Mick Wright
Born in Northamptonshire on 16 January 1942 he first played for Newmarket Town and moved on to Northampton Town in November 1959 progressing towards the odd first team appearance in a period when the Cobblers were promoted from the Fourth Division to the First in the space of five seasons.
At 19 years of age Mick was sent on loan to King's Lynn FC and was signed by Len Richley making his debut on October 7, 1961 against Gravesend in a 1-1 draw.
It was a period when the club enjoyed FA Cup success, culminating in its only appearance in the 3rd Round of the competition.
In the 2nd Round, Mick scored the winner in a 2-1 victory at Coventry and played in the next round at Everton, where they lost 4-0 but were not disgraced.
In September 1965 Len Richley left for Bury FC, who played in what is now the Championship, and tried to persuade Mick to join him but he was settled in King's Lynn with wife Ruth. Mick had married Ruth on the morning of 13 January 1962 - and took part in the afternoon match against Bath City.
Mick worked in Lynn for Humphries, a tarpaulin manufacturer and repair company.
He made 424 consecutive appearances from 30 April 1962 to 30 November 1968.
On Wednesday 17th January 1968, he sustained a ruptured spleen playing against Corby Town. Despite a hospital operation he tried to discharge himself on the Friday so as not to miss the game the following day.
Mick took the Linnets' hot seat in April 1971 staying until 1973 the highlight of the period being a replayed FA Cup 2nd Round game which was lost 1-0 at Hereford United in front of a 12,000 gate.
He continued playing until, at 39 years, he left the Club having played 1,152 games having never been cautioned (yellow carded). He was booked once apparently but it was rescinded at the end of game by the Referee.
His involvement with football continued at Watton United in the Anglian Combination until his 50th Birthday.
In this time he went into business as WWS Tarpaulins and was operating until retirement.
Shortly after this he had a severe stroke but remained active working with his wife in their Antiques business in King's Lynn.
He did receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from KLFM/Lynn News in January 2016 and was placed in King's Lynn Town FC's inaugural Hall of Fame.
First Lynn News Press Quote: "Wright showed a constant eagerness to have a go".
Mick died on 10th December 2019.
Mick's playing record
Born in Northamptonshire on 16 January 1942 he first played for Newmarket Town and moved on to Northampton Town in November 1959 progressing towards the odd first team appearance in a period when the Cobblers were promoted from the Fourth Division to the First in the space of five seasons.
At 19 years of age Mick was sent on loan to King's Lynn FC and was signed by Len Richley making his debut on October 7, 1961 against Gravesend in a 1-1 draw.
It was a period when the club enjoyed FA Cup success, culminating in its only appearance in the 3rd Round of the competition.
In the 2nd Round, Mick scored the winner in a 2-1 victory at Coventry and played in the next round at Everton, where they lost 4-0 but were not disgraced.
In September 1965 Len Richley left for Bury FC, who played in what is now the Championship, and tried to persuade Mick to join him but he was settled in King's Lynn with wife Ruth. Mick had married Ruth on the morning of 13 January 1962 - and took part in the afternoon match against Bath City.
Mick worked in Lynn for Humphries, a tarpaulin manufacturer and repair company.
He made 424 consecutive appearances from 30 April 1962 to 30 November 1968.
On Wednesday 17th January 1968, he sustained a ruptured spleen playing against Corby Town. Despite a hospital operation he tried to discharge himself on the Friday so as not to miss the game the following day.
Mick took the Linnets' hot seat in April 1971 staying until 1973 the highlight of the period being a replayed FA Cup 2nd Round game which was lost 1-0 at Hereford United in front of a 12,000 gate.
He continued playing until, at 39 years, he left the Club having played 1,152 games having never been cautioned (yellow carded). He was booked once apparently but it was rescinded at the end of game by the Referee.
His involvement with football continued at Watton United in the Anglian Combination until his 50th Birthday.
In this time he went into business as WWS Tarpaulins and was operating until retirement.
Shortly after this he had a severe stroke but remained active working with his wife in their Antiques business in King's Lynn.
He did receive the Lifetime Achievement Award from KLFM/Lynn News in January 2016 and was placed in King's Lynn Town FC's inaugural Hall of Fame.
First Lynn News Press Quote: "Wright showed a constant eagerness to have a go".
Mick died on 10th December 2019.
Mick's playing record
Season App Max Goals Season App Max Goals
1961-62 29 40 7 1971-72 60 61 13
1962-63 48 48 10 1972-73 52 60 2
1963-64 50 50 2 1973-74 61 61 1
1964-65 62 62 1 1974-75 61 61 1
1965-66 70 70 11 1975-76 55 58 4
1966-67 81 81 14 1976-77 44 45 6
1967-68 73 73 8 1977-78 46 47 5
1968-69 62 75 7 1978-79 49 49 3
1969-70 72 73 9 1979-80 48 52 5
1970-71 74 74 4 1980-81 55 55 3
Looking at this another way -
P W D L Goals
Southern League 734 298 183 253 61
Northern Premier League 42 8 18 16 2
Eastern Professional League 114 48 32 34 18
F A Cup 64 40 5 19 10
F A Trophy 25 11 2 13 1
Southern League Cup 65 26 10 29 10
NPL Cup 2 0 1 1 0
East Anglian Cup 59 44 5 10 8
EPFL Cup 7 1 3 3 0
Culey Cups 24 13 3 8 3
Norfolk Invitation Cup 8 5 1 2 3
Norfolk Primary Cup 7 5 0 2 0
Stewart & Pat Cup 1 0 1 0 0
Total 1152 499 264 389 116
Managerial record 1971 - 1973.
P W D L F A
Southern League 79 29 23 27 111 98
FA Cup 7 4 1 2 15 5
FA Trophy 4 2 0 2 6 5
Southern League Cup 10 4 2 4 15 14
East Anglian Cup 9 3 3 3 15 11
Norfolk Primary Cup 2 1 0 1 3 3
Culey Cup 5 4 1 0 10 4
Easter Professional Floodlit League 10 5 3 2 17 15
EPFL Cup 4 1 2 1 4 4
Total 130 53 35 42 196 159
Despite all his games Mick only scored one hat-trick - playing for Lynn Reserves against Southend United A in the Eastern Counties League in 1962.