Navy star Jack Wright on his rapid rise through UK Armed Forces football
The Royal Navy's Jack Wright is part of a new generation of talent that hopes to bring the Inter Services trophy back to HMS Temeraire as soon as possible.
An Air Engineering Technician based at RNAS Yeoviilton, AET Wright enjoyed a breakout year in 2023 from scoring a penalty to help the Navy under 23s win the Inter Services, to scoring against the Dutch Armed Forces to help the UK Armed Forces bring home the Kentish Cup.
It was a rapid rise through the ranks for AET Wright, who reiterated that his success once seemed so far away.
"There was a lot of years where I was in the under 23s maybe not at the level I should have been, a bit unfit, not playing at the weekends and not taking it seriously, and it just seemed so far away and obviously it's all happened so quickly," he said.
Away from the Navy, AET Wright plays for National League South side Hungerfield Town FC, but when he made the transition to the Navy senior service squad, he described the dynamic as "very different".
He said: "It's different because you have grown men who have got responsibilities and kids, so the dynamic is very different, obviously.
"But it was good, taking it a bit more seriously, people with a lot more experience, there's a lot more father figures and I went from like a leadership role to being the new one who needed to impress."
He soon found himself called up to the UK Armed Forces squad, playing against the German Bundeswehr, the Irish Defence Force before going on to help the team bring home the Kentish Cup, where he scored a goal against the Dutch Armed Forces.
"It was something I didn't expect to do," he recalled.
"I was around the 23s for a few years and UKAF just seemed a long way away, it just seemed like not really something I would do.
"I just started playing at the weekends, getting sharper and realising actually I might have a chance.
"The lads are class, you meet people from the Army and the RAF, like some of my best friends are now in the military playing for them teams."
With an impressive 2023 season now in the rearview mirror, AET Wright now has his sights set on achieving more with the Navy and UKAF.
He said: "I think winning the Inter Services in the immediate future is something the Navy haven't done in a while, and I genuinely do think we will.
"And then it moves onto UKAF, we have a fixture in June against the Germans again over in Germany, it's winning that, then the Irish, win that and then win the Kentish again, just keep winning!"
AET Wright will play for the Navy on 20 March where they hope to dethrone the RAF for the Inter Services crown.
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