Joshua William Wright (born 6 November 1989) is an English
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...
and former professional footballer who played as a
midfielder
In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...
. He is currently manager of club
Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1946 from the merger ...
.
Wright played for
Gillingham between 2015 and 2017,
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
from 2011 to 2015 and
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The club was formed in ...
between 2009 and 2011. He began his career at
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
at the age of 17 in 2007, but spent the majority of his two years there on loan at
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
*Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
,
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
and
Gillingham.
Club career
Charlton Athletic
Born in
Bethnal Green
Bethnal Green is an area in London, England, and is located in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is in east London and part of the East End of London, East End. The area emerged from the small settlement which developed around the common la ...
, London,
Wright started his football career at
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system.
Their home ground is ...
, with whom he signed a two-year professional contract in April 2007 at the age of 17 alongside close friend
Harry Arter
Harry Nicholas Arter (born 28 December 1989) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder, central or defensive midfielder for Precision Football, Precision in the UAE Second Division League.
He began hi ...
. Before joining Charlton's academy full-time at the age of 16, he attended Chigwell School in Chigwell, and Roding Valley High School in
Loughton, Essex
Loughton () is a suburban town and Civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Epping Forest District of Essex. The town borders Waltham Abbey, Theydon Bois, Chigwell, Chingford, and Buckhurst Hill, and lies East London, north-east of Char ...
. Fellow professionals
Lee Sawyer
Lee Thomas Sawyer (born 10 September 1989) is an English retired professional footballer who played as a midfielder. A graduate of the Chelsea F.C. academy, he never made a first-team appearance for the club, and spent most of his career in non ...
and
Billy Lumley
William Daniel Lumley (born 28 December 1989) is an English footballer who played as a goalkeeper mainly in England.
Career
Born in Loughton, Essex, Lumley started his career as a youth player at Wolverhampton Wanderers, before joining the Glen ...
also attended Roding Valley High School, while
Jordan Spence
Jordan James Spence (born 24 May 1990) is an English former professional footballer who played as a defender. Predominantly a right-back, Spence also operated as a centre-back.
Spence began his career with West Ham United, and spent time on lo ...
was in the same year group as Wright at Chigwell. He plays in
midfield
In many sports, midfield is the part of a sports field that is near the line that is equally far from the end lines. That is, in American football it is the part of the field near the 50-yard line; in association football (soccer) and field hoc ...
as a
playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...
.
In August of that year, Wright moved to
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
*Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
on loan for what eventually amounted to three months. After a successful spell, which saw him score his first ever goal against
Stockport County
Stockport County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stockport, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in EFL League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
Formed in 1883 as Heaton ...
and be named Barnet's player of the month for November, he returned to Charlton. A month later, he was re-signed on loan by Barnet for the remainder of the
2007–08 season.
On 19 September 2008, Wright was signed by League Two side
Brentford
Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross.
Its economy has dive ...
on a month's loan. The loan was extended but soon after
Alan Pardew
Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who most recently managed Greek Super League club Aris Thessaloniki.
Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup ...
decided to call Wright back due to an injury crisis at the club, where he made an impressive display for Brentford under the management of
Andy Scott.
Following his return from a loan spell at Brentford, he made his debut for Charlton in a 1–1 draw against
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
on 25 October 2008, where he was started for the match. He then joined
Gillingham on loan in March 2009 until the end of the
season
A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
.
He made his debut for Gillingham on 4 April 2009 in the 2–0 home defeat to
Barnet
Barnet may refer to:
People
*Barnet (surname)
*Barnet (given name)
Places United Kingdom
*Chipping Barnet or High Barnet, commonly known as Barnet, one of three focal towns of the borough below.
*East Barnet, a district of the borough below; anc ...
. His four appearances at Gillingham impressed
Mark Stimson
Mark Nicholas Stimson (born 27 December 1967) is an English former footballer and manager. He is currently assistant manager of Cray Wanderers. He signed his first professional contract with Tottenham Hotspur in 1985, but was unable to gain ...
that he extended Wright's loan spell with Gillingham, which allowed him to play in the play-offs. Wright was responsible for the
corner kick
A corner kick, commonly known as a corner, is the method of restarting play in a game of association football when the ball goes out of play over the goal line, without a goal being scored and having last been touched by a member of the defe ...
that allowed striker
Simeon Jackson
Simeon Alexander Jackson (born March 28, 1987) is a Canadian semi-professional soccer player who plays as a forward for A.F.C. Sudbury.
He has spent the majority of his career playing in England, relocating from Mississauga, Ontario, to South ...
to score in the
2009 Football League Two play-off final
The 2009 Football League Two play-off final was an association football match played at Wembley Stadium on 23 May 2009, to determine the fourth and final team to gain Promotion and relegation, promotion from Football League Two, League Two, the f ...
at
Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium, currently branded as Wembley Stadium connected by EE Limited, EE for sponsorship reasons, is an association football stadium in Wembley, London. It opened in 2007 on the site of the Wembley Stadium (1923), original Wembley Sta ...
, sending Gillingham to
Football League One
The English Football League One, known as Sky Bet League One for sponsorship reasons, or simply League One, is a professional association football league in England. EFL League One is the second-highest division of the English Football League an ...
for the
2009–10 campaign.
Despite making his best efforts for Gillingham, Charlton weren't convinced of Wright and instead released him upon his contract expiring.
Scunthorpe United
He signed for
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The club was formed in ...
in July 2009 on a two-year contract. Upon joining Scunthorpe United, Wright revealed he turned down a move to big clubs in order to join Scunthorpe United and was motivated to join the Iron for first team football.
Wright made his debut for the club, where he came on as a substitute for
Gary Hooper
Gary Hooper (born 26 January 1988) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Maldon & Tiptree.
Hooper started his career at non-League club Grays Athletic in 2003. While there he won the 2004–05 Conference South, a ...
in the 49th minute, in a 4–0 loss against
Cardiff City
Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...
in the opening game of the season. Since his debut, Wright quickly made an impact for the club and established himself in the starting eleven "as the holding player in United's four-man midfield." In his first season, Wright made thirty-five appearances for the club.
In his second season at Scunthorpe United, Wright started his season when he scored his first goal for the club in a
Football League Cup
The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England.
Orga ...
game against
Manchester United
Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...
on 22 September 2010. After the match, Wright said he is more than pleased to score his first goal which he cited as a "long time coming". Wright started well for the club until his playing time minutes significantly decreased later in the season. In the January transfer window, Wright requested a transfer, during which he was offered a new contract and prepared for his exit from Scunthorpe United. This came after
Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...
were keen to sign him and he was keen to move down to the south. However, his father stated that Wright would be unlikely to move to the club in the January transfer window, but would leave in the summer. After the failed transfer move in the January transfer window, Wright expected to be back in the first team and earn playing time, as well as withdrawing his transfer request. Unfortunately, his loss of form and a foot injury that kept him out for the rest of 2010–11 season cost him his first team place. Despite the loss of form costing him his first team place, Wright, nevertheless, made thirty-six appearances for the club.
At the end of the 2010–11 season, Wright was one of seven players released by Scunthorpe in May 2011. At the time, Wright was once linked again to a number of Championship clubs, having held discussions.
Millwall

After leaving Scunthorpe, Wright suffered a foot injury ahead of the
2011–12 season, which prevented him from joining a new club.
In November 2011, he joined
Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this sys ...
side
Millwall
Millwall is a district on the western and southern side of the Isle of Dogs, in east London, England, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It lies to the immediate south of Canary Wharf and Poplar, north of Greenwich and Deptford, east of ...
on a free transfer following a successful trial period.
The club signed Wright on a "short-term deal running until the January 2012 transfer window".
On 3 January 2012, Wright made his debut for Millwall against
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...
and made his first start before coming off for
Jimmy Abdou
Nadjim "Jimmy" Abdou (born 13 July 1984) is a former professional footballer who played as a midfielder.
Starting his career in his hometown club of Martigues, Abdou later went on to play in Ligue 1 with Sedan before moving to England with Pl ...
in the 67th minute of a 1–0 loss. Millwall subsequently extended his contract until the end of the season. On 25 February 2012, Wright scored his first goal with a 30-yard volley in a 3–1 win over
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2021 population of 78,266. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River B ...
. His 30-yard volley against Burnley earned him awards.
His performance at Millwall led the club to offer him a new contract on a long-term deal. At the end of the season, Wright went on to sign a new three-year deal, keeping him until 2015.
During the 2012–13 season, Wright switched his shirt number from forty-four to number four. However, his second season did not go so well for him, as he was overlooked and mostly featured on the substitute bench. On 19 November 2013, Wright signed on loan for
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...
. After making two appearances, Wright was recalled by Millwall due to an injury crisis at the club.
Wright joined
Crawley Town
Crawley Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Crawley, West Sussex, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1896 as Crawley Foo ...
on a 93-day loan deal on 9 September 2014. He made his debut for Crawley in their 1–0 home victory over
Fleetwood Town
Fleetwood Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Fleetwood, Lancashire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football league system.
Established in 1997, the current Flee ...
on 13 September. He made 4 appearances in total for Crawley Town.
Leyton Orient
During a second loan spell with Leyton Orient, Wright's contract with Millwall was cancelled on 5 January 2015 to enable him to negotiate a permanent move to another club. He re-signed for Leyton Orient the following day.
Gillingham
Wright rejoined Gillingham in August 2015 on a short-term contract. The following month he signed a new deal to extend his time with the club until the end of the season. On 29 June 2016, he signed a new two-year deal with the club.
At the beginning of the
2016–17 season, Wright was named captain by then-manager
Justin Edinburgh
Justin Charles Edinburgh (18 December 1969 – 8 June 2019) was an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and Association football, footballer who played as a left back.
He played in the Premier League for Totten ...
. However, after Edinburgh was sacked and
Adrian Pennock
Adrian Barry Pennock (born 27 March 1971) is an English former footballer who played for Norwich City, Molde FK, AFC Bournemouth, Gillingham and Gravesend & Northfleet. He is the manager of Dartford.
He spent two years as Welling United mana ...
became manager, defender
Max Ehmer
Maximilian Andreas Ehmer (born 3 February 1992) is a German professional footballer who plays as a defender for club Ebbsfleet United.
A product of Queens Park Rangers' youth academy, Ehmer signed his first professional contract at the age of ...
was named captain.
On 11 March 2017, in a
League One League One or League 1 may refer to:
Association football
* EFL League One, the third tier of football in England.
* China League One, the second tier of football in China
* K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea
* Lao League 1
* Lea ...
fixture Wright scored a 9-minute hat trick of penalties against his former side
Scunthorpe United
Scunthorpe United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Scunthorpe, North Lincolnshire, England. The team competes in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system.
The club was formed in ...
. In doing so, he became the first player to score a hat trick of penalties in an English (top four tiers) league game since
Alan Slough for
Peterborough United
Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough,
Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system.
Peterborough United formed in ...
in a 4–3 loss at
Chester
Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...
on 29 April 1978.
On 22 April 2017, he was named the club's player of the season, players' player of the season and the away supporters' player of the season.
Southend United
In August 2017, Wright's contract with Gillingham was terminated and he subsequently signed for
Southend United
Southend United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Southend-on-Sea, Essex, England, which competes in the National League, the fifth level of English football. The team are known as "The Shrimpers", a reference ...
. He scored his first goal for the club in a 2-0
EFL Trophy
The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...
win against
Colchester United
Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...
on 7 November 2017.
At the end of the 2017–18 season, he was released by the club.
Bradford City
In May 2018, it was announced that Wright would sign for
Bradford City
Bradford City Association Football Club is an English professional football club in Bradford, West Yorkshire. The club competes in , the third tier of English football, and is managed by Graham Alexander.
The club was founded in 1903 and ...
on 1 July 2018. He was appointed club captain on 1 August 2018. He was later stripped of the captaincy, and dropped from the first-team, not making a start for five months until 13 March 2019, after which his attitude was praised by new manager
Gary Bowyer
Gary David Bowyer (born 22 June 1971) is an English professional football coach and former player who is the manager of Burton Albion.
As a player, he made 52 league appearances for Hereford United, Nottingham Forest and Rotherham United in a p ...
.
Return to Leyton Orient
In June 2019, Wright re-joined
Leyton Orient
Leyton Orient Football Club, commonly referred to as Orient, is a professional association football club based in Leyton, Waltham Forest, London, England. The team compete in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. ...
. He was the final player to be signed by manager
Justin Edinburgh
Justin Charles Edinburgh (18 December 1969 – 8 June 2019) was an English professional Manager (association football), football manager and Association football, footballer who played as a left back.
He played in the Premier League for Totten ...
, who died on 8 June. On 7 January 2021, the club announced that he had left by mutual consent.
Crawley Town
In January 2021, he returned to Crawley Town on a two-and-a-half-year deal to play alongside brother Mark. On 3 September 2021, it was announced that he had left the club after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.
Billericay Town
On 26 November 2021, Wright signed for
National League South
The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...
side
Billericay Town as player/coach.
Ebbsfleet United
On 23 June 2022, Wright signed for
Ebbsfleet United
Ebbsfleet United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Northfleet, Kent, England. The club compete in the National League South, the sixth level of the English football league system.
Founded in 1946 from the merger ...
, also of the National League South.
International career
Wright made his debut for his country at
U16 level against Japan in March 2005. Since then, he has represented England at the
U17
U17 or U-17 may refer to:
Naval vessels
*
* , various vessels
* , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy
Other uses
* Cessna U-17 Skywagon, an American utility aircraft
* Nonconvex great rhombicuboctahedron
In geometry, the nonconvex g ...
,
U18 and, most recently,
U19 levels. He was
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...
of the U17 side on several occasions, having previously captained the U16 team.
Managerial career
On 11 December 2024, following the sacking of
Harry Watling, Wright was appointed manager of Ebbsfleet United.
Personal life
Son of
Carol and Mark Wright, Sr., Wright is the brother of ''
The Only Way Is Essex
''The Only Way Is Essex'' (often abbreviated as ''TOWIE'' ) is a British reality television series based in Brentwood, Essex, England. It shows "real people in modified situations, saying unscripted lines but in a structured way." Broadcast on ...
'' stars
Mark
Mark may refer to:
In the Bible
* Mark the Evangelist (5–68), traditionally ascribed author of the Gospel of Mark
* Gospel of Mark, one of the four canonical gospels and one of the three synoptic gospels
Currencies
* Mark (currency), a currenc ...
and
Jess Wright
Jessica Sophia Wright (born 14 September 1985) is an English television personality. From 2010 to 2016, she appeared in the ITVBe reality series ''The Only Way Is Essex''.
She also appeared on the film ''Rise of the Footsoldier 4: Marbella'' (20 ...
,
and has a younger sister. His grandmother was
Nanny Pat. In 2017, he became engaged to girlfriend Hollie Kane. They married in 2018 and live in Essex.
They have two sons, born in 2022 and 2023.
Career statistics
As a player
As a manager
Honours
Gillingham
*
Football League Two play-offs
The EFL League Two play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from fourth to seventh in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. They are part of the annual Engli ...
:
2009
2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...
Billericay Town
*
Essex Senior Cup
The Essex Senior Cup is a knock-out system football competition that has been running since 1884, and is the most prestigious cup competition in the county of Essex. The competition is run mainly for non-League clubs in the region, although leag ...
: 2021–22
Ebbsfleet United
*
National League South
The National League South, officially Vanarama National League South, is a professional Association football league in England. National League South is the second division of the National League (English football), National Leagues and step ...
:
2022–23
The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...
Individual
*Gillingham Player of the Season:
2016–17
*Millwall Goal of the Season:
2011–12
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Josh
1989 births
Living people
Footballers from the London Borough of Tower Hamlets
People from Bethnal Green
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Barnet F.C. players
Brentford F.C. players
Gillingham F.C. players
Scunthorpe United F.C. players
Millwall F.C. players
Leyton Orient F.C. players
Crawley Town F.C. players
Southend United F.C. players
Bradford City A.F.C. players
Billericay Town F.C. players
Ebbsfleet United F.C. players
English Football League players
National League (English football) players
21st-century English sportsmen
English football managers
Ebbsfleet United F.C. managers
National League (English football) managers