Arsenal legend Ian Wright reveals smoking cannabis at the start of his career

Ian Wright, the legendary Arsenal striker has revealed how he used to smoke cannabis at the start of his career. Writing for British newspaper The Sun, Wright goes on to relate the incident which happened to him at his then club, Crystal Palace. Wright began his career with Crystal Place for whom he made 225 appearances; scoring 90 goals over the course of 6 seasons.

In the column, by the former Gunner, he goes on to describe the incident which was a wake-up call for him. Further, he goes on to say, how he had been smoking weed since the age of 17 for recreational purposes. At the time, Wright didn’t think too much about it as he preferred weed over alcohol. Instead, Wright thought of it as an end of the week ritual.

However, a post-game random drugs test almost jeopardised his career.

Wake up Call

Wright goes on to describe in detail the emotions that were coursing through him when the drug testers turned up in their dressing rooms and choose a couple of his teammates. He goes on to say, “ It was the first time I’d ever seen them and I panicked inside – I’ve been smoking cannabis, less than 24 hours earlier, and if that test comes back positive that’s it. It is literally all over for me.”

In fact, when the drug testers left after picking two of his teammates for the tests, Wright just collapsed on his seat with relief. The emotional relief at not being detected led him to take a staunch decision to never smoke weed again. At the time, the striker was only 21 years of age and had a bright future ahead of him.

The randomness of the drug test instead roused the forward and instead made him focus on his career as he went on to join Arsenal. It was at Highbury where he established himself as one of the legends of Premier League football scoring 113 goals in 213 appearances.

This incident and other life events are a part of the extract from his new autobiography, Ian Wright: A Life In Football. Wright was Arsenal’s top scorer till Thierry Henry, overtook him in the year 2005. Wright was the first player in the modern era to go past Arsenal legend, Cliff Bastin’s record of 150 goals for the Premier club.

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