Tommy Wright appointed Northern Ireland Under-21 Manager

Tommy Wright has been appointed as the manager of Northern Ireland’s Under-21 men’s team.

The former St Johnstone boss will be in charge of the team during their U21 Euro 2025 qualification campaign, which gets underway next month.

He will be officially unveiled this afternoon.

The 59-year-old Wright won 31 caps for Northern Ireland during a playing career that spanned over 20 years and subsequently has had a lengthy career in coaching and management.

Since hanging up his goalkeeping gloves, he has been a coach and manager at several clubs across the UK and Ireland, including a spell as goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland senior men’s team between 2012 and 2013 when he worked under current Northern Ireland boss Michael O’Neill.

He coached at Norwich City and then Ballyclare Comrades in his home town before making his first move into management at Limavady United in November 2003. He then managed Ballymena United from May 2005 until April 2008.

His next role was as goalkeeping coach with Shamrock Rovers in the League of Ireland for their 2009 league campaign.

In September 2009 he was appointed manager of Lisburn Distillery. He stayed with the Whites for just over two seasons, guiding them to League Cup glory in 2010-2011.

He first joined Scottish top flight side St Johnstone as assistant manager in November 2011. He was promoted to manager in June 2013, and that prompted him to step away from the Northern Ireland set-up.

Wright was subsequently in charge of the Saints until May 2020. During his time at McDiarmid Park he guided the club to their first major trophy: the Scottish Cup, which they won in 2014 after defeating Tayside rivals Dundee United in the final.

He was voted Scottish Premiership Manager of the Season in 2015-16 after leading Perth-based St Johnstone to a fourth-place finish in the league in consecutive seasons. And the Saints also qualified for Europe the following season, too.

His most recent spell as a manager was also in the Scottish Premiership. He was in charge of Kilmarnock for most of 2021.