Ian Wright, an English TV and radio personality as well as a former professional footballer, made his name playing for some of England's biggest football teams, including Crystal Palace and Arsenal. Known for his speed, agility, finishing, and aggression, he played 581 league games, scoring 287 goals for seven clubs in Scotland and England, while also earning 33 caps for the England national team, and scoring nine international goals. But his success wasn't just limited to the pitch, he left the sport behind to present a variety of popular TV programs. His presenting career kicked off when he was a guest host on Top of the Pops before he was given his own chat show, Friday Night’s All Wright, interviewing celebs such as Elton John and Mariah Carey. Currently, he works as a pundit for BBC Sports and ITV Sports.

After his retirement from playing in 2000, he was awarded an MBE for his services to football. He has been active in the media, usually in football-related TV and radio shows. Two of his sons, Bradley and Shaun, are retired, professional footballers. On 21 April 2022, Wright was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame. 

Source: @wrightyoffical

What is Ian Wright famous for?

• Ian Wright is a former footballer and TV personality who is famous for his position as a striker for teams including Crystal Palace from 1985 to 1991, Arsenal from 1991 to 1998, West Ham United from 1998 to 1999, Celtic from 1999 to 2000, and Burnley from 2000. 
• Wright is famed for being the commentator for BBC Sport and ITV Sport.
• He is also known as patron of the African-Caribbean Leukemia trust and received the MBE in 2000 for his efforts in football.

Source: @IanWright0

Who are Ian Wright's Parents?

Ian Wright was born on 3rd November 1963 in Woolwich, London, England. His birth name is Ian Edward Wright. His present age is 59 as he celebrated his birthday on November 3, 2022. Scorpio is his zodiac sign as per his birthdate and he follows the Christianity religion. He is British by nationality and belongs to the English-Jamaican ethnicity. Wright is the third son of his parents who are Jamaican immigrants. His father, Herbert was absent from a young age, and he was brought up by his mother, Nesta, and an abusive stepfather. He has talked about his childhood traumatic experiences several times and has also said that he was often severely beaten by his stepfather as a child. He grew up with two elder brothers: Maurice and Nicky. 

Information regarding his academic qualification is still to get unfold yet. He spent most of his childhood playing football. He was an active and extroverted kid, a quality his stepfather did not like much.

Ian Wright Career Timeline

Football Career

• Ian Wright began playing football in his teenage. Despite having had trials at Southend United and Brighton during his teens, he was unable to attract sufficient interest to win a professional contract offer.

Crystal Palace

• Wright then got to chance to play for Bermondsey-based Sunday league club Ten-em-Bee before signing for semi-professional Greenwich Borough in 1985 for £30 a week.
• Through his six or seven matches, he impressed then-manager Steve Coppell. Then, he signed professional terms for Crystal Palace 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. 
• After that, he 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.
• The next season, he gained full international honors, and reached a hundred goals for Crystal Palace. He also scored twice as Palace beat Everton to win the Full Members Cup at Wembley. 
• He 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.

Arsenal

• Ian Wright signed for Arsenal in September 1991 for £2.5m, which at the time was a club-record fee. He scored on his debut against Leicester City in a League Cup tie, produced a hat-trick on his league debut against Southampton, and in the final match of the season, scored another hat-trick to take his total to 31 goals in all competitions.
• Ian 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 every round but the final of Arsenal's 1995 Cup Winners' Cup runners-up campaign, and scored freely in the Premier League. He was the second-highest Premier League scorer in the 1996–97 season with 23 goals. 
• He scored his final goal for the club on 6 January 1998 in a League Cup quarter-final victory against West Ham United at the Boleyn Ground. He was an unused substitute as Arsenal won the 1998 FA Cup Final and lifted his first Premier League title as the Gunners completed a league and cup double. He scored 185 goals from 288 appearances (279 starts) for Arsenal and scored eleven hat-tricks for them. 

Later Career

• In July 1998, Wright moved to West Ham United for £500,000. He spent fifteen months as a West Ham player, scoring the winner on his debut against Sheffield Wednesday, without reaching the same form he had at Arsenal. 
• Likewise, he had subsequent short spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic, and Burnley before retiring in 2000. 
• Ian Wright finished his club career with 313 goals in all competitions.

International Career

• Wright made his international football debut for England National Team in the 2–0 victory against Cameroon at Wembley. He helped England reach the finals of Euro 1992 in Sweden. 
• His international career spanned eight years, 87 matches, and three full-time managers, he only started 17 times and was a used substitute in 16 matches.
• Taylor, who became England's manager after the 1990 World Cup in Italy and remained in charge for 38 matches, only handed Wright nine starts and seven substitute appearances. 
• Wright, after being absent from international football for 21 consecutive matches, 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.
• Then, he went on to help England qualify for the 1998 World Cup by scoring two goals in the 4–0 qualifying campaign victory against Moldova at Wembley in September 1997. He missed out on the finals through injury.
• Wright went on to play a further two times for England as a West Ham United player following the 1998 World Cup. 
• He made his final international appearance, a month later, in a friendly against the Czech Republic at Wembley.

Post-Playing Career

Ashford United

• Ian was appointed Director of Football Strategy of the Isthmian League team, Ashford Town in March 2007, with him taking his place on the board of directors, following his purchase of a stake in the club.

Coaching Career

• On 18th May 2012, he was named a part-time first-team coach at Milton Keynes Dons. He left the role in 2013.

Broadcasting Career

• After his retirement from football, Wright got involved in a broadcasting career. He began his TV career as a guest host on "Top of the Pops". 
• Later, he was signed up by ITV to present his own chat show, "Friday Night's All Wright", where he interviewed celebrities such as Elton John, Mariah Carey, and Will Smith which ran for two seasons.
• After that, he went on to present programs such as Friends Like These, I'd Do Anything, The National Lottery Wright Ticket, and What Kids Really Think. 
• He also took over from David Seaman in the Autumn of 2004 as a team captain on the BBC game show They Think It's All Over, which ran until 2006.
• In addition, he has also starred in Men & Motors show Wright Across America as well as starred in Ian Wright's Excellent Adventure. Further, he appeared as a "celebrity hijacker" in the television series Big Brother: Celebrity Hijack.
• Likewise, he presented Football Behind Bars, a reality TV series aired on Sky1. He was also featured on an episode of BBC's 'Top Gear' in 2005, posting a 1.47.8 on the celebrity power lap times. It was announced that Wright would be participating in the nineteenth series of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! in November 2019. It was announced that Wright would be hosting a new prime-time game show for ITV called "Moneyball" in February 2021. He also makes a number of appearances in the Amazon Original sports docuseries "All or Nothing: Arsenal". 

Punditry

• Wright appeared as a pundit on BBC Sport's International Match of the Day and has been a pundit for the 2002 and 2006 World Cups and Euro 2004. In 2013, he joined BT Sport as a studio analyst for their coverage of the Premier League, FA Cup, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League.
• He was one of the main studio pundits for their coverage of the 2014 FIFA World Cup and Euro 2016. He left BT Sport in 2017 to increase his role at the BBC, regularly appearing on Match of the Day and Match of the Day 2. 
• Wright also now co-hosts 5 Live Sport on a Monday evening alongside Mark Chapman on BBC Radio 5 Live. Since October 2020, he has co-hosted his own podcast "Wrighty's House".

Writing Career

• Ian Wright published his autobiography, "Mr. Wright" in 1996. He wrote and released a single called "Do The Right Thing" in 1993.
• Further, Ian is also a columnist for the tabloid newspaper The Sun. He wrote a new and updated version of his autobiography entitled A Life in Football, published by Constable.
• In 2021 Wright co-wrote his first novel with Musa Okwonga entitled "Striking Out."

Who is Ian Wright's Wife?

Ian Wright is married twice in his life. He tied the knot in 2011 with his second wife, Nancy Hallam. The pair have two kids together namely Lola and Roxanne. The family is living a happy life right now. His sexual orientation is straight and he is not gay. 

Previously, he was married to Debbie Martin in 1993. The pair have two children, Stacey and Bobbi-Lee.

While he was young, Ian adopted the son named Shaun of his then-girlfriend Sharon Phillips and had another child with her named Bradley. They both went on to become professional footballers.  He also had a son named Brett with another girlfriend. Shaun and Bradley have both played for the New York Red Bulls, while Brett had a trial with Reading in September 2005 and played for their reserve team. Also, he has a daughter named Coco. His grandson D'Margio Wright-Phillips (born 2001), son of Ian's son Shaun, plays for Stoke City.

Altogether, he has eight children with four women in his life.

What is Ian Wright's net worth?

Wright earned a greater fortune and fame being a part of the sports industry since 1985 through his long dedication as a soccer player, and television and radio personality. Based on online reports, his estimated net worth is said to be $20 million as of December. With lots of skills and expertise in work, his net worth is increasing every year. 

His main source of wealth comes from the entertainment industry. As per sources, Ian works as a pundit and reportedly earns £200,000 per year while his weekly wages as a football player would have been much lower than what he earns right now. He lives a lavish lifestyle at present. 

Ian has appeared in television commercials for the chicken sauce, Chicken Tonight, Nescafé, and Ladbrokes along with Chris Kamara, Ally McCoist, and former Arsenal teammate Lee Dixon. Likewise, he appeared in an advertisement for the Wii console where he was seen playing Mario Strikers Charged and Wii Sports with his son Shaun. He was sponsored by the sportswear company Nike and appeared in Nike commercials during his football career. He was featured on the first TV commercial for Nike in the UK, Nike's "Kick it" was Nike's first TV commercial for Football in October 1992. 

How tall is Ian Wright?

Ian Wright stands a height of 5 feet 9 inches. He has a  body weight of 160 lbs. He has a pair of black eyes and his hair color is bald. He has got an athletic body type. He has got a healthy body and a charming personality. He wears a spectacle that suits him well.