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{{short description|English footballer and manager}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2016}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2016}}
{{Infobox football biography
|name = Harry Wright
|image =
|image_size =
|caption =
|fullname = Harold Edward Wright<ref name="WWCU">{{cite book |last1=Whitehead |first1=Jeff |last2=Drury |first2=Kevin |title=The Who's Who of Colchester United: The Layer Road Years |year=2008 |publisher=Breedon Books |location=Derby |isbn=978-1-85983-629-3 |page=257}}</ref>
|birth_date = {{Birth date|df=y|1909|06|03}}<ref name="WWCU"/>
|birth_place = [[Tottenham]], London, England
|death_date = April 1994 (aged 84)<ref name="WWCU"/>
|death_place = [[King's Lynn]], England<ref name="WWCU"/>
|height =
|position = [[Goalkeeper (association football)|Goalkeeper]]
|currentclub =
|clubnumber =
|youthyears1 =
|youthclubs1 =
|years1 =
|clubs1 = [[Harwich & Parkeston F.C.|Harwich & Parkeston]]
|caps1 =
|goals1 =
|years2 = 1932–1935
|clubs2 = [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]
|caps2 = 38
|goals2 = 0
|years3 = 1936–1937
|clubs3 = [[Aldershot F.C.|Aldershot]]
|caps3 = 28
|goals3 = 0
|years4 =
|clubs4 = [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]]
|caps4 = 25
|goals4 = 0
|years5 =
|clubs5 = [[Chelmsford City F.C.|Chelmsford City]]
|caps5 =
|goals5 =
|years6 = 1946–1949
|clubs6 = [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]]
|caps6 = 50
|goals6 = 0
|totalcaps = 141
|totalgoals = 0
|nationalyears1 = 1935
|nationalteam1 = [[England national football team|England XI]]
|nationalcaps1 = 1
|nationalgoals1 = 0
|manageryears1 = 1961–1963
|managerclubs1 = [[India national under-20 football team|India U19]]
|manageryears2 = 1963–1964
|managerclubs2 = [[India national football team|India]]
| medaltemplates = {{medalSport|Men's [[Association football|football]]}}
{{Medal|Country|{{fb|IND}}}} <small>(as manager)</small>
{{MedalComp|[[AFC Asian Cup]]}}
{{Medal|RU|[[1964 AFC Asian Cup|1964]]|}}
}}

'''Harold Edward Wright''' (3 June 1909 – April 1994) was an English professional [[Association football|footballer]] and [[Manager (association football)|manager]] who played as a [[Goalkeeper (association football)|goalkeeper]] in [[the Football League]] for [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]], [[Aldershot F.C.|Aldershot]], and [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]], and managed the [[India national football team|India national team]] between 1963 and 1964.

Wright began his playing career with [[Harwich & Parkeston F.C.|Harwich & Parkeston]], but by 1932 he was on the books at Charlton, where he remained for three years. He spent time with [[Aldershot F.C.|Aldershot]] and then [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] before the outbreak of [[World War II]]. He also appeared for [[Southern Football League|Southern League]] sides [[Chelmsford City F.C.|Chelmsford City]] and [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]]. He represented an [[England national football team|England XI]] once in 1935 against an Anglo-Scot team in a friendly game for the [[King George V]] Jubilee Trust Fund.<ref name="RSSSF">{{cite web |url=https://www.rsssf.org/tablese/eng-intres30.html |title=England – International Results 1930–1939 – Details |last= |first= |date= |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-date=3 March 2016 |website=[[RSSSF]] |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200258/http://www.rsssf.com/tablese/eng-intres30.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

Wright took up a coaching role at [[Guildford City F.C.|Guildford City]] following his retirement in 1949, before holding similar positions at [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]] and [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]]. He was named as head coach at [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] in 1956, and later coached the [[India national football team|India]] youth team between 1961 and 1963 in preparation for the [[1963 AFC Youth Championship]]. In 1963, he inherited [[Syed Abdul Rahim]]'s India national team, where Wright led the side to the runners-up spot in the [[1964 AFC Asian Cup|1964 Asian Cup]], which remains the most notable triumph in professional football for India.<ref name="if">{{cite web |url=http://www.indianfootballnetwork.com/blog/2015/08/23/performance-of-foreign-coaches-in-indian-national-football-team/ |title=Performance Of Foreign Coaches In Indian National Football Team |last=Nandi |first=Dhritiman |date=23 August 2015 |publisher=Indianfootballnetwork.com |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-date=23 June 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160623082258/http://www.indianfootballnetwork.com/blog/2015/08/23/performance-of-foreign-coaches-in-indian-national-football-team/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.the-aiff.com/article/indian-football-down-the-years-looking-back-at-the-glorious-moments#|title=Indian Football Down the Years: Looking back at the glorious moments|first=AIFF|last=Media Team|website=www.the-aiff.com|publisher=[[All India Football Federation]]|language=en|trans-title=|location=New Delhi|agency=|date=15 August 2022|access-date=20 October 2022|archive-date=21 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220921011335/https://www.the-aiff.com/article/indian-football-down-the-years-looking-back-at-the-glorious-moments}}</ref>

==Club career==

Born in [[Tottenham]], London, Wright initially played for [[Essex]] outfit [[Harwich & Parkeston F.C.|Harwich & Parkeston]], but by 1932 he had joined [[The Football League|Football League]] side [[Charlton Athletic F.C.|Charlton Athletic]]. Between 1932 and 1935, Wright made 38 league appearances, despite being understudy to [[Sam Bartram]] as Charlton rose from the [[Football League Third Division|Third Division]] to the [[Football League First Division|First Division]].

During the [[1936–37 Football League|1936–37 season]], Wright played 28 times for [[Aldershot F.C.|Aldershot]] as they finished bottom of the Football League. However, a fee of £2,500 saw him move to [[Derby County F.C.|Derby County]] for the following season, where he played 25 times.

In the [[World War II|war years]], Wright played at [[Layer Road]], the ground of his future club [[Colchester United F.C.|Colchester United]] alongside his future manager [[Ted Fenton]] while playing for an [[Eastern Command (United Kingdom)|Eastern Command]] side.<ref name="WWCU"/> Having also played for [[Southern Football League|Southern League]] side [[Chelmsford City F.C.|Chelmsford City]],<ref name="CUD">{{cite web |url=http://www.coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=122 |title=Harry Wright |last= |first= |date= |publisher=Coludata.co.uk |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-date=23 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923205711/http://www.coludata.co.uk/item.php?pg=player&it=122 |url-status=live }}</ref> Wright signed for Essex rivals Colchester United on 11 July 1946. Despite playing 23 times for Colchester, the club initially decided to not retain Wright for the [[1947–48 Colchester United F.C. season|1947–48 season]], but a month later, a change of heart saw Wright re-sign. In his second season, he helped Colchester reach the fifth round of the [[FA Cup]], but within weeks of the beginning of the [[1948–49 Colchester United F.C. season|1948–49 season]], Wright had suffered an injury that saw him lose his place to Ken Whitehead.<ref name="WWCU"/> His attempted comeback on 23 April 1949 against [[Merthyr Tydfil F.C.|Merthyr Tydfil]] ended early due to injury, meaning Colchester were forced to play [[Forward (association football)|forward]] [[Vic Keeble]] in goal. It would be his final appearance for the club.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://coludata.co.uk/item.php?frmft=True&pg=match&pd=1022&fsea=8&fdfaShowAll=&fcomp1=2&fcomp1ShowAll=&frt=all&fhan=all&it=292 |title=Merthyr Tydfil 2–0 Colchester Utd |last= |first= |date= |publisher=Coludata.co.uk |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-date=20 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020131056/https://www.coludata.co.uk/item.php?frmft=True&pg=match&pd=1022&fsea=8&fdfaShowAll=&fcomp1=2&fcomp1ShowAll=&frt=all&fhan=all&it=292 |url-status=live }}</ref> He made 69 appearances for Colchester in all competitions.

==International career==
Wright made one appearance for an [[England national football team|England XI]] side that played an Anglo-Scots team in the [[King George V]] Jubilee Trust Fund friendly held at [[Arsenal Stadium|Highbury]] on 8 May 1935. A crowd of 8,944 witnessed the 1–0 defeat for the England side, with [[Manchester United F.C.|Manchester United]]'s [[George Mutch]] scoring the only goal of the game.<ref name="WWCU"/><ref name="RSSSF"/><ref name="CUD"/>

==Coaching career==
On leaving Colchester in the summer of 1949, Wright was appointed trainer-[[Coach (sport)|coach]] at [[Guildford City F.C.|Guildford City]]. After qualifying as an [[The Football Association|FA]] coach and [[Physical therapy|physiotherapist]], Wright would hold coaching positions at [[Walsall F.C.|Walsall]] and [[Luton Town F.C.|Luton Town]] before being appointed head coach of First Division [[Everton F.C.|Everton]] in September 1956.

Between 1961 and 1963, Wright spent time in India coaching the Indian youth team in preparation for the [[1963 AFC Youth Championship]] in [[Federation of Malaya|Malaya]].<ref name="WWCU"/> Wright then inherited [[Syed Abdul Rahim]]'s side to become the first foreign coach of the [[India national football team]] after Rahim died in 1963. Wright was tasked with taking his side to the [[1964 AFC Asian Cup]]. They finished as runners-up to hosts [[Israel national football team|Israel]] in the [[round-robin tournament]], which to-date remains the best achievement in Indian professional football.<ref name="if"/><ref>{{cite news |last1=Premachandran |first1=Dileep |date=17 August 2012 |title=Wim Koevermans right man to coach India football team |url=http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/wim-koevermans-right-man-to-coach-india-football-team |newspaper=The National |location=Abu Dhabi |access-date=28 February 2015 |archive-date=4 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304024501/http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/sport-comment/wim-koevermans-right-man-to-coach-india-football-team |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/2002/FS0502f.pdf |title=Rahim Amal Dutta, P.K. and Nayeem: The Coaches Who Shaped Indian Football |last=Kapadia |first=Novy |date=2002 |publisher= |access-date=22 February 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160825230850/http://library.la84.org/SportsLibrary/FootballStudies/2002/FS0502f.pdf |archive-date=25 August 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Wright retired to [[King's Lynn]] in [[Norfolk]], where he died in April 1994.<ref name="WWCU"/>

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{India squad AFC Asian Cup 1964}}
{{India national football team managers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Harry}}
[[Category:1909 births]]
[[Category:1994 deaths]]
[[Category:Footballers from Tottenham]]
[[Category:Men's association football goalkeepers]]
[[Category:English men's footballers]]
[[Category:English football managers]]
[[Category:Harwich & Parkeston F.C. players]]
[[Category:Charlton Athletic F.C. players]]
[[Category:Aldershot F.C. players]]
[[Category:Derby County F.C. players]]
[[Category:Chelmsford City F.C. players]]
[[Category:Colchester United F.C. players]]
[[Category:Walsall F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Luton Town F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:Everton F.C. non-playing staff]]
[[Category:India national football team managers]]
[[Category:Expatriate football managers in India]]
[[Category:English Football League players]]
[[Category:Southern Football League players]]
[[Category:1964 AFC Asian Cup managers]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of World War II]]
[[Category:Association football coaches]]

Harry Wright (footballer, born 1909) - Revision history

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