For, away from the glare of the Premier League media spotlight, the City midfielder is a hero to the children of Guatemala.
And not for the goals he makes or scores but for the time, effort and money he devotes to making their lives more bearable.
In an age when footballers are continuously and quite wrongly in most cases, slated for perceived selfishnessand greed, 26-year-old Wright-Phillips is one of a growing number of younger players blessed with richness of talent and human spirit.
Another is his young team-mate Vincent Kompany who is an ambassador for SOS Children's Villages an organisation - set up just after World War II - also geared to improve the lives of children in need.
His efforts have been centred on the Democratic Republic of Congo, the country of his father's birth.
"Abandoned children very quickly lose their way in life, and have to pay for it for the rest of their lives," said Kompany.
"SOS Children's Villages helps the children so they do not suffer. The charity is paving the way for these children to have a better future."
Life
As for SWP, when not ripping defences to shreds, he can also be found trying to build a better life for children in a far away land.
He sponsors a class of primary school children and, on his last trip to Central America, helped rebuild the house of young boy in difficulty after being knocked over by a motorcycle.
"The big aim is to raise awareness for children in Guatemala in Central America and help with their education and their housing. It is a lovely country but not a rich one. There are kids there who are deprived beyond the imagination of people," he explained.
"It came about through a shirt auction a fewyears back when I thought that instead of just giving shirts away I would like to see what the money was going to.
"I wanted to help as much as I could. I visit every year to see if I can help in any way. They are great fun and being a dad makes me appreciate helping them all the more.
"I am honoured to be a patron for the charity Education for the Children. I always said that when I was in a position to do something like that I would do. There is not much that is more fulfilling than helping kids out of poverty as you are changing lives for the better.
"A lot of players, more than the public think, are involved in things like this.
"Generally people writing about Premier League footballers only want to highlight the bad things or the excesses but there are loads and loads of charity work that goes on."
FULL length interviews with both Shaun Wright-Phillips and Vincent Kompany can be found in this month's issue of the City Magazine which is in the shops this Friday.
Tweet
Comments
Login or Register to comment
Two outstanding individuals, hats off to both of them.
Good work lads, keep it up! If only more footballers had a social conscience...
Good to see these two great players giving something back. This is the sort of article you are very unlikely to read in the poison pen pages of the awful Daily Mirror. More please MEN.
Great work lads.
Great to see our own S,W.P back in the England squad. His recent performances have been first class, and credit to the club for bringing him back fron obscurity. The futures looking rosy and now having the finance will be able to compete with the biggest spenders of all time, ie Chelsea and Man Utd.
It's a shame this won't get as many comments as future MUEN articles about Hughes under pressure, or which mega bucks signings we're gonna make. Anyway, gents, I salute you for being real heroes and role models!
Good on yer lads! Great to see some Footballing Ambassadors, especially from MCFC. Your social conscience is very heartwarming, let's hope it rubs off on some of your colleagues.
They are both a credit to the Club and thier families.
I hope the new City owners continue to support "City in the Community", as they also do fantastic work in the Manchester area.
Good article. SWP and Distin were always superb at the Junior Blues meetings. That's why it makes me sick when Distin get's the bird.
Well done SWP and Big Vinny. Keep up the good work!
Incidentally, has anyone noticed whenever we score Big Vinny is first there to congratulate the scorer! Suprised he hasn't injured one of his own players with his exhuberance! Shows what a real team player he is.
Give the lad the armband I say. Looks captain material to me.
I swear i feel a shiver down my spine.
What a legend Shaun.
Come on song writer, let hear a new Lenon-like lyrics.
The Shiekth's Camel, previously Blue Arab, Oil rig, north sea
7/10/2008 at 18:12
Which platform is that then, have I been there, maybe?
Forgot to say, well done boys!
Terrific stuff!
Two smashing lads doing great things off and on the pitch. Kompany is a leader and Mark should make him the captain. He has settled in rapidly and his influence on the pitch is shining through. Little Shau is a dream and thank god he has come back to City, Trophies and honours coming his way.
Those are my boys....
I like the fact that Shaun went to see where the money was going. Agree with the poster about Distin. Just wish he'd kept his big mouth shut about City when he left. If he had, he'd have got the same reception as James (and SWP) did when they came back to visit.
Well done MEN - today we've seen two of the kind of articles we want to see about City. Journalists getting off their chairs and asking questions. Keep it up!
No coincidence that these two players play with exhuberance enthusiasm beyond some of our others. As in any walk of life there are those who grasp it and enjoy it and there are those who sit by and watch others do it. Mark Hughes has got the team more mobile and Elano is demonstrating a workrate that i never thought i would see from him to add to his undoubted quality. Well done lads. Great spirit both on and off the pitch.
Good on them, it is good to see profesional footballers with the money, do this type of thing.
CTID.
Well done boys. Hats off to you.
Hats off to the pair of them for making the effort and setting an example. But surely this is the kind of thing any one of us would do in their privileged position?
Rawtenstall Blue (Formerly of Bandit Country), Rawtenstall.
Quite few at the moment, jumping from to another every month or so.
am not going to ask you any personal questions