Thomas Wright (20 January 1928 – 5 May 2011) was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played for

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

and the

Scotland national football team The Scotland national football team represents Scotland in men's international Association football, football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. They compete in three major professional tournaments: the FIFA World Cup, UEFA ...

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 ...

Club career

He started his professional footballing career with

Partick Thistle Partick Thistle Football Club are a professional association football, football club from Glasgow, Scotland and currently plays in the . Despite their name, the club are based at Firhill Stadium in the Maryhill area of the city, and have not ...

, where he made 35 appearances scoring 20 goals ranging from 1946 until 1949. From Partick Thistle, he joined Sunderland in 1949, and made his debut on 12 March 1949 against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

in a 4–1 defeat at

Roker Park Roker Park was a football ground in Roker, Sunderland, England, which was the home of Sunderland from 1898 to 1997, before the club moved to the Stadium of Light. Its final capacity was around 22,500, with only a small part being seated; it h ...

. He was part of the Sunderland team that finished third in the 1949–50 season and played regularly. Overall, in his Sunderland career he scored 51 goals in 170 league appearances, before moving to East Fife in 1955, in a deal seeing Charlie Fleming going the other way. He made 36 appearances scoring 18 goals during 1955 to 1957 at his time at East Fife. He then moved to

Oldham Athletic Oldham Athletic Association Football Club is a professional association football club in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. As of the 2025–26 EFL League Two, 2025–26 season, the team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the Eng ...

in 1957 where he made 7 appearances and scored 2 goals in a single season. He then moved on a short spell to

North Shields North Shields ( ) is a town in the borough of North Tyneside in Tyne and Wear, England. It is north-east of Newcastle upon Tyne and borders nearby Wallsend and Tynemouth. The population of North Shields at the 2021–2022 United Kingdom cens ...

before retiring in 1957.

International career

Wright won his first international cap for

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in a 2–1 on 18 October 1952 at

Ninian Park Ninian Park was a association football, football stadium in the Leckwith, Cardiff, Leckwith area of Cardiff, Wales, that was the home of Cardiff City F.C. for 99 years. Opened in 1910 with a single wooden stand, it underwent numerous renovatio ...

. He won two further caps for his country, making it three in total, without scoring a goal. A regular at the "Whitegates Comrie" until he was taken to a retirement home in Sunderland.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Tommy 1928 births Scottish men's footballers Scotland men's international footballers Partick Thistle F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players East Fife F.C. players Oldham Athletic A.F.C. players 2011 deaths Footballers from Clackmannanshire North Shields F.C. players Men's association football wingers Scottish Football League players English Football League players Scottish Junior Football Association players Blairhall Colliery F.C. players 20th-century Scottish sportsmen