Born in
Birmingham, Wright was a
youth team player at
Birmingham City before he played for
Paget Rangers of the
Midland Combination after being released from
St Andrew's in 1971. He returned to the professional game at
Third Division Walsall under
Bill Moore. He scored on his debut in the
English Football League in a 2–0 win over
Port Vale on 2 October 1971. He was signed by
Harry Catterick's
Everton after impressing in an
FA Cup clash between Everton and Walsall at
Goodison Park on 5 February 1972. However, he only played eleven
First Division games for the club, scoring two goals, before having his
contract terminated for 'serious misconduct' after a
training ground incident. Though he only enjoyed an eleven-month stay with the club, he created an impression on the Everton fans, who remember him for using his head to accidentally
break the toe of
Sheffield United centre-back
Eddie Colquhoun during an attempted diving
header. and scored 38 goals in 152 league games during his four years at
Fellows Park. After struggling in the lower half of the table in
1972–73 and
1973–74 under
John Smith and then
Ronnie Allen, the "Saddlers" came close to
promotion in
1974–75 and
1975–76 under
Doug Fraser's stewardship. He joined
Bobby Kennedy's
Bradford City in 1976, where he scored 13 goals in 66 league games. Bradford won promotion out of the
Fourth Division in
1976–77, but suffered
relegation in
1977–78 under
John Napier. Wright and
Don Hutchins were joint-top scorers in 1977–78 with ten goals. Wright left the club and returned to the
Midlands as his wife failed to settle in the area. He finished as
top scorer in the
1978–79 season with 15 strikes in 48 games and was voted
Player of the Year for this achievement. He was popular with the fans, who would chant "Bernie's evil" in matches. However, he lost his place under
caretaker manager Alan Bloor, though regained it with a brace against
Northampton Town. He recorded nine goals in 33 games in
1979–80. Still, he fell out with new manager
John McGrath after refusing to move closer to
Burslem from his home in Birmingham. He later played for
Trowbridge Town,
Cheltenham Town,
Worcester City,
Gloucester City and
Burton Albion. ==Style of play==