Ian Wright

Ian Wright

Personal information
Full name	Ian Edward Wright
Date of birth	3 November 1963 (1963-11-03) (age 47)
Place of birth	Woolwich, London, England
Playing position	Striker
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps†	(Gls)†
1985–1991	Crystal Palace	225	(90)
1991–1998	Arsenal	221	(128)
1998–1999	West Ham United	22	(9)
1999	→ Nottingham Forest (loan)	10	(5)
1999–2000	Celtic	8	(3)
2000	Burnley	15	(4)
Total		501	(239)
National team
1989–1992	England B	3	(0)
1991–1998	England	33	(9)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only. † Appearances (Goals).

Ian Edward Wright, MBE (born 3 November 1963) is a retired English footballer turned television and radio personality.

Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal, spending six years with the former and seven years with the latter. With Arsenal he has lifted the Premier League title and both major domestic trophies, and the European Cup Winners Cup. He played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs in Scotland and England and earned 33 caps for the English national team.

After retiring from the game he has been active in the media, usually in football related TV and radio shows. His sons, Shaun and Bradley Wright-Phillips, are both professional footballers.

Early life

Wright came to professional football relatively late. Despite having had trials at Southend United and Brighton during his teens, he was unable to attract sufficient interest to win a professional contract offer. Reverting to playing for amateur and non-league teams, he was left disillusioned about his chances of a career as a professional footballer.

Club career

Crystal Palace

Crystal Palace talent scout Pete Prentice happened to see Wright in a local Sunday-league match and invited him to have a trial at Selhurst Park. Having impressed then-manager Steve Coppell, he signed professional terms for Crystal Palace in August 1985, just three months short of his 22nd birthday.

He quickly made his mark in his first season, scoring nine goals to finish as Palace's second-highest scorer. When Mark Bright arrived on the Palace scene the following year the duo soon established a successful striking partnership and it was largely their goals which took the club to top flight via the playoffs in 1989.

Wright was called up for England B duty in December 1989 but a twice-cracked shin bone reduced his initial impact in the First Division. However, after recovering from the injury he made a dramatic appearance as a 'super-sub', in the 1990 FA Cup Final against Manchester United. He equalised for Palace a few minutes after coming onto the field forcing extra time, then putting them ahead in extra time. The eventual score was 3–3, but Palace lost the replay 1–0.

The next season he gained full international honours, and reached a hundred goals for Crystal Palace. He scored twice as Palace beat Everton to win the Zenith Data Systems Cup at Wembley. Wright became renowned for his deadly striking ability, as shown when he scored a hat-trick in just eighteen minutes in Palace's penultimate game of the 1990–91 season away to Wimbledon.

Wright scored 117 goals in 253 starts and 24 substitute appearances over six seasons for The Eagles in all competitions, making him the club's record post-war goalscorer and third on the all-time list. In 2005, he was voted into their Centenary XI and was named as their "Player of The Century".

Arsenal

Wright signed for Arsenal in September 1991 for £2.5 million, which was at the time a club record fee. He scored on his debut against Leicester City in a League Cup tie, and then scored a hat-trick on his League debut against Southampton. He won the Golden Boot in his first season by scoring 29 league goals,^[1] five of which were for Palace, and 31 in all competitions. He scored a hat-trick in the final game of the season against Southampton; his third goal being the last ever scored in the old First Division. As of 2007, only Wright and Teddy Sheringham (1992–93 season) have won the top-flight goalscoring award having scored for two different clubs during the season in question.

Wright went on to be the club's top scorer for six seasons in a row. He played a major part in the club's success during the 1990s, winning an FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993; he scored in both the FA Cup final and the final replay against Sheffield Wednesday. Wright also helped Arsenal reach the 1994 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Final, although Wright was suspended for the final in which Arsenal beat Parma 1–0. That season they finished fourth in the Premier League.

Wright scored in every round but the final of Arsenal's 1995 Cup Winners' Cup campaign, and was a strong goalscorer in the Premier League, but it was a difficult time for Arsenal following the dismissal of manager George Graham over illegal payments, and under caretaker Stewart Houston they could only manage a 12th place finish in the league.

The arrival of Bruce Rioch heralded a bleaker time; the two did not get on and eventually Wright handed in a transfer request (which he later retracted). The arrival of Dennis Bergkamp, however, heralded a brief but fruitful striking partnership, and in their first season as a partnership they helped Arsenal finish fifth in the league and qualify for the UEFA Cup—they also reached the Coca-Cola Cup semi-finals, where they went out on away goals to eventual winners Aston Villa.

By the time Arsène Wenger had arrived at Arsenal in September 1996, Wright was nearly 33. Despite his age, he continued to score regularly (being the second highest Premier League scorer in 1996–97 with 23 goals), and on 13 September 1997 he broke Cliff Bastin's Arsenal goalscoring record with a hat-trick against Bolton Wanderers (a record since surpassed by Thierry Henry in October 2005). A couple of months later he suffered a bad hamstring injury which ruled him out of the club's run-in to a League and Cup Double; Wright was named as a substitute in the cup final against Newcastle United but did not play.

Wright scored a total of 185 goals for Arsenal in 279 starts and 9 substitute appearances. His final goal at Highbury came on 4 October 1997 against Barnsley and was his 300th career goal for both Crystal Palace and Arsenal. He scored his final goal for Arsenal on 6 January 1998 in a League Cup quarter-final victory against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground. In his absence, Arsenal were eliminated from the League Cup in the semi-final by Chelsea, ending their hopes of a unique domestic treble.

On 15 July 2008, he finished 4th in 50 Greatest Gunners list conduced by the Arsenal website.^[2]

Later career

In July 1998, Wright moved to West Ham United for £500,000; he spent fifteen months as a West Ham player without reaching the same form he had at Arsenal. During his spell there he made the headlines for all the wrong reasons when he vandalised the referee's dressing room at Upton Park after being sent off during a match against Leeds United. He had subsequent short spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic, and Burnley (whom he helped to promotion to Division One) before retiring in 2000. He finished his club career with 323 goals in all competitions.

International career

Wright was handed his England debut by manager Graham Taylor in February 1991. He started in the 2–0 victory against Cameroon at Wembley and helped England reach the finals of Euro 1992 in Sweden. Despite the fact that his international career spanned eight years, 87 matches and three different full-time managers, he only started 17 times and was a used substitute in 16 matches.

In each of the seven seasons that followed the 1990 World Cup, Wright never scored fewer than 23 goals a season for his club. He scored 25 goals for Crystal Palace during 1991 before going on to break the 30 club-goal barrier five times in the following six seasons. Despite Wright's goalscoring feats, the most number of games he started for England consecutively was two—something he only did three times.

Taylor, who became England manager after the 1990 World Cup in Italy and remained in charge for 38 matches, only handed Wright nine starts and seven substitute appearances. He opted instead to use a whole host of less prolific strikers, including Nigel Clough of Nottingham Forest, Paul Stewart of Tottenham Hotspur, David Hirst of Sheffield Wednesday and Brian Deane of Sheffield United. Wright did not make it into the squad for Euro 1992 at the expense of Clough, Gary Lineker of Tottenham Hotspur, Alan Shearer of Southampton and Arsenal team mate Alan Smith.

Five of Wright's nine international goals were scored under Taylor's management. These included a vital late equaliser in a 1–1 away draw against Poland in May 1993 and four goals in the 7–1 away win against San Marino in Bologna, Italy, in November 1993, the final match of Taylor's reign as manager. Both matches were qualifiers for the 1994 World Cup in the USA, for which England failed to qualify for the first time since 1978.

Terry Venables replaced Taylor as manager after the unsuccessful 1994 World Cup qualifying campaign but Wright's appearances in the side became even more limited. Despite featuring in four of the first five matches under Venables, albeit three times as a substitute, Wright never played under his management again. Ultimately, it cost Wright a place in the squad for Euro 1996, where England reached the semi-finals as the host nation. Venables vacated his position as England manager after the tournament and was replaced by Glenn Hoddle.

After being in international exile for 21 consecutive matches, Wright was recalled to the England team by Hoddle in November 1996 when he came off the bench in a 2–0 1998 World Cup qualifying victory in Georgia. It had been over two years since Wright had made his previous England appearance in October 1994.

Four of Wright's nine international goals were scored under Hoddle's management, including the winner in a 2–1 friendly win against South Africa at Old Trafford in May 1997, and the opener a month later in a 2–0 victory over Italy in the Tournoi de France. England won the four-team tournament, staged as a warm-up event to the 1998 World Cup in France, which also included world champions Brazil as well as the hosts.

Wright went on to help England qualify for the 1998 World Cup by scoring two goals in the 4–0 qualifying campaign victory against Moldova at Wembley in September 1997, before producing arguably his best performance for his country in the vital 0–0 draw in Italy, a month later, which secured his country's passage through to the finals. He missed out on the finals, however, with a recurrence of the hamstring injury which had ruled him out for much of Arsenal's double-winning campaign.

Following the 1998 World Cup, Wright went on to play a further two times for England as a West Ham player. He came on as a substitute in the Euro 2000 qualifier in Luxembourg, a match England won 3–0 in October 1998. He made his final international appearance, a month later, in a friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley. England won the match 2–0 and it also turned out to be Hoddle's final game as manager.

Wright started six matches and was used as a substitute on six occasions under Hoddle, who was manager for 28 matches. He made his first appearance under Hoddle aged 33 and his final appearance under him aged 35. England went on to qualify for Euro 2000 in Belgium and the Netherlands, by which time, Wright was approaching his 37th birthday and retired from club football shortly after the tournament.

Director of Football

In March 2007, Wright was appointed Director of Football Strategy of Isthmian League team, Ashford Town, and him taking his place on the Board of Directors,^[3] following his purchase of a stake in the club.

Media career

Books

While he was still a professional footballer at Arsenal, Wright published his autobiography, Mr Wright. It was first published in hardback in 1996 by Collins Willow when Ian was still a professional player at Arsenal. It was then published in paperback in 1997, which included an all new updated chapter.

TV presenting

He was later signed up by ITV to present his own chat show, Friday Night's All Wright, where he interviewed such showbiz greats as Elton John, Mariah Carey and Will Smith which ran for two seasons.

Since then, he has gone on to present programmes such as Friends Like These and What Kids Really Think. He took over from David Seaman in Autumn 2004 as a team captain on BBC game show They Think It's All Over, which ran until 2006.

Wright has also starred in Men & Motors show Wright Across America, where he fulfills a life long dream to travel coast to coast across America on a Harley-Davidson motorbike. The show is famous for Wright's rocky relationship with co-host and legendary custom bike builder Nicky Bootz.

He also starred in Ian Wright's Excellent Adventure in which he travels to Greenland with a friend, 'Mrs C' (Novello Noades, wife of former Crystal Palace chairman Ron Noades), to scale the highest mountain in the Arctic, Gunnbjørn.

Wright appeared as a "celebrity hijacker" in the television series Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.

On 12 March 2008, it was confirmed that he will presenting the new series of the popular game show Gladiators.^[4]

Wright was a presenter on Five’s early evening, magazine programme Live from Studio Five, from its launch in September 2009, to August 2010. He originally co-presented the show alongside, former model Melinda Messenger, and runner-up of the The Apprentice, Kate Walsh. The first episode of the programme was broadcast at 6.30pm on Monday 14 September 2009.

It was announced on 29 January 2010, that Wright’s co-presenter Melinda Messenger was leaving Live from Studio Five to focus on other projects. After making her final appearance on 26 February 2010, Messenger revealed that she had left the show following a disagreement with Wright. She described their relationship as ‘intolerable’. Messenger’s words came after Wright described her as ‘not right’ for the show.

Messenger was replaced in April 2010 by Emma Willis. However, Willis quit the show, in June 2010, after only two months. She left to co-present the latest and final series of the Big Brother spin-off Big Brother's Little Brother, alongside George Lamb.

Wright continued to present the show, alongside Kate Walsh, and new presenter Jayne Middlemiss, who replaced Emma Willis in June 2010. At the beginning of Thursday 12 August's addition of Live from Studio Five, it was briefly mentioned by Walsh, and Middlemiss, that Wright would not be presenting the show, that evening. At the end of this date's show, it was revealed by Wright's colleagues, that he had left the show, and would not be returning.

It was later revealed that Wright had been sacked from Live from Studio Five, after falling out with the show's bosses, over Five's summer talent show Don't Stop Believing. It was reported that Wright refused to promote the show, on the early evening programme, as he was not a fan of it. Wright was also reported as to being unhappy, with other changes at the programme, such as it's daily airtime being cut from 60 minutes, to just 30 minutes.^[5]

During a radio interview, the day after he was axed, with Absoloute Radio, Wright stated that, "It's just been arguments for the last couple of weeks." Wright's contracted was due to end in September 2010, but show bosses, decided not to renew it. Wright, who was reported to have not found out about his termination from the show, until just hours before he was due to arrive at the studios on Thursday 12 August, made his final appearance on Wednesday 11 August's addition of Live from Studio Five.

Ian Wright presented Football Behind Bars, a reality TV series aired on Sky1 about his program to socialize young men incarcerated at Portland Young Offenders Institution in Dorset by organizing them in a football academy. The program was an experiment with the prison authority with an eye to expanding it to other prisons if it was successful. The series ran 6 episodes, aired weekly from 7 September to 12 October 2009.^[6]

Punditry

Since his retirement from football, he has appeared as a pundit on BBC Sport's International Match of the Day and has been a pundit for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Euro 2004.

On 17 April 2008, it was confirmed that Wright is quitting his job as a pundit on BBC Sport's Match Of The Day coverage of England internationals. He criticised the programme for using him as a "comedy jester", and added "Fans want people who are dressed like them. They've got no one to relate to on TV and that's why I've said to them I don't want to do the England games any more."^[7]

Radio

Wright formerly co-hosted the drivetime slot (4-7 pm) Monday to Thursday on Talksport, with Adrian Durham. In 2010 Wright joined Absolute Radio Rock 'N' Roll Football for post match analysis and will be hosting this on their new Digital and MW radio station Absolute Extra.

Commercials

Along with appearances on television programmes, Ian also appeared in television commercials for the chicken sauce, Chicken Tonight and Ladbrokes along with Chris Kamara, Ally McCoist and former Arsenal team mate Lee Dixon.

He also appears in an advertisement for the Nintendo Wii console where he is playing Mario Strikers Charged and Wii Sports with his son Shaun.

Personal life

Wright's adopted son Shaun Wright-Phillips currently plays for Manchester City and England. Shaun's half-brother Bradley Wright-Phillips, who is Ian's biological son, plays for Plymouth. Ian's cousin Jermaine Wright is a free agent, having been released by Blackpool, while Ian's other son, Brett Wright, had a trial with Reading in September 2005 and played for their reserve team. His youngest son, Stacey, is a keen rugby player and attends Whitgift school in Croydon.^[8]

Wright is also the patron of the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust. Shortly after his retirement from playing in 2000, he was awarded the MBE for his services to charity.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

• MBE: 1
  

2002

• PFA Team of the Year: 2
  

1993, 1997

• English Football Hall of Fame: 1
  

2005

Crystal Palace

• Second Division: 1
  

1989

• Full Members Cup: 1
  

1991

• Golden Boot: 1
  

1992

Arsenal

• Golden Boot: 1
  

1992

• FA Premier League: 1
  

1997–98

• FA Cup: 2
  

1993, 1998

• UEFA Cup Winners' Cup: 1
  

1994

• League Cup: 1
  

1993

England

• Tournoi de France: 1
  

1997

• England Challenge Cup: 1
  

1991

References

External links

• Ian Wright Player Statistics at Soccerbase.com
• ArseWeb biography
• English Football Hall of Fame
• Ian Wright at the Internet Movie Database