5 of football’s greatest late bloomers  

#3 Ian Wright

Wright is rightly considered an Arsenal legend

Ian Wright has gone down in Arsenal folklore as one of their greatest ever players as well as one of the Premier League’s most lethal strikers, but it wasn’t always smooth sailing for the Englishman. After unsuccessful trials at Southend United and Brighton, Wright was forced to play for several non-league teams which led him to consider turning his back on football for good. However, a spell in jail due to Wright’s failure to pay fines for driving without tax or insurance led him to have a reckoning.

A tearful Wright, who was completely broke and whose wife had just given birth to their first child, vowed from the confines of his jail cell to do everything in his power to succeed as a footballer. During his short spell at Greenwich Borough, Wright was spotted by a scout from Crystal Palace, whose then manager Steve Coppell invited him for a trial.

Wright soon signed a professional contract with the Selhurst Park outfit, realising his ambition of turning professional. And once Wright started scoring for Palace, he never stopped, which eventually earned him a move to Arsenal where he won numerous trophies.