HANOVER, N.J. – Growing up in South London, Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips were already different than most of the neighborhood kids. When your father is Arsenal’s top goal scorer, it comes with the territory.
“When you play a match, and the other team hears who your dad is, there would be a little bit of drama around it because people would be excited,” Bradley said of growing up in the shadow of their now legendary father, Ian Wright, who would go on to score 387 Premier League goals in 581 games.
The pair, however, are exceedingly humble and unassuming and would be the last to tell of their famous father. They lived normal lives – relatively normal, at least.
But even at such a young age, living with their mother, there was no doubt that the two brothers – now New York Red Bulls teammates after older brother Shaun joined up – were destined for something special.
“We played every day, no exaggeration,” Bradley said, recalling his youth. “I’m talking every day. At that age, it’s just for fun. You dream about playing [professionally], but you don’t understand the reality of it. We were among the best of our friends, but I wasn’t thinking too far ahead. I was just out to have fun.”
Without a Sunday league team to call their own, the brothers took to the local parks to get their fix. But unlike most brothers who are close in age, there was hardly ever any bad blood between the two.
“We’ve always just pushed each other rather than try to compete with each other,” Shaun explained.
For the most part, at least.
“We were competitive on the consoles for a while – Nintendo, Sega Megadrive, all those old games – until we got in trouble. That was the only time we really every had an argument,” Shaun said.
Both promising attacking talents in their own right, whether it was a game of FA knockout with friends or just a kickaround in the garden, the friendly rivalry only served to better the two.
That relationship changed in 2001 when Bradley joined Shaun in the Manchester City youth ranks, where the older Wright-Phillips had been since 1998.
The brothers were reunited once again, but the moment quickly passed them by, both more focused on first-team opportunities rather than playing side-by-side.
By the time Bradley made his way to the senior team, in 2004, Shaun would be on his way out soon thereafter, trading the powder blue of City for the royal blue of Chelsea in 2005.
From there, the brothers saw their careers paths diverge in drastic fashion.
While Shaun was lifting a Premier League title and earning caps with the English national team, Bradley never saw his opportunity with City realized and was soon toiling away in England’s lower leagues. Shaun did what he could to keep his brother on the right path as he struggled professionally, bouncing around among lower-tier clubs.
“We always spoke,” Shaun said. “He went through some tough times, and I told him that ‘you just need to keep working hard.’ Sometimes in football, a lot of people in the game don’t realize that sometimes people make it to the position they’re at because the timing and a little bit of luck on the way. Maybe if he were the same age as me, he would’ve broken through at City with me because the manager would’ve liked him.
“I’ve found that sometimes football is just a matter of opinions and timing.”
As it were, timing had everything to do with their second run-in.
A decade after they had first parted ways, their roles have seemingly reversed. Bradley, coming off of a Golden Boot campaign that saw him tie the MLS record of 27 goals last season, was on his way to earning a Designated Player contract and becoming the focal point of the Red Bulls attack. Shaun, meanwhile, was on the outs at recently relegated Premiership side Queens Park Rangers.
At season’s end, Shaun was released and unattached to a club through the summer of 2015. But thanks to the fortuitous timing and location of Bradley’s wedding earlier this year, the two brothers once again saw their paths cross.
And Red Bulls head coach Jesse Marsch invited him to train with the team to keep up his fitness when they crossed paths at the airport following an away match in Houston – now a running joke among the group.
But the nature of his stay quickly shifted once he stepped onto the pitch.
“As time went on, we could all see that his desire to be here grew,” Marsch said. “It became an easy decision for me to go to Ali [Curtis, sporting director] and start to talk to him… We just felt that Shaun was the perfect addition.”
- Get more RBNY news at NewYorkRedBulls.com
It didn’t take long for Shaun to fit in, both on and off the pitch. Welcomed as “an adopted son,” Shaun wasted no time making his impact felt during his debut on Aug. 1 in Philadelphia, earning a penalty and assisting the game-winning goal to none other than younger brother Brad.
“I just wanted him to come on and do well because I know he’s a great player, and I know a lot of people are expecting a lot from him,” Bradley said. “I was more happy for him than anything else; setting me up was just the cherry on the cake.”
Side by side once again, the two have been enjoying their football now more than ever with the Red Bulls heading into a crucial Eastern Conference matchup Saturday against Toronto FC (7 pm ET; TSN2 in Canada, MLS LIVE in US). And where the appreciation for this rare opportunity had once passed them by, Bradley insists that history won’t repeat itself.
“It’s surreal,” he said. “Even when we get in the car to come to training, it still hasn’t hit me properly. It’s just a surreal feeling. I feel very lucky and honored to get the chance again because I took it for granted when I was at City with Shaun. I don’t remember much. Now I just want to grab this moment and enjoy it while we’re here together because we don’t know how long it’ll last.”
For New York’s sake, they’ll be hoping it lasts for years to come. The chemistry between the two has never been better, and with the team in good form, it seems nothing will undo their inseparable bond, not even a few rounds of FIFA for old times' sake.
“Sometimes I’d have to let him know that I’m the older brother,” Shaun said with a laugh.
“Nah, he’s good now,” Bradley quipped. “Now he doesn’t try it. He’s like 5’2”; he doesn’t want that fight.”
