“You are the person who survived a bunch of
rainstorms and kept walking”. T.S
When you’re told last minute that you will be interviewing a football legend, a person who has graced your T.V screens, who
strove to make a name for himself despite the barriers he faced even after the end of
his football career, you’re unsure whether your questions will give his name and life justice.
However, this is precisely what happened. I was given an amazing opportunity
to interview the man, Ian Wright himself and boy did I have a few questions in
mind.
What better questions were there
to ask than gain an insiders’ knowledge, expertise and life advice to inspire
young people to follow their passion and goals?
(I must also say I was incredibly
touched by the fact he told his agent not to worry about checking my questions out before I asked them)
So I will divulge a bit of background details for those of you who may not know
much about Ian himself. Growing up with a troubled childhood, having had his
father leave home when he was 18 months for six years, anger and a short spell
in prison followed him for 19 years of his childhood. It is clear by his
approach to life and personality that his path to success was not one without
trials and tribulations.
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| 1990- Scoring a goal twice against Manchester United at the FA Cup Final |
Despite his cool, calm and collected exterior, I could clearly see a man who had dealt with the cards life gave to him; his struggles and achievements have only carved him into a role model for youngsters keen to kickstart a life for themselves.
Whatever you may think of
him, too loud, too vibrant, too ‘out the box’ for you, it’s certain that this
man is an achiever in many ways other than his career and he frankly does not
give a toss about what you may think otherwise…. (What a legend).
I asked him a few questions I felt would be important especially coming
from a minority myself, something I deem important.
My first question touched on Ian’s opinion on
diversity and the barriers he faced getting into his chosen career.
He spoke about the fact it was around the 80’s he was attempting to
carve his career in and so there was not exactly a huge demand or space for any
sort of diversity and the race card was a big issue. It was a different time,
politically, socially and economically so the barriers were exemplified during
this era and he could see this everywhere, at trials or on the field.
1) How would you address equality in a chosen career?
Ian addressed the fact it is incredibly important to be able to choose
freely, without any restraints, young people should be able to choose whatever
job they would like to go in and there should be a fair opportunity regardless
of background/class/gender/sexuality/disability. He gave an example where if he
was to interview five people, and they happened to be five women or five white
people, it would not be fair to not choose the best people for the job.
However, he discussed the potential issue of people who will accuse you by
complaining about your choices of employees so you cannot always please
everyone. This was a thought-provoking answer and the sincerity in Ian’s voice
led me to explore his next statement, where he said, “you should not be in a position
of power” if you are unable to distinguish meritocracy from
entitlement.
2) What tips would
you give to young people for building their self-confidence?
Ian went onto explain the importance of tenacity, to keep going and
having the right support around you, as you do not always know peoples’ motives.
He explained that his ‘friends’ wanted him to fail when he was going through
the peak of his career, he was being held back by negative comments and chose
to overcome these by ignoring them and carrying on despite the difficulty he
faced hearing these comments. He spoke about his young daughter, where if she
achieved something, he’d tell her that she should be proud of herself because
she has accomplished so and so and this instilment of self-confidence should be
nurtured amongst young people by their peers, teachers, mentors and family
alike.
3) Who inspired
you? What would you say your driving force was, especially when you felt
disillusioned with the football world?
Ian heart-warmingly told me about Kevin Keagan, a football player and
manager and as a notorious player in the 70s’ and 80s’; Ian was inspired by his
meticulous approach to work and his discernable technical skills. Gary Player,
the former professional South African golf player played a key role in Wright’s
life too who is now in his 80s, and is a dear friend, Wright warmly spoke of how
he was inspired by Player’s determination to spend 12-15 hours practicing golf.
His “determination to win was inspiring”. However, set backs when attending
trials and attempts to breakthrough the football industry included being incessantly
told by his critics, that he was “too
small”, “too black” and thus this
constant opposition from others resulted in crushing his spirit and furthermore
disillusioning him. In particular, one time on the field he recounted
experiencing one of many racially aggravated abuses, where football fans were
chanting and acting like monkeys, he laughs about the “irony” of it where they were labelling him a monkey but if they
could just look at themselves…!
I then went onto ask Ian some key questions for those who may be entering
the world of work for the first time.
4) What would be the top three piece of
advice you would give to a young person entering the world of work?
His answers especially the last one was really interesting and was
something I believe in myself…
Wright told me punctuality and a strong work ethic is key; presentation
and professionalism go hand in hand when succeeding in any field. However, his
last tip struck a chord, you have to be able to look the other person in the
eye, as an honest approach in any working environment is vital especially when
being able to establish a working relationship. He spoke of it being the common
denominator in life as it is a dog-eat dog world especially in a competitive
field such as sports. Being no stranger to competition myself, I thought this
was incredibly insightful and made me appreciate Ian’s attitude even more as I
wanted some honest answers about his career; he certainly exceeded my
expectations!
5) What is your motto in life? Do you have a favourite
quote/song/belief you live by?
Ian recognises hard work as the key to success! (Insert standard DJ Khaled line here) His belief in God
strengthened him especially after his short spell in prison as he reflected on
how he used to go to Church every Saturday growing up and so faith was an
integral part of his life. He goes to Church every now and then again but when
I asked if he was God-fearing, he said yes as he held on to the belief that you
cannot go through rejection after rejection for nothing, there has to be
something better on the other side and it usually is. When it came to inspiring
songs, the classics came out, John Legend, ‘Imagine’ and Louis Armstrong, ‘What
a Wonderful World’ were the winners for Ian. (Great music taste too…!)
Wright then spoke of some
important tactics to take when approaching opportunities, “You will miss 100% of the shots
you do not take”, “Have conviction”, “Use
your heart and mind” with anything you do and he nostalgically
reflected upon the fact if he listened to the people who spoke nothing but negativity
to him and if he did not shoot the goals he shot, there would not have been a major
breakthrough for him. When people have been so eager to jump down Ian's throat with anything he has done,
noticeably he was speaking about a recent social media post, where he shared a
picture of a smiling baby and he was instantly hit with comments about being a paedophile, he responded that it is incredibly important to be able to silence people and carry on with your goals.
I have no doubt that Ian can be seen as a role model for young people, especially having faced so many issues growing up and in later life and I hope you have read this, taking something away from it.
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