A Life in Football: My Autobiography

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The story is about struggling to grow up. Even being a gifted footballer is no escape route from the adversity that some young people face. Jerome is a victim of racism and domestic violence, and he also has to choose whether or not to follow his friends into dangerous and illegal situations. For Jerome, this means putting a football career on the line for the sake of his friends. The adversity Jerome faces is well-described, and is believable and dramatic. Okwonga, born in London to Uganda parents and now based in Germany, went to Eton aged 13 on a scholarship and then trained as a lawyer at Oxford University before becoming a full-time writer and journalist. 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. 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. 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.”

Striking Out will be published by Scholastic UK in September 2021 and is aimed at children aged nine-plus. Wrighty’s characteristic honesty means his book is far more engrossing than most bland football memoirs’ Sunday Times His upbringing has undoubtedly affect Ian throughout his life and his mother and step-father should be ashamed of how he was brought up. It is incredible to think he still made sure his mother never had a worry in the world after he became and pro and shows how kind Ian Wright has become despite all odds.His journey from a South London council estate to national treasure is everybody's dream. 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 will reveal all about his extraordinary life and career. In his adult life, Wright has had plenty of opportunity to be that mentor. He is the father of eight kids from two marriages and other relationships. His elder sons Shaun (whom he adopted) and Bradley Wright-Phillips both became professional footballers, Shaun playing 36 times for England (three more caps than his old man). Whatever was going on in his life, Wright has, he says, always tried to be there for them – “kids need two things: love and education” – without being overbearing. Wright, who played for England from 1991 to 1998, and clubs including Crystal Palace, Arsenal and West Ham, wrote the autobiographical novel in partnership with author and journalist Musa Okwonga. Inspiring young people In the wake of the incident, Gary Neville suggested Boris Johnson had fuelled racism with his rhetoric. Although Wright doesn’t disagree, he’s not sure how helpful this is. “Boris Johnson may be involved in some way, just because it’s intrinsically linked with the things he says and what he does. But you can’t really point at one person.”

Ian Wright, Arsenal legend, England striker and TV pundit extraordinaire, is one of the most interesting and relevant figures in modern football. After all, until he made this programme, Wright had never sought therapy or talked about his childhood abuse with those who were in that room half a century ago. Nonetheless, he has become a loving and beloved husband and dad, so far as I can tell. On Match of the Day now, he cuts a mellow figure. How come he, rather than perpetuating the cycle of abuse, broke it? Not many years later, Match of the Day viewers would bear witness to the consequences of that abuse. The scared, anxious boy became, in part, an angry if successful footballer. In a montage, we see Wright squaring up to Chelsea’s Dennis Wise, scything down defenders and – oh dearie me – getting restrained by a teammate to stop him thumping the ref.

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They absolutely believe they can. Wright wasn’t a great reader in his teens but he likes the promise of calmness and private worlds that reading a book implies. “I think Marcus can inspire that,” he says. “You can come to a book in your own time. There’s something kind of permanent about it, I think.”