Northern Ireland Under-21s boss Tommy Wright has extended his contract with the Irish Football Association.
Wright was initially appointed to the U21s manager role in August 2023 to guide the team through the UEFA U21 Euro 2025 qualifying series.
The contract extension means he will now be in charge of the Under-21s for the UEFA U21 Euro 2027 qualification campaign, which begins in September.
He said he was pleased to continue in his role with the team and revealed he is “really excited” for the next set of qualifiers.
And he added: “I’ve really enjoyed working with the young players in trying to develop them and give them a taste of what international football is and to prepare them to move up to the senior squad, and to help their club careers as well.”
In the 2025-27 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying group stage (Group F) his team will be facing against Georgia, Germany, Greece, Latvia and Malta.
In preparation for those qualifiers Wright’s team will be taking part in a tournament in Turkey later this month. He will announce his squad for that tournament tomorrow.
Northern Ireland finished fourth in Group F of the UEFA U21 Euro 2025 qualifiers behind England, Ukraine and Serbia, the top three seeds in the group.
Reflecting on that campaign, the U21s boss said that after a slow start his side had some memorable results in a tough group, including a draw with England at home and a win against Serbia away.
He pointed out: “Against the top three seeds England were the only team to beat us by more than one goal.
“There were a lot of good performances in terms of team performances and a lot of good performances in terms of individuals, and I think that was reflected in the number of players who moved up into Michael’s squad throughout that campaign.
“Michael (O’Neill) keeps apologising to me that he is going to take players but it doesn’t bother me. I know the role that I’ve got to do. I know that it gives an opportunity for possibly an even younger player to come in to the 21s.”
The former St Johnstone boss pointed out 10 players moved up to the seniors during the last campaign, with most of them getting minutes on the pitch. “It bodes well for the future,” he added.
Wright (61) has brought a vast amount of experience to the role. He 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.
He coached at Norwich City and Ballyclare Comrades before becoming manager of Limavady United in November 2003.
He then managed Ballymena United, was goalkeeping coach at Shamrock Rovers and Lisburn Distillery boss before joining Scottish top flight side St Johnstone as assistant manager in November 2011.
He was goalkeeping coach for the Northern Ireland senior men’s team between 2012 and 2013, however he was promoted to manager of St Johnstone in June 2013 and that prompted him to step away from the Northern Ireland set-up.
Wright was 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 in 2014 - and helped them qualify for European competition.
His most recent spell as a club manager was also in the Scottish Premiership. He was in charge of Kilmarnock for most of 2021.
During his playing days he was a goalkeeper for Brantwood, Linfield, Newcastle United, Hull City (loan), Nottingham Forest, Reading (loan), Manchester City (loan and permanent), Wrexham (loan), Newcastle once again (loan) and Bolton Wanderers (loan and permanent).
