Wright-Phillips reveals how he left Man City for Chelsea to save them from financial ruin
SHAUN WRIGHT-PHILLIPS left Manchester City to save the club - then returned to a team prepared to conquer the Premier League.
The winger, nicknamed “Pocket Rocket” by Joe Royle when he first started, saw it all in two City spells.
From the old Platt Lane training ground through to the Abu Dhabi takeover and seeing Robinho jet in.
In between there was a title-winning spell at Chelsea under Jose Mourinho, who taught him how to be a proper midfielder.
But ahead of today’s EFL Cup final between his two old clubs, he admits he is a big City fan - and not only because his son D’Margio is at their Academy.
He asked for permission to speak to Chelsea in 2005 but loved City - and it has only now transpired how crucial that move was for the club.
He said: “I’ve been told more now about how much they needed it.
“As a kid I just thought I would be there for the whole of my career, I didn’t see myself to going anywhere else. Maybe that was just the kid in me.
“They basically said that if I didn’t go, the club might not be in the position it is today or maybe not still around at all.
“I’m happy to have given something to the club. I’m not sure how many people know but when I’ve been back they’ve mentioned it.”
There is no chance of City needing cash these days.
Wright-Phillips’ return from Chelsea came just days before the Abu Dhabi takeover, meaning he saw first-hand the change at the club.
He said: “The realisation kicked in for a lot of people the day after I went back as there was talk about Robinho signing.
“Within 24 to 36 hours later I was training with him. You think ‘the owners are serious about this, they really want to do it’.
“At the time we wondered if he would come. Was City a downstep?
“Compared to winning the title with Real Madrid, we hadn’t won anything.
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“But he believed in the dream, he came and it rubbed off on everyone.”
It was a far cry from when SWP joined City as a YTS teenager while they were at their old training ground BEFORE they moved to Carrington then constructed the Etihad Campus.
He said: “I always say to my son ‘you don’t know how lucky you are’ at the new training ground. They are so spoilt.
“But it was still a lovely place at Platt Lane. That is when I fell in love with the club. They took a gamble on me when released and gave me an opportunity which I grabbed.
“There were only two pitches but they were perfect. And with the changing facilities they did the best that they could. As long as we had hot water and a decent pitch we were fine.
“Then it got better at Carrington and now it’s amazing. You see how amazing it is now and they’ve gone up two new levels.”
Royle gave him his “Pocket Rocket” nickname and a licence to entertain.
“I’d done well off the bench against Port Vale then started the next game.
“I was so keen and was changed in my kit for an hour and a half before kick-off, just waiting,” Wright-Phillips said.
“The manager said he knew it was my first start but why did I come in and get changed straight away?
“He told me to just be myself, just relax, don’t think about why I should be doing on the pitch so much. It helped me believe in my own ability.”
Wright-Phillips needed to fight his back into the reckoning after Kevin Keegan deemed him too short to play wing-back - but that led to a big-money move.
His departure to Chelsea was part of Roman Abramovich’s splurge on players for Jose Mourinho.
“I was always a winger but he taught me about the game and how to be a midfielder,” he said.
“People have said at the time he took the dribbling out of me. But he taught me football. He taught me about taking the better options.
“At Chelsea you are on the radar. You get marked closer. People double up. You have to be doing something else to move and pop into holes.”
Wright-Phillips says Robinho was the key man getting the dressing room to bond when he got back to City.
He said: “Funnily, it just gelled. Everyone got on. We were a dressing room that had a laugh and was serious at the right time.
“We played for each other and Robinho was at the centre of it. He was a character in himself, always laughing, Samba dancing and doing kick-ups everywhere.
“People bought into it. Micah Richards was always laughing and you had players coming in like Pablo Zabaleta and Vincent Kompany.
“When they won the title there was nothing bittersweet that I wasn’t there. I was delighted for their hard work, delighted for the fans and for them getting their rewards. They deserved it.”
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Winning the title after he left was a world away from when he started - but Wright-Phillips’ bond with fans remained.
He remembers them singing his name coming off the bench, despite getting thumped by Arsenal when Dennis Bergkamp, Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Sol Campbell had scored before half-time.
Now he sometimes watches City at the Bevvy pub in Phoenix where the Prem champs have a strong following.
Wright-Phillips last played for Phoenix Rising in MLS and has not officially retired yet after recovering from a knee operation.
“I’m still holding on for dear life,” he said.
He is assessing whether he will go into the media like his Dad, Ian, or pursue coaching.
While out injured he coached Notre Dame Preparatory High School in Scottsdale where he helped them win the regional championship.
That was the type of down-to-earth football he first experienced at City when he was in digs with old pal Dickson Etuhu.
But from humble beginnings big things can happen.