One of the most famous Gooners of all time is arguably the Legend that is Ian Wright – the man who went on to break Cliff Bastin’s record of 178 goals in 395 games for Arsenal.
Ian Wright scored 185 goals in 288 appearances for the Gunners, his final goal coming on the 6th of January 1998 against West Ham in the League Cup quarter Final.
Wright signed for Arsenal in September 1991 for £2.5 million, a club record at the time, from Crystal Palace. The 28-year-old striker would have never expected his career to launch off the way it did, especially having started his professional career much later than the norm.
He immediately made an impact at Arsenal, scoring on not only his club debut against Leicester City in the league cup, but he also scoring a hat-trick on his league debut against Southampton. That season, Ian Wright went onto win the golden boot, scoring 29 goals (5 of which were for former club Crystal Palace) in the league, and 31 in all competitions.
Wright was handed his International cap by then England manager Graham Taylor in February 1991. His international career lasted eight years, but he only featured in a total of 33 games (17 starts and 16 substitutions). Wright scored a total of 9 goals during his time playing for England. However, the goals that he scored were often vital.
Wrighty scored a late away goal against Poland in 1993 and 4 goals in the infamous game against San Marino, where England went on to win 7-1. However, despite these goals, England failed to qualify for the 1994 World Cup finals in the United States, it also marked Graham Taylor’s last game in charge as England manager.
During the 1995 season, Wright scored in every round apart from the final of the Cup Winners Cup. This season was a difficult one for Arsenal and despite his goal-scoring form; things behind the scenes weren’t great.
Arsenal dismissed then Gunners chief George Graham over alleged illegal payments, which left caretaker manager, Stewart Houston, taking charge. Arsenal finished 12th.
By the time Arsene Wenger had arrived, in 1996, Ian Wright, who was now 33, had been partnered with Dennis Bergkamp who was signed by Bruce Rioch. The Englishman went on to score 23 goals in the 1996/1997 season.
On the 13th September 1997, Ian Wright broke Cliff Bastin’s record, and cemented his name in Arsenal’s history books as one of the all time greats.
I remember hearing the news that Ian Wright was going to leave Arsenal, and I tell you what, I was absolutely gutted at the time. I really didn’t foresee anybody being able to fill his shoes at the time.
Ian Wright wore his heart on his sleeve during his time at Arsenal, and was often involved in some heated matches against rivals Manchester United. His love for the North London club remains in tact, as evident in his newspaper columns for The Sun.
In my opinion, Ian Wright gave everything he had for the Gunners, and nobody could have asked anything more from him. Ian Wright will forever remain an Arsenal legend.
Here is a look at some of Wrighty’s goals for the club:
Like what you read? Then follow me on Twitter – http://twitter.com/UKVampire
Visit and Join our Facebook page, click HERE to do so.
Gunnersphere is currently looking for new writers to join the squad. Contact via twitter or at Gunnersphere@snack-media.com for further details.
What do we get tomorrow? All the quotes from him slagging off Arsenal for the last decade. How about when he was saying Thierry Henry should leave Arsenal and go to Barcelona, he stayed thank God, but the legendary big mouth you obviously love encouraged him to leave. There are is tons of his crap about Arsenal.
Were you around Pre-Wenger? Were you at Highbury screaming at Wright to shut up and to get away from the ref. How many times can you remember him begging the Ref to send him off or book him. Seriously. It was so often, he cost us the title more than once with that gob of his. I considered him a disgrace back then and I can’t stomach reading anything he writes or says about the club. He has even said that he always puts Crystal Palace above Arsenal. What would he have done without Merson? Merson could have put away half of Ian Wrights goals but he used to give them to Wright. If Wright missed he used to run over to Merson and push him, do you remember how many times that happened at Highbury? You couldn’t miss it in the ground. Merson is the Legend, Merson was a King Maker. How about recognising the contributions which matter instead of his record. As far as I’m concerned, we would be 15 Titles now if he shut up, at least. Yeah the goals he scored were great, but the player isn’t. The Club doesn’t even allow him to work with it, THAT’s how much of a legend he is. Bould does, Nutty Boy does, Keown has, Adams does, Chippy does .. Wright is banned along with that other legendary record holder, David O’Leary. It was ALWAYS about Wright, NEVER about Arsenal. If he saw an opportunity for scandal or controversy, he jumped at it head-first. He loved making the back page, loved even more making the front page. He gave winners medals away because they meant nothing to him. He just had a need for attention, a need which was unhealthy for Arsenal. He hates Wenger too.
I sit here and wonder if you consider him better than Thierry Henry. That is a Legend. That is someone who wouldn’t visit London without coming to The Club … Ian Wright in his shoes would visit London, arrange a press-conference to announce he’s there and that he’s NOT going to watch the embarrassing Arsenal. If you think he wouldn’t, you have NO CLUE what that man is about. Sorry mate.
Well your entitled to your opinion the same as anyone else is. I do think however the majority of Arsenal fans and the club would disagree with you as if you like it or not he is named as an Arsenal Legend. Sure Wrighty has been involved in controversy at the club during his time there. Fortunately Arsenal are not the same club as they were in the days of Ian Wright.
My views on Wright have not changed, I don’t think Wright had anything to do with Thierry Henry leaving Arsenal as Henry is a strong minded person and wouldn’t of let himself be influenced by anybody.
In my opinion Thierry Henry is the greatest player to have ever put on an Arsenal shirt, I have said it before in my articles and I do not hide that from anybody, I simply chose to write an Article on an Arsenal Legend and I stand by my article. I appreciate you taking the time to add your view on the player tho.
What a great player he was for Arsenal. He was constantly in the right place at the right time and scored some great goals for us. His positioning was top notch and I personally loved the way he played his football. Plain and simply he was a fantastic player and will always be a Legend.
Here is an interesting challenge that I was presented with recently. I shot the model shown above for an advertising job and was asked by the client to make sure that the skin tone and nails looked flawless.