Ian Wright

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Ian Wright
Personal information
Full name	Ian Edward Wright
Date of birth	November 3, 1963 (age 43)
Place of birth	Woolwich, England
Position	Striker
Professional clubs*
Years	Club	Apps (goals)
1984-1985 1985-1991 1991-1998 1998-1999 1999 1999-2000 2000	Greenwich Borough Crystal Palace Arsenal West Ham United Nottingham Forest (Loan) Celtic Burnley	Unknown 228 (89) 288 (185) 022 (9) 010 (5) 008 (3) 015 (4)
National team
1991-1998	England	031 (9)
* Professional club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only.

For the host of Globe Trekker (Pilot Guides), see Ian Wright (traveller).

For the British Labour politician, see Iain Wright.

Ian Edward Wright, MBE (born 3 November 1963 in Woolwich, London) is a former professional footballer and current television and radio personality.

Contents 1 Football career 2 Media career 3 Miscellaneous 4 Honours 4.1 Personal 4.2 Crystal Palace 4.3 Arsenal 4.4 England 5 External links

[edit] Football career

Ian Wright came to professional football relatively late. Despite having had trials at Southend and Brighton during his teens, he was unable to attract sufficient interest to win a professional contract offer. Despite reverting to playing for amateur and non-league teams, he was nearly left disillusioned with his hopes of having a career in football, so he looked set to have a full-time job as a plasterer. However, Crystal Palace talent scout Peter 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 the Eagles 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 behind Phil Barber. 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 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 the 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 "The Player of The Century".

He signed for Arsenal in September 1991 for £2.5m, 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, five of which were for Palace, and 31 in all competitions.

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. Wright also helped Arsenal reach the 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final, although Wright was suspended for the final in which Arsenal beat Parma 1-0.

Wright scored in every round but the final of Arsenal's 1995 Cup Winners' Cup campaign, but 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.

By the time Arsène Wenger had arrived at Arsenal in September 1996, Wright was nearly 33. Despite his age, he continued to score regularly, and on September 13, 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 October 4, 1997 against Barnsley and was his 300th career goal for both Crystal Palace and Arsenal. He scored his final goal for Arsenal on January 6, 1998 in a League Cup quarter-final victory against West Ham United at Upton Park.

In July 1998, Wright moved to West Ham United for £750,000; he spent nine months at the Hammers without reaching the same form he had at Arsenal. He had subsequent short spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic, and Burnley (who he helped to promotion to Division One) before retiring in 2000. While at Burnley he scored one of his greatest goals ever in a game against Notts County. Without this strike Burnley would not have gained automatic promotion that season. He finished his club career with 323 goals in all competitions.

Wright made his England debut while still a Palace player, in 1991, although he did not make it into the squad for Euro 92. Wright's form for England was never as fruitful as it was for Arsenal, though he scored a crucial goal against Poland in a qualifier for the 1994 World Cup, but Graham Taylor's England still failed to qualify. Wright was only a fringe player under Terry Venables, but was recalled by Glenn Hoddle and his goals helped England win the 1997 Tournoi de France and qualify for the 1998 World Cup. He missed the finals, however, with a recurrence of the hamstring injury which had ruled him out of Arsenal's double win. Wright was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame in 2005 in recognition of his contribution to the English game.

[edit] Media career

Since his retirement from football, he has become a media personality, appearing as a pundit on the BBC's Match of the Day, and has been a pundit for Euro 2004 and the 2006 FIFA World Cup. He has also had a career as a presenter, having had his own chat show, Friday Night's All Wright, which began in 1998 while Wright was still playing. Since then, he has gone on to present programmes such as The National Lottery Wright Around the World, Friends Like These, radio show Wright & Bright (with his former team-mate Mark Bright), Guinness World Records 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.

In 2005 he appeared as the Star in a Reasonably-Priced Car on BBC2's motoring show, Top Gear, and despite a hugely erratic driving style, almost causing a flip-over at the Second-to-last corner of the track, he achieved a time of 1:47.8.

Ian Wright has also stared in Men & Motors show Wright Across America, where he fulfils a life long dream to travel coast to coast across America on a Harley-Davidson motorbike. The show is famous for Wrights rocky relationship with co-host and legendary custom bike builder Nicky Bootz.^{[citation needed]} In 2006 Ian Wright appeared on Channel 4's show Friday Night Project, a show where celebrities take host of the show for a night. In the autumn of 2006 Ian Wright hosted a programme called Ian Wright's Unfit Kids, in which he attempted to coach unfit kids to lose weight.

Along with appearances on television programmes, Ian also appeared in the television commercial for the chicken sauce, Chicken Tonight.

[edit] Miscellaneous

Wright is also the patron of the African-Caribbean Leukaemia Trust. He was awarded the MBE in 2000 for services to football.

Wright has five children, two of whom are professional footballers; his adoptive-son Shaun Wright-Phillips is a player for Chelsea and the England national team, while Bradley Wright-Phillips, Shaun's half brother currently plays for Southampton. Wright's 19 year old son, Brett Wright, is an up and coming figure in the Reading FC reserve ranks. Wright also has two younger children.

Wright is the favourite player of current Liverpool striker Robbie Fowler.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Honours

[edit] Personal

• MBE (2002)
• Inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame (2005)

[edit] Crystal Palace

• English Second Division (old) playoffs winner (1988/89)
• FA Cup runner up (1990).
• ZDS Cup winner (1991).
• Golden Boot (leading scorer in English First Division Championship (old)) (1991-92).
• Highest goalscorer for Crystal Palace post-war with 117 goals. He is third-highest overall.
• Voted as fans' "Player of The Century".

[edit] Arsenal

• Golden Boot (leading scorer in English First Division Championship (old)) (1991-92).
• FA Cup winner (1993, 1998).
• Cup Winners' Cup winner (1994) Runner Up (1995).
• League Cup winner (1993).
• FA Premiership title (1997-98).
• Wright is Arsenal's second highest goalscorer, with 185 goals in 288 games in all competitions; he held the top goalscorer record from September 13, 1997 until October 18, 2005, when Thierry Henry surpassed his total.

[edit] England

• 33 caps, 9 goals
• Debut February 6, 1991 vs Cameroon at Wembley
• Last cap November 18, 1998 vs Czech Republic at Wembley

[edit] External links

• ArseWeb biography
• English Football Hall of Fame

Preceded by Geoff Thomas

Crystal Palace F.C. Player of The Year 1989

Succeeded by Mark Bright