Former striker Ian Wright enjoyed a legendary spell at Arsenal which culminated in him winning the double in his final season.
Wright established himself as one of the best attackers in the history of the club during a hugely productive seven-year spell at Highbury Stadium.
The Englishman surpassed Cliff Bastin to become Arsenal’s record goalscorer until Thierry Henry came along a few years later, and even to this day, he is most associated with the Gunners.
Wright was a consistent goalscorer throughout his Arsenal spell, but as he entered the latter years of his career when Arsene Wenger arrived in 1996, he saw a natural drop-off in his goals and his minutes.
Although he still performed well when called upon as Wenger’s side won the Premier League and FA Cup double, Wright has now admitted that he knew his time was up ahead of the Frenchman’s first full season in charge for a hilarious reason.
Ian Wright reveals Arsene Wenger anger before his Arsenal departure
Speaking on the Stick To Football Podcast, Wright explained how one “unprofessional” incident had made Wenger so angry that he knew his time at Arsenal would come to an end.
“This is when I knew it was over for me with Wenger because it was the year before we won the Premier League. I got into the rollerblades and at Arsenal, there was a bit where we used to park our cars and the car park was so smooth,” he explained.
“I was doing my rollerblading in there, I got there an hour earlier than we usually had to be there to do some rollerblading and then I thought I don’t even need to take them off, I’ll get to the dressing room and then give them to Vic (Akers), so Vic can hide them.
“So when we got through, I thought ‘I can go through the marble halls on them, nobody has ever done that.’ I opened the door, and I’m not joking, as I opened the door, Arsene Wenger just came out and we just went past each other looking at each other.
“I remember as I was going past he went ‘Ian this is not acceptable,’ and I knew then he was livid.
“I had never seen him angry. Even when the guys came in he said about what I had done and how unprofessional it had been and do you know what? I didn’t think how unprofessional it had been. It was the day of the game! I could have twisted my ankle or anything.”
How Ian Wright bid farewell to Arsenal in 1998
Wright’s final season was the lowest-scoring of his Arsenal career, but he still notched up 10 Premier League goals in 24 appearances. Nicolas Anelka was the preferred option upfront alongside Dennis Bergkamp, and it was clear that at 34, Wright was nearing his final days.
The attacker still had some brilliant moments in his final year, with four goals and assists in his first three games, as well as a hattrick against Bolton in September.
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He then scored in three consecutive league games heading into October, but he would only score once more, as he missed the majority of the second half of the campaign with injury.
Wright then headed to West Ham United, and Henry would arrive to replace him a year later. Despite his run-in with Wenger at the start of the campaign, Wright had ended a hugely successful spell with two more trophies to his name, cementing himself as an Arsenal legend.