A Life in Football: My Autobiography

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Bradley, Sian (30 October 2021). "ITV's Moneyball host Ian Wright's wife, sons and presenting roles". BristolLive . Retrieved 30 May 2022. Andrews, Phil (16 August 1998). "Wright the hero in an instant". The Independent. London . Retrieved 5 September 2012. After just six or seven matches at Greenwich Wright was spotted by a Crystal Palace scout after a tip-off from Dulwich Hamlet manager Billy Smith and was invited for a trial at Selhurst Park. [16] Having impressed then-manager Steve Coppell, [4] he signed a professional contract for Crystal Palace in August 1985, just three months short of his 22nd birthday, the agreed fee being a set of weightlifting equipment. [17] Georgia 0 England 2". Englandfc.com. Archived from the original on 5 November 2010 . Retrieved 16 September 2010. Getting the call that told me ‘You’re in the England squad’ was surreal. Five years previously I’d been playing Sunday morning football and going to work every day. Now I was being considered as one of the best couple of dozen English players. Yes, I was scoring goals at a regular rate for Palace, but getting asked to represent your country is the pinnacle – it’s every footballer’s dream. After a player gets that call, he’ll be sent a letter confirming it, which is when it really hits home, because then you get to see all the other players in the squad written down. Shilton . . . Lineker . . . Barnes . . . Waddle . . . Everybody was there on that list, and although I knew those guys would be in the squad, I could hardly believe my name was in there too. Why I didn’t keep that piece of paper is beyond me.

In 1993, Wright wrote and released a single, "Do The Right Thing". [103] The song was co-written and produced by Chris Lowe (of the Pet Shop Boys) and reached No. 43 in the UK Singles Chart. [104] Ian Edward Wright OBE (born 3 November 1963) is an English television and radio personality and former professional footballer.In each of the seven seasons that followed the 1990 World Cup, Wright never scored fewer than 23 goals a season for his club. [44] He scored 25 goals for Crystal Palace during the 1990–91 campaign [18] Walsh, Dominic (29 February 2008). "TV adverts help Ladbrokes to a 46 increase in profits". The Times. London. Lawson, John (28 August 1999). "Wright ending escapes Forest". The Guardian. London . Retrieved 5 September 2012.

Thoroughly enjoyed finding out about how revolutionary Arsenal Wenger was in the football game, how incredible it was to play with Dennis Bergkamp and how poorly treated he was by George Graham though it was odd to read despite George Graham really bullying him that he still thought positively about him and several others too which was strange and portrayed a submissive character. Six new inductees voted into Premier League Hall of Fame". Premier League. 21 April 2022 . Retrieved 21 April 2022.Wright also played in the Premier League for West Ham United, the Scottish Premier League for Celtic and the Football League for Burnley and Nottingham Forest. As of 2023 [update], he is Arsenal's second-highest scorer of all time and Crystal Palace's third-highest. [6] [7] Wright was overlooked for the 1990 World Cup but was handed his England debut by manager Graham Taylor in February 1991. [4] As Wright closes the door to the house in Merritt Road for the last time, he says: “There’s no love here, that’s for sure.” Oh, but there was once. Little Maurice would place his hands over Ian’s ears to stop him hearing his stepdad punch and strangle his mother. Wright's cousin Jermaine Wright is also a former footballer. [109] Ian's nephew Drey Wright is also a footballer. [39] Ian's grandson D'Margio Wright-Phillips (born 2001), plays for Stoke City. [110] Bryan Robson quietly told me to take no notice of him, and while I appreciated that support, it didn’t make that game any easier. I guess McMahon just thought it was the sort of thing he could get away with because I was at Palace at the time when we weren’t particularly fashionable, while he was part of that Liverpool side that was winning everything.

In 2005, he was voted into their Centenary XI and was named as their "Player of The Century". [22] Arsenal [ edit ] After being absent from international football 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. [51] It had been over two years since Wright had made his previous England appearance in October 1994. GGM 22: Wright breaks Bastin's goals record". Arsenal. 30 July 2007. Archived from the original on 19 May 2017 . Retrieved 14 December 2018.After all, until he made this programme, Wright had never sought therapy or talked about his childhood abuse with those who were in that room half a century ago. Nonetheless, he has become a loving and beloved husband and dad, so far as I can tell. On Match of the Day now, he cuts a mellow figure. How come he, rather than perpetuating the cycle of abuse, broke it? Hugman, Barry J., ed. (1997). The 1997–98 Official PFA Footballers Factfile. Queen Anne Press. p.317. ISBN 1-85291-581-1. Nike and Maven Networks Introduce JogaTV". Nikego. Nike. 17 April 2006. Archived from the original on 30 January 2013 . Retrieved 21 July 2012. Since October 2020, Wright has co-hosted his own podcast, Wrighty's House, on The Ringer FC, with a rotating panel of guests including Musa Okwonga, Ryan Hunn, Jeanette Kwakye, Flo Lloyd-Hughes, Carl Anka and Mayowa Quadri. [91] The point for Wright in dragging up this past is to highlight how damaging it is for children to witness domestic abuse. In the 70s, one former social worker tells Wright, children who witnessed their mothers being beaten by their fathers were not thought to be traumatised as a result. Only earlier this year, thanks to the Domestic Abuse Act, was the law changed so children can be regarded as victims of domestic abuse. That reform is necessary, not sufficient. “One million kids are living with domestic abuse,” the social worker says. “That has to change.”

I don’t think he did either, because a few years later when I was at the peak of my powers at Arsenal and he with Manchester City playing against us at Highbury, he had this look about him that made me think if he gets an opportunity he’s going to try and do me.It was just bullying, plain and simple. I wouldn’t do something like that to somebody, in fact very few players would, and it was something I never really forgot. Sydney Pigden, inspirational teacher – obituary". The Daily Telegraph. 9 March 2018 . Retrieved 7 October 2018. My biggest gripe was Wright's unwillingness to stand by his words. For example, he had major problems with the former Arsenal manager, George Graham and he goes into great detail about it. But then he'll praise him and almost exonerate him of wrong-doing. This happens quite a few times throughout the book and drove me round the bend. How you can have two polarising opinions about a person / event in the same book, sometimes a few sentences apart is beyond me and grew frustrating with each occurrence. adriandurham". Talksport1089.com. Archived from the original on 12 April 2012 . Retrieved 30 April 2012. Ian Wright, Arsenal legend, England striker and TV pundit extraordinaire, is one of the most interesting and relevant figures in modern football.