ITV4 is to air a fascinating documentary about the life and career of former Arsenal and England striker Ian Wright.
The half-hour film airs on ITV4 at 10.00pm on Tuesday, March 11, and features Wright talking frankly about his career – from his tough upbringing and his late entrance to the professional game to his friendship with David Rocastle, who died from cancer aged just 33.
Reflecting on his life prior to his football career, Wright talks about growing up in South London and his relationship with his family.
Success did not come easily to the boy from Woolwich and he faced adversity that would have discouraged many including rejection from numerous clubs.
After failing to win a professional contract despite many club trials, Wright describes how he almost turned his back on football before being offered a contract by Crystal Palace.
He finally became a professional with Palace at the relatively late age of 22, before joining the club he is most closely associated with – Arsenal.
Wright also provides an insight into how his goalscoring form for the Eagles over six years led to a transfer to the Gunners, where he stayed for a further seven years up to 1998.
This gave him the opportunity to play alongside his old friend ‘Rocky’ Rocastle, with whom he had spent his youth kicking a ball about in the grounds of a nearby crematorium.
With Arsenal, Wright lifted the Premier League title and both major domestic trophies – the FA Cup and League Cup. His only European honour came with the UEFA Cup Winners Cup in 1994.
Throughout his astonishing and record-breaking career, he played 581 league games, scoring 387 goals for seven clubs and earned 33 caps for England.
He also played in the Premier League for West Ham United and Nottingham Forest, as well as Scottish Premier League for Celtic and the Football League for Burnley.
Opening up about his early days, including a spell in jail and about the death of a close friend and team-mate Rocastle in 2001, Wright talks candidly about his rise from a South East London estate to fame and success at the very top of the game.
His honesty and emotion clear to see as he describes his transition from unruly teen to MBE.
The documentary, produced by WeHustle, was first released in autumn 2012 (see below), but ITV4’s version is a new directors cut which features clips from the original film, plus previously unseen clips alongside archive footage.
‘Ian Wright: Nothing to Something’ airs on ITV4 at 10.00pm on Tuesday, March 11, following ITV’s live coverage of Arsenal’s second leg Champions League last 16 tie away at Bayern Munich, for which Wright himself will be pitchside at the Allianz Arena alongside Adrian Chiles.
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Tuesday 11th March
Ian Wright: Nothing to Something
10.00pm-10.30pm ITV4
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