IAN WRIGHT has opened up on why he was snubbed for years by the BBC and ITV before making his comeback in 2015. The much-loved pundit quit Match of the Day 15 years ago after falling out with TV bosses.
Ian Wright made his Match of the Day debut when he was still a playerCredit: TWITTER/IAN WRIGHT
The Arsenal legend became a regular again on MOTD in 2015Credit: BBC
But it came after he was axed in 2008 after a disagreement with TV bosses that lasted yearsCredit: Getty
Wright is again set to step back from screens at the end of this season – but now on far better terms.
The former England striker announced he is leaving MOTD”to do a few more different things with my Saturdays.”
Wright made his debut on the iconic highlights show in 1997, while he was still playing in the Premier League with Arsenal at the time.
After retiring three years later, he began working as a regular pundit in 2002.
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He lasted on Match of the Day for six years before being axed and frozen out by the BBC following a dispute with chiefs.
The Gunners and Crystal Palace legend was unhappy as he thought he was only being used for comedy purposes to stop tensions arising between fellow pundits.
Wright said at the time: “I feel like I am just there as a comedy jester to break the ice with Alan Shearer and Alan Hansen, who just do run-of-the-mill things.
“I can’t do that any more. People want something different.”
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Ian Wright making his first Match of the Day appearance with Des Lynam and Trevor Brooking
Wright has become a much-loved part of the showCredit: BBC
Wright has now lifted the lid on his 2008 departure from the BBC as he spoke to his Wrighty’s House podcast.
He said: “There was a time I wasn’t on the BBC for about nine years, they weren’t happy with a column I’d done about punditry and where it should be going, how it feels a bit sterile.
“And the fact that I said I feel like I’m on the end and I’m being like a court jester, I come in for the light comic relief.
“I said I’ve got more to offer.
“I remember being off the BBC for about nine years and I couldn’t get nothing at ITV because the guy that got rid of me on the BBC went to ITV.
“It’s funny because the guy I’m talking about Niall Sloan, he is like in the television world a father to me in terms of how he explains things to me, how he wants me to be.
“We’re very tight now. But I couldn’t get on any television.”
Desperate to continue his role in the media, the 1998 Premier League winner with Arsenal embarked on a career in radio and it ended up being the start of his comeback journey to tele.
It led to him getting the job as host of a documentary about Laurie Cunningham, who was a pioneer for black footballers.
Wright explained: “This is where Absolute Radio came in and everyone down there almost saved me, made me fall back in love with doing it.
“To get back onside with Sloan from ITV, he wanted to do a documentary about Cunningham and the people doing it said: ‘We can’t do a documentary without me speaking about Cunningham.’
“And so Sloan was like: ‘Okay he’ll do it, but he’ll do it if you give him a game again, let him get back on the TV.’
“So I done it, it done really well and they gave me a game.
“They gave me Chelsea against Brentford in the FA Cup and I was very fortunate because I was on with Martin Allen, who was somewhere else in space while he was on TV.
“Everything he was saying I was able to counter-attack it and say, ‘well that’s not right because of this.’
“I remember David Luiz really dived into somebody and I remember digging him out for that and then after that people were writing in saying: ‘Where’s he been? Why isn’t he on then?’
“And it just turned on its head, I was back.
“What it made me realise is you’ve got to put the work in.”
Wright ended up landing a more permanent role on MOTD in 2015 after helping to convince BBC chiefs while doing international fixtures on ITV.
Leaving once again is a tough decision – but Wright believes he has made the right one, explaining: “The time’s come for it I think.
“I don’t want to go too deep into what it means to me but the music, every time I hear the music, it takes me back to an unbelievable place when I first remembered what Match of the Day meant to me.
“Then to get myself into a position where I was able to be good enough to be on Match of the Day and then be a regular, it was more than I thought it was going to be.
“When I first went on, not very rehearsed in what I was going to say or what I was going to be, I was winging it and I remember Des Lynam, when he welcomed me on to the show, I said to him ‘this is my Graceland’.
“Match of the Day was my Graceland.
“When I first got the call for it, it does hit hard. You are nervous, because some people still don’t realise, It’s live.
“People still say ‘it’s live?’ Yeah. Obviously the games are highlights because we’re putting all the stuff on it.
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“But while we’re sitting there, we’re live. It’s a live show.”
Wright says he is “really looking forward to my last months” on the show and is hopeful his time on MOTD will end with his beloved Arsenal winning the Premier League title.
Ian Wright and son Shaun Wright-Phillips did punditry together last seasonCredit: BBC
Ian Wright has also worked for ITV following his axe from teleCredit: Getty More
