Introduction

Ian Wright is a former English professional footballer currently working as a sports analysts and pundit. Most of his career was spent at Crystal Palace and Arsenal putting in a total of 13 years for the two clubs. He finished his career as a Premier League winner for Arsenal and managed to score well over 385 goals during his entire career.

Early Life

Ian Wright was born on November 3, 1963, in Wooldwich, London. He was raised by a single mother. He started his football by playing for non-league teams and gradually people started to find interest in him. He was a player who was more about hard work than talent. In comparison with the majority of footballers, he actually got into football a bit late professionally. He also faced tough economic times early on with his wife when they had their first child. This was a time when he was poor and went through a very bad time in his life, even being sent to jail for driving without paying any tax.

Career

He started by playing for a club called Ten-em-Bee and eventually got a contract with Greenwich Borough in 1985. Within a few months, the scouts of Crystal Palace along with consultation form the head manager invited him for a trial. That would be an important year for him as he eventually signed with Palace, being 21 years old at the time.

His time at Crystal Palace was a success regularly managing to be one of its top performers for the club. 1989 was a breakout season where he proved his worth by scoring a total of 33 goals in all competitions. In 2005, he was voted into their Centenary XI and was named as their “Player of The Century” by Crystal Palace which shows the impact he had on the club.

He then went on to join Arsenal.  He played a major part in the club’s success during the 1990s, winning an FA Cup and League Cup double in 1993. Wright went on to be the club’s top scorer for six seasons in a row. However, eh slowed down after the arrival of Bruce Rioch, the striker along with Wright didn’t get together at all creating a misbalance among them.

Soon, Arsene Wenger arrived at the club in 1996 with Wright still being an integral part of the team. He eventually became Arsenal’s second highest goal scorer in their history. After his career in football, Wright became a pundit for several sports analysis broadcasts both for the Premier League and special events like the World Cup.

Ian Wright Net Worth

As of 2018, Ian Wright net worth is $20 million. During his prime as a player and popularity among fans, he managed to be involved in several productions on TV including The National Lottery Wright Ticket, What Kids Really Think, They Think it’s All Over, and Men & Motors. He also appeared in advertisements for Nike, who was one of his main sponsors.

Wright had financial advisers with him who were not looking after his best interests at all. At that time, he was also involved in activities like Smoking that were hampering the growth of his career. Because of this, today he lives a very modest lifestyle that many of his fans might not expect about him. However, at his prime earning days, he was living in a large 12,000 sq. ft. house with many luxury cars. Along with the financial scandal from advisers, his divorce with his first wife led to him losing significant amount in assets.

His financial advisers reportedly didn’t take care of his income tax, which he mentions still haunts him till date. He has mentioned that not only him, but many footballers were caught up in this mess during the 1990’s. He once had 9 properties with him but today is only left with one.

Personal Life

Wright has a total of eight kids with four different women marrying two of them. Wright has had a lot of moments of down in his life. A recent incident happened during the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Whilst he was in Brazil as a pundit, his wife was held at knife-point as a gang burgled their family home, whilst their children were upstairs. She was robbed and Wright immediately flew to see her at the house.

Wright has recalled saying it was one of the worst days of his life. He is a known patron of the African-Caribbean Leukemia trust and received the MBE in 2000 for his efforts in football.