By Daniel Feuerstein | Harrison, NJ | April 30th, 2026
Red Bull New York will bring back one of their best strikers, the club has ever known, as Bradley Wright-Phillips, who will become the second club legend to be immortalized in the brand new Legends Row, joining former goalkeeper Luis Robles. This will be the second time that Wright-Phillips will be honored by the club as they retired his shirt #99 that’s painted along the Luxury boxes at Sports Illustrated Stadium, but now will forever be seen as a true legend of the club. after the match this Saturday, May 2nd against FC Dallas
Wright-Phillips entered the stadium and went to the press conference room just across from the tunnel of Sports Illustrated Stadium as he discussed with the media his time with the club and the journey that has taken him from England to the United States. The son of Arsenal Legend Ian Wright, and the younger brother of Shaun Wright-Phillips, spoke to the media discussing how he learned he would be inducted at Legends Row and why he couldn’t believe his children came to their father’s workspace, while not knowing he was the subject of an announcement, putting him into this honor.
Before he came to New York
Grew up in South London, Wright-Phillips started his professional football career at Manchester City when he joined his brother Shaun, and spent two seasons, till he moved to Southampton, then Plymouth Argyle, then a stint at Charlton Athletic, before he made the bold move traveling across the Atlantic Ocean and joined Arsenal legend and French footballer Thierry Henry at the Red Bulls in the summer transfer window of 2013. While he only scored a small number of goals and helped start the three supporter shields the club has won, he finally broke out in 2014 as the first player in club history, either as the MetroStars or the Red Bulls, to achieve a 20-goal season.
“I’m just a kid from South London, you don’t think you’re going to end up playing in America. You know? But one. Let alone have your number retired and then… Now. Inducted into the legends row so it’s. It’s more when I’ve retired, I look back at these things and I’m like, wow, you know, I didn’t. I didn’t plan for any of this. I just wanted to come here, score some goals. Prove that, you know, I wasn’t in my dad and my brother’s shadow, and then all of a sudden I have these kind of accolades. I didn’t want to use the word, but it’s humbleness. I don’t really have the word for it because I didn’t plan for anything like this. It’s amazing I love New York Red Bulls or Red Bull New York as we’re calling them now, you know. It would always be close to my heart and I can’t wait for Saturday.” Said Bradley Wright-Phillips
Wright-Phillips first season at Red Bulls
In the 2014 season, Wright-Phillips scored 27 goals and tied the league record with Roy Lassiter of the defunct Tampa Bay Mutiny and Chris Wondolowski of the San Jose Earthquakes. He scored two goals away at Sporting Kansas City on Decision Day and made the record a three-way tie. He scored some magical goals in that playoff run to the Eastern Conference Final. Down a goal in the wildcard game, Wright-Phillips accepted a pass from Henry and buried his first goal for the equalizer, then in second half stoppage time, a horrible cross from Ambroise Oyongo popped up in the air, and while camping underneath the ball with a defender was on him, Wright-Phillips found a way to head it inside the far post and in.
Playoff Goals for BWP
In the Eastern Conference Semi-Final 1st leg against hated rivals D.C. United, Wright-Phillips scored the first goal of the match as Henry made a dummy move to pass the ball to Wright-Phillips, and he buried the chance inside the near post in the first half. He also scored the equalizing goal against the New England Revolution, but earned a yellow card that gave him a one-match suspension on yellow card accumulation in the second leg at Gillette Stadium. Every time Wright-Phillips stepped on the pitch, magic was created when he had the ball on his feet.
The Hat Tricks were coming
His goal scoring was prolific; he took down all opponents whenever he put the ball into the back of the net. Converted five career hat tricks with three in the 2014 season against Houston on April 23rd, against Chicago in a loss on May 10th, and against Seattle on September 20th. His fourth hat trick was against Toronto FC on May 28th, 2016, scoring all goals in the first half, and was on a possible run to challenge Clint Mathis’ club record for five goals in a single match, but a Gonzalo Veron Red Card killed that dream off. His final hat trick was against the big rivals in D.C. United on September 16th, 2018.
The fastest Player to score 100 MLS Goals
His biggest achievement for the club was scoring 100 regular-season goals in his MLS Career. He was running rampant all over the pitch, scoring goals like there was no tomorrow. He even scored his 99th career goal in the pouring rain at Sports Illustrated Stadium agasint the New England Revolution. The moment of truth came at the brand new Audi Field in our Nation’s Capital when the club had to wait for a downpour of rain to end and squeeze the pitch dry as the start time was delayed. But everyone saw that magical moment when Wright-Phillips converted #100 inside the second minute of the match and ripped off his red shirt, with a white one that had #100 on the back. On July 25th, 2018, Wright-Phillips became the fastest player to earn a century of goals in the span of 159 matches defeating Taylor Twellman doing it at 174.
He originally came to train with Thierry Henry
How did all of this began? It all started when he found out that Thierry Henry was playing in MLS and the Red Bulls. The Arsenal legend who created goals out of thin air was plying his trade at the club and Wright-Phillips wanted to train with his idol at the same club his father played for and created goal scoring records. In Henry’s final season, he changed from goalscorer to provider and helped set up Wright-Phillips with multiple chances that were converted into goals. This was an amazing season in 2014, and when Henry officially retired, Wright-Phillips had a new team around him and a new coach in Jesse Marsch that tailored toward his strengths.
“I honestly came here to train with Thierry Henry. Like, Thierry Henry was my idol. I’m a big Arsenal fan, so… You know, I think when you… It’s hard, you’ve got to be in England to understand the arrogance and almost the ignorance of how we looked at Major League Soccer back then. So I was just thinking, no, I’ll come here, I’ll train with an Arsenal legend, and then, yeah, see, maybe I’ll go back to England. If it doesn’t work out, I’ll get another team there because I had a few offers. But as soon as I got here, I saw players like Dax McCarty, Lloyd Sam, who I knew from before. I saw the quality of the training ground, the facilities, and then I kind of put myself into that, the picture of the squad and the team. It all started making sense to me. I didn’t think it would work out this well, but, as soon as I got here, after like a day or two, I knew it was a place I needed to be.” said Wright-Phillips
This Englishman who has made every Red Bulls supporter giddy everytime he struck the ball into the net and brought the house down at Sports Illustrated Stadium is going to have his day this coming weekend. Two seasons with 20 goals or more, tied a league record, took down every club in front of him and scored the fastest 100 career goals in club and league history. There have been many names before and after Bradley wright-Phillips that gave joy to the fans when they put the ball into the back of the net, but no one was more prolific than Bradley Wright-Phillips as he scored timely goals and put the club on his back.
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