It’s incredible to think that Ian Wright, a striker blessed with razor-sharp finishing ability, explosive pace and a natural instinct for finding the net with both feet, didn’t sign a professional contract until the comparatively late age of 22, when he put pen to paper for Crystal Palace.
Wright’s eventual elevation to superstardom at Arsenal, where he remains our second-highest goalscorer of all time, was shaped by a unique set of circumstances and professional relationships both before and during a six-year spell at Selhurst Park.
As Wrighty attempted to make it as a professional, Arsenal midfielder David Rocastle, though four years younger, was always his biggest champion. The two grew up together on the Honor Oak Estate in Brockley, south London, sharing dreams of football stardom. Yet whereas Rocastle was a child prodigy who joined Arsenal at 15 and made his first-team debut at 18, Wright faced rejection from clubs including Millwall and Brighton & Hove Albion.
Rocastle encouraged him to persevere, reassuring him that the clubs that had overlooked him were making a mistake. Wright has often said their bond was more than friendship: it was brotherhood.
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Whilst playing semi-professional football for Greenwich Borough in 1985, Wright came to the attention of 28-year-old Palace boss Steve Coppell, who was building his Second Division team on limited resources and relying heavily on non-league scouting. Local coach Billy Smith – who worked at the Covent Garden flower market - persuaded the recently-retired former England midfielder to give Wright a trial, and his talent, albeit raw, was abundantly clear.
With Wright finally securing his dream of being a pro, Coppell nurtured Wright’s talent, pairing him with Mark Bright and teaching him to stand his ground against tough old pros. Coppell’s insistence that he relentlessly practice his finishing helped turn him into a lethal forward who would net 117 times for Palace, becoming their post-war record goal scorer during a golden period for the club who won top-flight promotion, reached an FA Cup final and recorded their best-ever finish of third in the First Division in 1991.
A broken leg meant Wright’s participation in the 1990 FA Cup final against Manchester United was in huge doubt, but he got himself fit enough to earn a spot on the bench on an afternoon that would elevate his profile.
When the Eagles were trailing 2–1 at Wembley, Coppell brought him on in the 69th minute, and moments later Wright scored a stunning equaliser, and in extra time, he struck again to give Palace a 3–2 lead. United fought back to draw 3-3 and won the replay 1-0, but despite missing out on the trophy, Wright would later describe his starting role in the first game as “the greatest moment of my life.”
Wright’s time at Palace didn’t just launch his career; it shaped his identity, laying the foundation for his future success at Arsenal, where he'd score a then-record 185 goals, now surpassed only by Thierry Henry. When he signed for George Graham’s title winners in October 1991 for a club record £2.5 million, he finally had the stage he’d always craved.
Aged 28, Wright explained he was “ravenous to succeed.” Waiting for him at Highbury was his old friend Rocastle, and the two dovetailed perfectly in Wright’s first league game for the Gunners at Southampton. Clad in the early ‘90s ‘bruised banana’ kit, Wright would bag a hat trick in a 4-0 away win, while Rocastle grabbed the first of the afternoon, slamming the ball home after Wright’s shot was parried by Saints goalkeeper Tim Flowers.
The sight of the two Honor Oak Estate boys embracing one another on the turf at The Dell remains iconic. For Wright, it represented the adoration he had for Rocky - “the fella whose support helped get me to where I wanted to be.”
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