Ian Wright reveals unlikely role son Bradley played in his breakthrough at Crystal Palace
Ian Wright has revealed how a 'conversation' with his eight-month-old son Bradley sparked his breakthrough at Crystal Palace.
After rejections from Leyton Orient and Charlton, Wright initially snubbed a trial at Palace fearing it would ruin his fledgling career as a labourer.
But He eventually signed with Palace after a trial at the age of 21, and helped the club to their first-ever FA Cup Final in 1990 before then going on to make more history at Arsenal.
In a wide-ranging and emotional interview for BBC Radio 4's Desert Island Discs, Wright detailed how a chat in the bath with Bradley pushed him into a successful career in football.
"When the day came I remember I was having a bath and Bradley - who was crawling around mainly trying to eat the bubbles - I remember speaking to him and going into why it was so important," said Wright.
"I was saying: 'This is it, this is another chance for me. What happens though, what happens if I don't make it again? People are going to say I'm not good enough again.'
"I was saying that: 'All I want is the best for you. For us to live somewhere nicer. I want to be a footballer so bad.'
"I was just speaking like that to an eight or nine month old baby. It was amazing because I went for this trial and I felt so free.
"Once I got there I just said I was going to do what I do. I had been rejected trying to impress, trying to do what I think they wanted me to do.
"I just went and did my stuff, scored three or four goals in the game and so then I found out I was going to make it. What that talk [with Bradley] did, which I didn't realise at the time, it just made me go into a mode of: 'What are you worried about? Just go and do it.'"
Wright also reflected on how an 18-day spell in prison jolted him onto the right path in life before finding football and success in south London.
“I cried from the first day to the last day," he said. "It made me realise I can’t do this. When I came out it was a case of trying to find the kind of job that would pay me so I could focus on getting that trade until [my football career] started to happen.”
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