Shaun Wright-Phillips

Manchester City

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. 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,…

Wright-Phillips made his England debut as a substitute for Nicky Butt against Ukraine on 18 August 2004. He scored the last of England's goals in a 3–0 win, described by BBC Sport as "crowning a solo run with a stunning finish." He was a regular member of England's squad during qualification for the 2006 FIFA World Cup and made his first competitive start in a 1–0 away win over Wales. After a decline in form, however, especially a poor performance away to Northern Ireland, and a lack of matches following his move to Chelsea, he missed out on a place in the squad for the World Cup finals. After a good start to the 2007–08 season, Wright-Phillips received an England recall to play against Germany in a friendly match at the new Wembley Stadium. Wright-Phillips was brought on as a substitute in the second half during the match in which England lost 2–1 to Germany and he was named the England sponsor's man of the match after an impressive performance. On 8 September 2007, Wright-Phillips was selected to start against Israel in a UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier he scored the first goal in the 3–0 victory and won the England sponsor's man of the match award with his performance. He was then selected to start for England against Estonia and scored his third goal for England and the opener in a third consecutive 3–0 win at Wembley. He was selected in England's critical Euro 2008 qualifying match against Croatia, substituted at half time in favour of David Beckham with England trailing 2–0,…

Shaun Cameron Wright-Phillips was born on 25 October 1981 in Greenwich, Greater London. He is the adopted son of former England international Ian Wright. Wright adopted the son of then-girlfriend Sharon Phillips, when Shaun was three years old. 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 has a son, D'Margio Wright-Phillips, who plays for Belgian club Beerschot. He is also capped for England U16s.