[7] Along with Michael Owen, another ex-Liverpool and England player, Wright is a founder of Red Sports, a Liverpool-based company that specialises in soccer school and coaching education programmes in China.

Wright did not finish the 1981–82 campaign with Oxford, however, as on 25 March 1982 (deadline day) he was transferred to Southampton, who were then playing in the top flight of English football.

[14] He made his debut for the club in a 3–1 win over Leeds United at Elland Road on 17 April 1982, a game which saw two Saints legends, Kevin Keegan and David Armstrong, score the goals.

A Southampton team that included England goalkeeper Peter Shilton also reached the FA Cup semi-finals that season, losing in extra-time to eventual winners Everton.

[18] The following season Southampton performed strongly again, finishing fifth in the league, and after Chris Nicholl replaced McMenemy as manager in July 1985, Wright helped the club reach the 1986 FA Cup semi-final.

[21] Arthur Cox was the Derby County manager when Wright arrived at the East Midlands club, who had been promoted as champions of the Second Division at the end of the 1986–1987 season.

With Saunders hitting the ground running, Derby enjoyed a strong season, which included wins at Manchester United and eventual league winners Arsenal.

The Rams ended the campaign fifth in the table and would have qualified for the UEFA Cup were it not for the ongoing ban on English clubs taking part in European competitions in the wake of the Heysel Stadium disaster in May 1985.

[25] With Derby in desperate need of raising cash and Wright aware that playing outside the top flight would diminish his chances of continuing his England career, a transfer in the summer of 1991 was always likely.

Liverpool had tried to sign Wright a few months previously and their need for a quality central defender had grown following the injury problems and subsequent retirement of captain Alan Hansen.

[32] Having narrowly missed out on the league title the year before Wright's arrival, a much-changed Liverpool squad finished a disappointing sixth in the table in his first season.

[36] The title holders were knocked out in the third round of the FA Cup by Bolton Wanderers and another sixth-placed finish in the league meant there would be no European football for Liverpool the following season.

Wright lost the captaincy for the 1993–94 campaign but a poor season for the club followed as Liverpool finished eighth in the league after Roy Evans replaced Souness as manager midway through the year.

[37] The arrival of Phil Babb and John Scales, as well as a series of injuries, restricted Wright to just six appearances in the 1994–95 campaign, which saw Liverpool finish fourth and beat Bolton to win the League Cup.

A 2006 LFC TV programme entitled 100 Players Who Shook the Kop, based on a survey of the club's fans, ranked Wright at number 65 in order of the impact he made on Liverpool's history.

The 20 year old started at centre half alongside Alvin Martin but Wales striker Mark Hughes, another debutant, got the only goal at the Racecourse Ground in Wrexham.

Wright returned for England's bid to qualify for the 1988 European Championship and played in their first two games against the Republic of Ireland[43] and the Netherlands[44] at the final tournament in West Germany.

Wright did not feature during the 1990 World Cup qualifying campaign but he was still included in the squad for the finals in Italy, ahead of Tony Adams, as back-up to Walker and Terry Butcher.

Wright helped England keep another clean sheet against Belgium in the knockout stages[47] and a late David Platt goal in extra-time set up a meeting with Cameroon in the last eight.

[50] Wright continued to be a regular starter for England during the qualifying campaign for the next European Championship and even captained the side in a friendly win over the USSR at Wembley in May 1991.

Wright's injury problems were becoming more frequent, however, and he was overlooked by new England manager boss Terry Venables while trying to rebuild his career at club level with Liverpool.

[55] In the 1995–96 season Liverpool's improved form coincided with Wright's return to the first team and he earned a surprise recall to the England set-up in April 1996.

[60] Ex-Derby midfielder Craig Ramage praised his former teammate as "a real leader" who was "dominant in the air, composed with the ball at his feet and great in the tackle.

[63] At the time the club were in the relegation positions in the Football Conference but Wright successfully steered his side to ninth in the table by the season's end.

[66] The club had just been relegated to the Third Division but Wright resigned at the end of November 2001 hours before he was fined by the Football Association and given a four match touchline ban for verbally abusing a referee.

[70] After that defeat Wright vowed his side would "come back stronger" and the following season they won the Conference title - sealing promotion with a 1–0 win over Scarborough in April 2004.

[84] Wright and his then wife Sue became foster carers for a three-year-old girl in 2008 and he has since used his experience and profile to advocate for more people to help children in need.

In 2016, Wright and his former Liverpool teammate and England striker Michael Owen set up Red Sports, a company that is developing coaching programmes in China.

[88] Red Sports hopes to educate a minimum of 1,200 local coaches per year and says its overall aim is to engage children in China by "radically changing the way football is taught at school level."

Wright had earlier struck a deal with Chinese businessman Dr Tony Tung in March 2016 with a view to launching a pilot soccer schools programme in China.