Wright Levi Image 1 Derby County 1896

Description

Oxford born centre half Levi Wright played association football for local club Derby Midland from 1887 until he was signed by Derby County before the inaugural Football League season began in September 1888.

Wright made his Football League debut at The County Ground, the then home of Derby County against Preston North End on 29th September 1888. Derby lost the match 3-2 although Wright scored his debut, his only League goal, to put his team 2-0 in the lead. Wright appeared in four of the 22 League matches played by Derby County in 1888-89, and was not retained for 1889-90 season, being signed by Notts County but he never played for them and never played top-flight football again.

Wright had a considerable and distinguished cricket career. He played for Derbyshire from 1883 until 1909, his career including the period from 1888 to 1894 when Derbyshire were demoted from first class status because of poor results. They were reinstated in 1894 and admitted to The County Championship in 1895. He captained Derbyshire for part of 1906 and for the whole season in 1907, although the team finished bottom of the Championship in both seasons.

Wright was a right-handed batsman and a renowned fieldsman at point. He also occasionally kept wicket. Wright made almost 15,000 runs for Derbyshire at an average of 26 runs per innings in 325 matches. His best seasons came as he got older: he scored 1,000 runs in a season six times, the first when he was 37 years old, and his best season of all was 1905, when in all matches he scored 1,855 runs, at an average of more than 42 runs per innings. The citation as a Wisden Cricketer of the Year in the 1906 edition of Wisden paid tribute not just to his run-getting at the age of 43, but also his continued quick reactions as a fielder. He took many brilliant catches, standing within four or five yards of the bat, and on one occasion came in so close that he caught the bat instead of the ball.