A Life in Football: My Autobiography

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In his 2016 book, A Life in Football: My Autobiography, Wright says of these years that he came to hate himself. Yet, he says, he cannot regret these experiences “because it shapes you” and he understands why he behaved the way he did. “When you grew up in a situation where the love wasn’t forthcoming, then all of a sudden, you get into a situation where you are successful and everybody loves you, you can get a little bit high on that.” of the best new books for autumn from Richard Osman’s The Thursday Murder Club to Caitlin Moran’s More Than A Woman ‘Football was my only escape’ He was advised, he says, that “management is really tough. ‘Why do you want to do that? Television’s waiting.’ And I listened. That’s the only thing I regret.” Wright stopped playing football in 2000 (he moved from Arsenal to West Ham in 1998, with stints at Nottingham Forest, Celtic and Burnley afterwards), launching his own ITV chatshow, Friday Night’s All Wright, shortly before his retirement. The series saw him interview stars from Elton John to Mariah Carey, but today he says he wishes he had taken a different path.

Not a standard footballer's autobiography, Ian Wright's memoir is a thoughtful and gripping insight into a Highbury Hero and one of the most popular sports stars of recent years. Which nations have North Korean embassies? Which region has the highest number of death metal bands per capita? How many countries have bigger economies than California? Who drives on the 'wrong' side of the road? And where can you find lions in the wild? Although those early opportunities were contrasting, the pair share a few crucial experiences that are fundamental to the book they have written together. Both men were significantly defined in their formative years by the absence of fathers. Okwonga’s dad had been Uganda’s chief army surgeon and during the civil war in the 1980s was killed, when Musa was four, when a helicopter in which he was travelling was hit by a missile, almost certainly fired by members of current president Yoweri Museveni’s National Resistance Army. 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. Wright reveals all about his extraordinary life and career. and discusses with a rare frankness how retirement affects footballers, why George Graham deserves a statue, and, most importantly, what he thinks of Spurs.

Working with Wright an ‘honour’

Jerome’s story is less about football and more about the importance of staying connected to one’s community. The joy and pleasure in Jerome’s life come from sharing food and listening to music with other members of his neighbourhood, from visiting the barber shop and making time for his mother. In football, the biggest battles that you fight will always be far away from the pitch,” Wright said. From Sunday morning football directly to Crystal Palace; from 'boring, boring Arsenal' to inside the Wenger Revolution; from Saturday afternoons on the pitch to Saturday evenings on primetime television; from a week in prison to inspiring youth offenders Ian Wright has a lot to talk about. I never had the kind of tactile love my missus and I give to my girls now,” he says. “Being hugged wasn’t something I remember happening a lot,” he says. Although he loved Maurice, he never bonded with his other siblings. His stepfather – who he has described as a weed-smoking, gambling womaniser – was cruel and neglectful to Wright (“ He was rough with my mum and rough with all of us kids,” he told the Players’ Tribune), while his mother rarely showed him support or affection. Yet there was one adult who did take an interest in Wright’s early development: his teacher, Sydney Pigden. For a time, he was the only positive male role model in Wright’s life and would tell Wright to overcome the “red mist” by counting to 10 (“It always made me smile because, when I was young, it never worked”). Rocastle’s wife and daughters are like family to Wright. “I will never come to terms with it because I’ll always feel that, at 33, one of the loveliest men in the world was taken and it was just so difficult to deal with,” he says. “My biggest arguments now are with God. Sometimes I believe, sometimes I don’t. I just ask him: ‘Why?’”

Ian Wright is an Arsenal legend; I became aware of him mostly through his recent work with Arsenal as an ambassador. He is a great link between the club and the fans. 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. Last year, the Match of the Day pundit opened up about his troubled childhood and “cruel” stepfather, describing football as his “only escape”. Striking Out will be published by Scholastic UK in September 2021 and is aimed at children aged nine-plus.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.” Off the pitch for some of his years at Arsenal, things were less harmonious; his swift fame and commercial success (including the lucrative sponsorship from Nike) took its toll. “I got caught up with people who didn’t have my best interests at heart,” says Wright. “I got caught up with women who were using me. I got caught up with believing the hype, just because I was playing great football. You kind of get into this hedonistic mindset where you think everything’s just amazing, you could do anything you want, like you’re breathing different air.” Wright has never been someone to shy away from his flaws. He sought professional help for his anger issues after an infamous incident in 1999 when he smashed up a referee’s dressing room after being sent off. In truth, though, Wright had been battling to control his anger long before he stepped on to a football pitch. I can’t take people who just sit there pointing their finger [saying] Héctor Bellerín shouldn’t be saying that,” says Wright. “Football and politics are always linked. Why shouldn’t he, somebody who is affected by the government, have an opinion on Boris? And then there were the Saturday nights when Ian would get excited to hear the Match of the Day theme tune. “My stepdad would make me turn away to face the wall when it was on. Just because he could.” If Ian tried to peek, his stepdad would scream at him.