PLAYER PROFILE: Ian Wright

[Salem6]

Full Name : Ian Edward Wright
Born : Woolwich, London 3.11.1963
Joined Arsenal : September 1991 for £2.5M from Crystal Palace
Arsenal debut : 25.9.1991 versus Leicester City, League Cup 2nd Round. Scored 1 goal in 1-1 draw.
League debut : 28.9.1991 versus Southampton. Scored 3 goals in 4-0 win.
Home debut : 5.10.91 versus Chelsea. Scored 1 goal in 3-2 win.
Lge Apps & Goals : 221 apps 128 goals
FA Cup Apps & Goals : 16 apps 12 goals
Lge Cup Apps & Goals : 29 apps 29 goals
Europe Apps & Goals : 21 apps 15 goals
Total Appearances & Goals : 288 appearances, 185 goals*
Record breaker : Beat Cliff Bastin's 178 goal record with a hatrick against Bolton 13.9.1997

* includes 1 appearance and 1 goal in the Charity Shield.




1963: Born on 3rd November to father Herbert and mother Nesta at Royal Military hospital in Woolwich, London. Wright has 2 older brothers called Morris and Nicky, and a younger sister called Dionne.
1973: Ian is the star striker for Turnham school, South London.

1977: Rejected after South London school trials, including a side which had future Crystal Palace team mate Andy Gray.

1978: Had trials with local side Millwall, but was again rejected.

1981: Signs for Ten Em Bee who play in the Kent Border league, and tops the goal scoring charts.

1982: Rejected following trials with Brighton, despite scoring in the reserves.

1985: Invited to sign for Greenwich Borough, and was asked to attend a 2 week trial with Crystal Palace after being spotted by Palace scout Peter Prentice. Steve Coppell, the Palace manager, offers Ian a 3 month contract paying £100 a week. Makes his debut for Palace on 31 August in a 3-2 home defeat by Huddersfield Town. Wright scores his first senior goal on 10 October in Palace's 3-2 win over Oldham. Wright ends the season scoring 9 goals in 32 appearances.

1986: Plays a regular part in Crystal Palace's first team, but fails to show his true form that would eventually become his hall mark.

1987: Scores 20 league goals as a good partnership with Mark Bright is established.

1988: Signs a new contract with Palace, despite approaches from both Liverpool and Tottenham (!)

1989: Palace win promotion to the old first division, beating Blackburn Rovers 3-0 in the second leg of the play off. Wright scored twice to reverse the 3-1 defeat at Ewood Park. Wright plays for England B side against Yugoslavia at The Den.

1990: Wright breaks his leg against Liverpool and is out of action for 6 weeks. Helps Crystal Palace to the Quarter Finals of the FA Cup, but then breaks his leg again and misses Crystal Palace's 4-3 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup Semi Final. Wright recovers in time for the FA Cup Final but is left on the bench. When Wright finally gets his chance, and comes up, he scores twice to put Palace 2-1 ahead against Man Utd, but then game is drawn 2-2 after Mark Hughes scores a late equaliser. Palace lose the replay 1-0.

1991: Palace win the Zenith Data Systems Trophy beating Everton 4-1, with Wright scoring one of the goals. Graham Taylor picks Wright for England and makes his full debut against Cameroon in a friendly played at Wembley. George Graham pays a then Arsenal record of £2.5M to take Wright to Highbury and scores on his debut in the Coca-Cola Cup against Leicester City, and then scores a hat-trick against Southampton in his first league start for the Gunners. Wright ends the season with 24 goals in just 30 appearances, and makes a further 3 appearances for England.

1992: Wright ends the season as top English goal scorer, beating Gary Linekar by just one goal, but is overlooked by Graham Taylor in the European Championships in Sweden. Wright is fined and banned after hitting Tottenham's David Howells.

1993: Wright becomes the quickest Arsenal player to score 100 goals for the club, beating Ted Drake's 40 year old record. Wright wins the FA Cup and League Cup with Arsenal, with Wright scoring in the 1-1 FA Cup match against Sheffield Wednesday, before they won the replay 2-1. Wright scores for England against Poland in Chorzow. Wright marries Debbie Martin in June on the Caribbean Island of Necker.

1994: Arsenal win the Cup Winners Cup in this season, but Wright misses the final after being suspended following a yellow card in the Semi-final against Paris St Germain at Highbury. Ian's fourth son Stacey is born.

1995: Scandal hits Highbury as George Graham is accused of receiving a bung, and Paul Merson admits to be an alcoholic, and taking drugs. Arsenal also have a poor season in the league, but again reach the Cup Winners Cup final where they lose to a wonder goal from Nayim. On the way to the final Wright scores in every round on the cup equalling the 30 year record of Ferenc Puskas.

1996: Wright hands in a transfer request as the new Manager Bruce Rioch and Wright fail to see eye to eye. The request is rejected, as Rioch is the man who leave Arsenal.

1997: Arsenal win the League and Cup double for the second time in their history, with Wright scoring 10 goals in the league. However, Wright does not appear in the FA Cup Final, despite a promise from Arsene Wenger, which spells the end of his time at the club. Wright breaks the Arsenal goal scoring record held by Ted Drake with a hat-trick against Bolton on 13 September.

1998: Ian Wright leaves Arsenal on 13 July 1998 and joins West Ham Utd for £500K. Wright fails to make an impression and leaves on loan to Nottingham Forest in 1999, and then later joins Celtic, again on loan.

A lot of the above information has come from Ian Wright's autobiography called 'Mr Wright', which is published by Collins Willow. I would recommend this book, it is a great read and a great insight into the legend of Arsenal. The book's ISBN number for reference is 0 00 2187264.

[Salem6]

This is the second article in a series examining greats of Arsenal's past. We'll be traveling through Arsenal's rich history with one stipulation: the players have to be retired. Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira may well add to their footballing legend before their careers are over so you won't be seeing their profiles in this series.

Ah, Ian Wright.

He is perhaps one of the poorer football pundits of today, but was indisputably one of the greatest goal-scorers of his era. He is second to only one striker in Arsenal's history, the prolific Thierry Henry.

Wright began his footballing career later than most professionals. During his teen years, he had trials with Southend and Brighton, but didn't catch on with either team. Disappointed, he resigned himself to pursuing a career outside of football while still turning out for amateur and non-league teams.

His life changed forever when a Crystal Palace scout spotted him playing in a Sunday league match. His performance impressed the scout enough to get Wright a trial at the club. He signed a contract with Crystal Palace in the summer of 1985, just three months short of his 22nd birthday.

That's certainly a ripe old age for a footballer to begin a professional career, especially today, but Wright did not take long at all to adjust to the professional game.

In his first season at Palace, Wright finished as the club's second-leading goal-scorer, tallying nine strikes.

During his Palace career, Wright scored 117 goals and was named Palace's "Player of the Century." Impressive work for somebody who was only at the club from 1985 to 1991. But Wright's most impressive feats were still to come.

B/R Ticket Guide Powered by FanSnap.comIn September of 1991, Wright signed with Arsenal for a then-club record £2.5m (my, how times change!). He scored on his debut for the club, against Leicester in the League Cup. He also scored a hat trick in his League debut against Southampton.

His torrid scoring pace to start the season never relaxed and he won the Golden Boot with 31 goals in all competitions.

Arsenal enjoyed success in the early 1990s thanks in no small part to Wright's contributions. He led the team in scoring for six seasons in a row, and was a key part of the League Cup and FA Cup double-winning team of 1993.

He also helped Arsenal reach the finals of the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup, although he was suspended for the final, which Arsenal won by a score of 1-0.

The club went through some lean years with the dismissal of George Graham, the manager that brought Wright to north London. The Gunners struggled to a 12th place finish, but the club was revived once again with the arrival of Bruce Rioch (the same man who brought Bergkamp to Highbury.)

Wright and Rioch experienced some friction in their early days, with Wright even handing in a transfer request. The request was later rescinded, Bergkamp arrived, and the two helped Arsenal achieve a fifth place finish in the League and UEFA Cup appearance.

When Arsene Wenger arrived at Arsenal in 1996, Wright was 33 but still a dangerous goal-scorer. He was the second-leading scorer in the Premiership in 1996-1997 with 23 goals.

On September 13th, 1997, Wright achieved a milestone that made him a permanent part of club lore. He scored a hat trick against Bolton, which put him atop Arsenal's goal-scoring list, surpassing the great Cliff Bastin. That record has since been surpassed by Thierry Henry, but that has not lessened Wright's accomplishment in the slightest.

After his spell at Arsenal, Wright bounced around with several different clubs, including West Ham and Celtic. He retired in 2000, but returned to Arsenal to take part in Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial match. He lined up with some of the all-time greats of football to take part in one final game.

After his football career, Wright branched out into a career in media. He's been a pundit on the BBC's Match of the Day, appeared on the popular show Top Gear, and is currently the host of Gladiators, the UK's answer to the popular American show American Gladiators.

He has not completely stayed out of football though. In 2007, he purchased a stake in the Isthmian League club Ashford Town and was named as their Director of Football Strategy.

Regardless of his talents as a member of the media, no matter how many cars he nearly flips on Top Gear's test track, he'll always be most fondly remembered for his accomplishments in the Arsenal shirt.


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