Mark Wright has full Crawley Town debut to forget as TOWIE star substituted at half-time

Wright, 34, was substituted at half-time by manager John Yems

Mark Wright in action for Crawley Town (Getty Images)

Reality TV star Mark Wright endured a full debut to forget as Crawley Town slumped to a 3-1 defeat against Harrogate Town.

Wright, 34, was substituted at half-time by manager John Yems with the score 3-0 to the visitors. He was making his first start for the club since joining in December in an attempt to finally get his football career off the ground.

Wright left Crawley in his early 20s and went on to fame as a star of the TV show The Only Way Is Essex.

He made a brief substitute appearance in the FA Cup last month as Crawley stunned Premier League Leeds United, winning 3-0. But this was a far more disappointing result which leaves Crawley 11th in League Two.

Afterwards Yems defended Wright’s performance.

"It wasn't Mark's fault, but today it was farcical first half, absolutely farcical. It's easy for me to say that players have got to stand up and be counted, but they have now, if not there'll be changes and there will be changes."