December 30 – Wrighty Meets Her Maj
WHEN Ian Wright was a struggling plasterer working for £100 a week before Crystal Palace took him on he could not have imagined that he would end up receiving an honour from the Queen.
It was on this day in 1999 that grinning goal machine from London was awarded an MBE by Her Majesty for services to football.
Until Wrighty turned up the only plasterers to have been inside Buckingham Palace were probably those called in to repair the damage caused by Prince Philip trying out his new shotgun in the drawing room.
Despite being renowned for his confidence Wrighty was anxious about meeting the head of state.
After picking up his medal at the palace in July 2000 he said: “It’s quite a humbling experience – it’s the most nerve-racking thing I’ve ever had to do.”
“I told the Queen that I’ve just retired as a professional footballer and I have to say, so far, I’m not missing it,” he said.
“It was the right time for me to retire. I could never emulate the success I had with Arsenal – it was unbelievable for me.”
Not everyone was happy for Wrighty however as four years after receiving his award former sports minister Kate Hoey claimed he did not deserve it and had only been given it as part of a Downing Street initiative to drum up support for the Labour Party.
She said: “Footballers who have trashed dressing rooms or have done things like that should not be given honours.
“But sometimes these particular people are very popular themselves, and they may well be added to the list by Downing Street because they would appeal to what Downing Street would feel were young voters who might be attracted to vote Labour.”
Miss Hoey, who was sports minister from 1999 to 2001, made her comments in evidence to the Commons public administration committee, which was conducting an inquiry into the honours system.
“Ian Wright had trashed dressing rooms and had been involved in quite a huge number of offences in terms of footballing behaviour. I thought it was very wrong that he had been given an MBE.”
Still, Wrighty kept his medal, although if the Queen had seen this clip she might have had second thoughts…
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