Stephen John Wright (born 8 February 1980) is an English former footballer who currently works as Youth Team Manager at Wrexham. Club career Liverpool Born in Bootle, Liverpool, Wright joined Liverpool on a youth contract in June 1996, choosing to join Liverpool over rivals Everton, the club he supported as a boy. Wright turned professional a year later in August 1997, and the following season was named as an unused substitute for the UEFA Cup clash with Celta Vigo on 24 November 1998 alongside Steven Gerrard. Following two successful loan spells with Crewe Alexandra in the 1999–2000 season, Wright made his Liverpool debut in the 8–0 drubbing of Stoke City on 29 November 2000 in the League Cup, replacing Markus Babbel at half time. He went on to play 4 times that season for Liverpool, including a brief substitute appearance against future club Sunderland at the Stadium of Light in February 2001. He was also an unused substitute as Liverpool won the 2001 UEFA Cup Final. Initially starting out as a centre back, Wright made the transition to right back during the 2001–02 season, where he established himself as a useful member of the Liverpool squad. On 27 October 2001, Wright saw red for the first time in his career, after being sent off against Charlton Athletic at The Valley. Wright scored his first goal for the club 3 days later in the UEFA Champions League against Borussia Dortmund. The game ended 2–0 to Liverpool. Wright eventually went on to make 21 first team appearances for Liverpool, while scoring only the one goal. Sunderland After finding first team opportunities increasingly difficult to come by, Wright joined Sunderland in a £1.5m deal, which would eventually rise to £3m. Wright was handed the number 2 shirt and made first choice right back, replacing Bernt Haas, who had moved on loan to FC Basle. Wright's tough and uncompromising style made him initially popular with the Sunderland faithful, however, a drastic loss of form, combined with Sunderland's dreadful form in the league saw him criticised towards the end of the season. Sunderland were eventually relegated with a record low of 19 points, in a season that saw manager Peter Reid sacked just weeks after signing Wright, and his replacement, Howard Wilkinson, sacked 5 months into his role. Wilkinson was replaced by former Republic of Ireland manager Mick McCarthy, who often alternated between Wright and