U's legend Peter Wright has died at the age of 78

10:31am Thursday 25th October 2012 in Sport

Colchester United legend Peter Wright has died at the age of 78. Colchester United legend Peter Wright has died at the age of 78.

Colchester United legend Peter Wright has died at the age of 78 after a long battle with illness.

Wright signed first signed for the U's as a part-time professional in November 1951 and went on to make more than 450 league and cup appearances for them, before leaving in 1964.

The speedy winger was incredibly consistent during his time with the U's, where he rejected attempts to prise him away from the likes of Birmingham City, Fulham and Bolton Wanderers.

Despite having a couple of goals chalked off in the 1961-1962 season, Wright scored an impressive number of goals from the wing and hit the net more than 90 times during his time at Layer Road.

Wright was voted the club's Player of the Century in a poll in 2000 and remains one of the highest appearance makers in its history.

And his close connections with the club he loved continued beyond his playing years, being a regular follower at Layer Road and the Weston Homes Community Stadium and becoming chairman of the club's Former Players' Association in his later years.

See the Gazette tomorrow for a full tribute to one of Colchester United's greatest-ever players.

Comments(14)

myhouse3 says...
11:14am Thu 25 Oct 12

So sad what a player. miss those days much.RIP PETER LOVED BY MANY AT THAT TIME

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RB, Lexden says...
12:25pm Thu 25 Oct 12

Very sorry to hear this sad news and my condolences to Peter's family.

Peter Wright was most definitely one of Colchester United's all time greats:

He was the U's' fourth greatest league appearance maker,with 426 league
appearances.Only Mickey Cook(613),
Mike Walker(451) and Steve Leslie (432)made more league appearances for the club.

He was also the U's' fourth greatest
league scorer,with ninety league goals (only Martyn King(130),Tony Adcock(126)and Kevin McCurley(93) scored more league goals for the club)

He was also an ever-present in one of the greatest U's teams of all time
Benny Fenton's 1961-1962 promotion-winning team,the first U's team to win
a Football League promotion.

Bobby Hunt(38),Martyn King (30)and
Peter Wright(12) scored eighty of the
U's' 104 league goals that season:
the only time the U's have scored more than one hundred league goals in a season.Peter actually scored fourteen league goals that season,but the two he got against Accrington Stanley
on January 13,1962,were expunged from the records when Accrington dropped out of the Football League.

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crazy comments says...
2:59pm Thu 25 Oct 12

What a sad day. One of my boyhood heroes. Every week you would read the Sunday papers,with stories linking him and the club with £20,000 offers from the big teams,which was a lot of money in those days. We also had a word called loyalty in those days. He only played part time but had a good skilled job and never moved. I would dread reading the stories thinking to myself if he was to move what will the club do. For me Peter and John Evans were the best two left sided players in their day. Their partnership and understanding was brilliant. Peter had so much pace he would just leave fullbacks for dead and his pull backs from the byeline were a strikers sent from heaven. RIP Peter. My memories never forgotten .

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Feisty CBC says...
3:09pm Thu 25 Oct 12

I was lucky enough to meet Peter a number of times in recent years. Always the perfect gent with a smile on his face.
R.I.P. Condolences to his family.

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life is sweet says...
7:30pm Thu 25 Oct 12

I was raised on a Colchester side that attacked the opposition. Peter Wright embodied all that was good in football in what is now a bygone era. A man and time that present day young supporters will never experience

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Boris says...
1:47am Fri 26 Oct 12

Peter Wright was the absolute star of Benny Fenton's team of the mid-50s to early 60s. Such happy memories.
Recently I got to know Peter. Such a gent, as Feisty says.
Peter's two goals at Chesterfield in November 1958 were the first conceded by Gordon Banks in his professional career.
As a schoolboy, Peter was a brilliant cricketer, and would surely have played for Essex if his eyesight had not been damaged in a bicycle accident. He broke Vic Keeble's record for number of runs scored in a season for Colchester Royal Grammar School, and held it for over 30 years.
Up till shortly before his death, and despite being gravely ill, Peter was still very active, organising excursions to shows and sporting events.
He was a kindly man who had the knack of making anyone feel immediately at ease in his company. There are not many people like that.
Rest in peace, Peter.

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totallyfootball says...
10:06am Fri 26 Oct 12

One of the few times that the word legend is is worthy of being used when describing a footballer. Thanks for the memories Peter.

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Ozzie says...
11:19am Fri 26 Oct 12

Truly a great Colchester man - I was so glad to have known him, not personally, but in the Legends bar after Col U games. My thoughts are with his family, particularly Steve at this time. Thinking of you all at this really sad time.

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Originally from ... says...
12:54pm Fri 26 Oct 12

RIP Peter. A truly great U's player and arguably our best ever and a boyhood hero of mine in that great Fenton side. I remember being a ball boy with a mate for a reserves game when he was coming back from an injury and scouring the pitch at half time looking for one of his contact lenses. Had the pleasure of playing golf with him at Colchester GC when I was in my late teens several times in the late 60's early 70's and he was every bit the gentle sportsman in that game too but ever the competitor.

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crazy comments says...
2:24pm Fri 26 Oct 12

Going through the list of past players that had played for the U's I was shocked to find that another player in that era Peter had played in had passed away last November Derek Parker. He was a very good friend of mine and I felt deeply saddened that I never knew of his death at the time.

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Boris says...
8:22pm Fri 26 Oct 12

The report says "See the Gazette tomorrow for a full tribute to one of Colchester United's greatest-ever players." But there was just an interview with his old mate Bobby Hunt, fair enough, and all of it very good considering the short notice, but why not a two-page spread detailing some of the highlights in Peter's career? We are talking about one of the club's greatest ever players, and someone who went on to do many other things in the local community after he retired from playing.

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FearNaught says...
8:41pm Fri 26 Oct 12

A true gentleman and U's legend. RIP Peter.

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Layer Road Exile says...
10:03am Sat 27 Oct 12

Very sad news indeed. Young fans today will never appreciate why lads in the late 50's and early 60's would arrive at Layer Road at 1pm and stand for two hours on the wall waiting for the match to begin. It was to get a good view of honest, 100% players like Peter Wright. Worth every minute of all those long hours waiting. RIP Peter.

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Sdapeze says...
11:49am Sat 27 Oct 12

I got to know Peter at Woods of Colchester. He always had time for people. A lovely man.

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