You don’t need to be a Crystal Palace or Arsenal fan to love Ian Wright.
Sure, Wright was a pretty phenomenal goalscorer in his heyday, but more importantly, he just seems like an absolutely brilliant person.
Whenever he appears on our TVs or radios, he makes us smile. Here’s to you, Wrighty…
Turning professional at the age of 21
The man gave us all hope. Three months short of his 22nd birthday, Wright was still playing for semi-professional outfit Greenwich Borough before Crystal Palace boss Steve Coppell received a tip-off from Billy Smith, the manager of Dulwich Hamlet at the time.
Wright was given a trial at Selhurst Park and never looked back as he earned a professional deal. Before his spell at Greenwich Borough in 1985, Wright had only played for a Sunday league club called Ten-em-Bee.
So ladies and gentlemen, if you’re still waking up early on a Sunday to lace up your boots, just remember: you can still make it.
Goals, goals, goals
It’s what Wright was paid to do; he duly obliged and then some, averaging just under a goal every two matches throughout his career.
After six years at Palace – where he bagged 90 goals in 225 appearances – the former England international move to Arsenal for £2.5million in 1991.
It was at Highbury where he would really make his mark. He not only hit the net on his debut in the League Cup against Leicester City but also scored a hat-trick versus Southampton on his league debut and finished the season on 31 goals.
At the Gunners he lifted a Premier League title, two FA Cups, a League Cup and the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, finishing at Highbury with 128 goals in 221 appearances – a club record until a certain Thierry Henry came along.
He went on to play for West Ham, where he had a successful loan spell at Nottingham Forest, Celtic and finished his career at Burnley.
*That* clip
One of the most heart-warming pieces of footage you are ever likely to see in football. Wright, who had not seen Mr Syd Pidgen for almost 25 years before the clip, was surprised by his former primary school teacher.
Pidgen at the time admitted that Wright probably expected him to have passed away and the former Arsenal striker was visibly emotional to see him.
“You’re alive!” Wright said to him as he broke down and hugged Pidgen. He described his former tutor as the “first main imposing male figure in my life” and “kind of like his special…
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