradley.

Wright-Phillips joined Phoenix Rising FC in 2017.