He is the adopted son of the famous player Ian Wright and the half-brother of fellow player Bradley Wright-Phillips. He grew up in Brockley, South London, and attended the state school Haberdashers' Aske's Hatcham College in New Cross Gate.
Under Keegan Wright-Phillips firmly established himself in the first team, not as a forward, but as a wing-back. Keegan was known for playing attacking football, and decided to use the attacking Wright-Phillips in a traditionally defensive position due to his mobility and dribbling ability.
From 2000–2003 he won Manchester City's Young Player of the Year award four times in succession, surpassing Steve Kinsey's record of three times.
On 17 November 2004, he became one of the main targets of racist chants from the crowd at an international friendly between England and Spain in Madrid. However, he brushed that aside with an incredible match-winning performance in his next Manchester City game at Portsmouth, saying to reporters after the game, "I just let the football do the talking."
He also has a similar response regarding his father, saying in an interview with manchesteronline.co.uk: "The press brought up my adopted father's name. They relate to his name and that is fine by me -- it comes with the name, but I will be my own man. I have made my own path and started to take my own steps.
The young winger completed his £21 million move to Stamford Bridge on 17 July 2005 to join the Premiership champions and return to his native London.
His first goal for the club came in a 2–0 Champions League win over Levski Sofia on 5 December 2006, almost 17 months after his transfer. An unhappy first season with Chelsea culminated in him missing out on the opportunity to travel to Germany with the England squad for the 2006 World Cup.
Despite making few first-team appearances, Wright-Philips maintained that he was happy at Chelsea and wanted to stay and fight for a first team place. He received a boost from his then manager José Mourinho, when the latter declined to make an approach for Spain and Real Betis (as of the 2006-07 season with Valencia CF) winger Joaquín, stating that he had enough options in terms of wingers.
As the 2006–07 season progressed, Wright-Phillips picked up form and scored his first league goal against West Ham, he followed up with his second in the same match. Subsequently, he started in several games towards the end of the season including the FA cup final which Chelsea won however Wright-Phillips was substituted during the second half.
In the beginning of the 2007–08 season, Wright-Phillips maintained his starting place on the right wing.He also maintained his place after Jose Mourinho left Chelsea and under new coach Avram Grant. Wright Philips was selected to play in the League Cup final, which Chelsea lost to Tottenham. Avram Grant didnt use Wright Phillips after the League Cup final. He only made several appearances from the bench and not used in important games. Wright-Phillips lost his place in the starting XI and ended up not even making the bench for the 2008 UEFA Champions League Final.
Wright-Phillips played on the right wing during England's two Euro 2008 qualifiers against Macedonia and Croatia. After a good start to the 2007–08 campaign, Wright-Phillips received an England recall to play against Germany in a friendly match at the new Wembley Stadium. Wright-Phillips was brought on as a substitute in the second half during the match in which England lost 1–2 to Germany and he was named the England sponsor's Man of the Match after an impressive performance.
Selected to start against Israel on 8 September, he scored the first goal in the 3–0 victory and won the England sponsor's Man of the Match award with his performance.
He was once again selected to start for England against Estonia and scored his third goal for England and the opener in a third consecutive 3–0 win at Wembley.
He was controversially selected in England's critical Euro 2008 qualifying game against Croatia ahead of David Beckham. He was substituted at half time in favour of Beckham with England trailing 2-0. It turned out to be a good substitution as Beckham set up England's 2nd goal and leveled the scores; however, England lost the game 3-2 and therefore missed out on Euro 2008.
| # | Date | Venue | Opponent | Result | Competition | Scored |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2004-08-18 | St James' Park, Newcastle | 3–0 | Friendly | 1 | |
| 2 | 2007-09-08 | Wembley Stadium, London | 3–0 | Euro 2008 Qualification | 1 | |
| 3 | 2007-10-13 | Wembley Stadium, London | 3–0 | Euro 2008 Qualification | 1 | |
| 4 | 2008-02-06 | Wembley Stadium, London | 2–1 | Friendly | 1 |
Winner
Runner-up