Fitting Wright In
June 05, 2009 02:11 PM | General
June 5, 2009
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – In baseball, basketball, football or hockey, the ideal professional location for a career is in the United States. It’s rare that elite athletes elect to go overseas to test their game at the next level. Soccer, on the other hand, is viewed as a game where it is an honor to be asked to play on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
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| Former Mountaineer Andy Wright is playing with Scunthorpe United FC of the English Championship.
Courtesy of Scunthorpe United FC |
A four-year soccer standout at WVU, Andy Wright displayed all the skills and tools one needed to make it to compete against some of the best athletes in the world. The Liverpool, England, native is the most recent All-American in program history as he finished his career garnering NSCAA/adidas Third Team honors in 2007. Regionally, he was named a NSCAA All-Northeast First Team selection, while earning BIG EAST Midfielder of the Year accolades. Wright also was named a CollegeSoccerNews Second Team All-American as a senior.
Through his time in Morgantown, Wright was constantly a step ahead of the game. Coach Marlon LeBlanc twice named Wright a captain (2006 and 2007). His impressive statistics and talent eventually caught the eye of numerous clubs.
Following the magical 2007 season in which the Mountaineers advanced to the NCAA Sweet 16, arguably the best year in program history, Wright signed a professional contract with Scunthorpe United Football Club of the English Championship, back in his home country of England.
However, anyone who has made the leap from the collegiate to the professional ranks knows that it’s not always the smoothest transition.
“I wouldn’t say it was easy,” Wright says. “It was going from being a big fish in a smaller pond, to being a small fish in a big pond. There are a lot of good players playing in England. My team has quite a lot of strength and depth. Training is a bit different. It’s a lot more competitive and it’s a lot harder to get playing time.”
Nevertheless, the small fish made a big splash. While it has become hard for any athlete to crack a lineup at such a difficult level of competition on a top-notch squad, Wright was able to accomplish the feat in a short span.
“It’s all about becoming more familiar with everything,” Wright says. “I’m not going to lie, it’s taken a couple of months of training to get used to it. Once I settled in, I believe I got used to it quite well. I’ve been trying to do weights, but the weights were nothing new to me because of the training at West Virginia. The weight training program at West Virginia was fantastic.”
Despite his years of strength training at WVU and all the time in the weight room overseas, Wright still acknowledges he needs to become a bit tougher. Many people who have never played the sport are unaware of how grueling of a sport soccer is, not only on the body with the tremendous amounts of running, but also from the battles that ensue on headers and in the 18-yard box.
“I think the physical aspect is the biggest thing for me,” Wright says. “I’m playing against teams like Manchester United. I know there were a lot of older, 23 and 24-year old players in the college game. I’m playing against 30-year old men. There are some big, strong, powerful players in this league. I’ve already got some big scars on my face from this year.”
Although listed as a midfielder, Wright has played a variety of positions with Scunthorpe United. In the 2008-09 season alone, he made 22 starts and appeared in 13 matches as a sub. He also tallied his first career assist on Feb. 17 against Bristol Rivers.
On top of having the ability to travel to and play in some of the best soccer stadiums in the world, Wright also has experienced a great honor in being able to play for the Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the FA Cup, the Carling Cup and the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy.
To simply say that winning any of these cups is phenomenal would be an understatement. The FA Cup alone has been difficult to capture with teams such as Chelsea, Arsenal and Newcastle having won it numerous times.
“I think we got knocked out of the Carling Cup in the first round,” Wright recalls. “I played about 30 minutes in that game. We got to the third round in the FA Cup, where all the big teams come in. We ended up drawing a team called Watford. They’re traditionally a big team and they have a lot of history. We were hoping for something better because sometimes you can draw teams like Liverpool and Manchester United in that round.
“A lot of people don’t view the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy as a highly sought after trophy, but our manager said at the start of the year that he wanted a promotion and to win the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy. We fell short at that hurdle, but the experience was fantastic.”
One of the best experiences, one that will open the eyes and get the heart pumping, is being able to play in Wembley Stadium for the FA Cup. The site, which has hosted the cup for the last three years, seats 90,000 fans.
“Some players don’t get to go to Wembley Stadium during their entire career and we’ve been there twice this year already. It’s an absolutely amazing experience.”
As Wright continued to rack up starts and minutes and Scunthorpe United continued winning, the chances of a promotion into the Championship league seemed within reach. The first and second-place squads automatically get bumped up from League One, where Scunthorpe United was, to the Championship league. However, teams 3-6 in the standings must fight in a playoff to determine which one will earn the final spot to in moving up.
Despite facing a difficult Millwall squad in the playoff final, Scunthorpe United pulled out a 3-2 victory and will face the likes of Middlesbrough, Nottingham Forrest and Crystal Palace next season.
“It’s huge,” Wright says of the victory. “There were about 60,000 fans at the game. From a financial view for the owner of the club, it’s huge. He’s just made millions and millions of pounds in television rights and revenue that comes to the club. The fans are delighted. We’ll draw a lot more fans in our next year. We’ll have a lot bigger teams and we’ll play in a lot bigger stadiums.
“Newcastle FC was just relegated from the premiership so we’ll be playing against them next year. It’s hard to explain how big that is. Saying it sounds crazy to me. We’re going to be playing at St. James’ Park against Newcastle next year. It’s a 50,000-seat stadium. I’m speechless.”
With success comes fame – something that Wright experienced a little in Morgantown. While he admitted he does not get hounded by the paparazzi, Wright did say he has become more visible in public.
“Around the Scunthorpe area, people notice you. Predominantly, the fans who go to the game will notice you,” Wright says enthusiastically. “If you’re shopping at the supermarket, someone will come up to me and be like, “Andy Wright, Andy Wright!” It’s certainly not like NFL players, who get hounded by media or anything like that. But our fans definitely recognize us.”
Wright, who says he is satisfied with the amount of playing time he earned this year, still wants to accomplish more. With a year left on his contract, securing a spot on the team until the end of next season, Wright wants to nail down a permanent position.
While he understands the work and time he needs to put in to become a dominant player like he was in college, Wright is enjoying the moment.
“It’s a dream come true,” Wright says proudly. “It’s what I’ve always wanted to do. From a little lad, it’s all I have ever dreamt of. I’m trying to keep me feet on the ground. I don’t think I’ve made it yet. I have to keep my work ethic going. It could all end so suddenly. I’m trying to keep my feet on the ground, but it’s a dream come true.”
