Shaun Wright-Phillips thinks dad Ian Wright regrets that his sons didn’t play for Arsenal

Ian Wright Shaun Wright-Phillips Arsenal
(Image credit: Getty Images)

Ian Wright is an Arsenal legend, the former striker scoring a then-record 185 goals for the Gunners in 288 games across a seven-year spell at the club.

His two sons, Shaun Wright-Phillips and Bradley Wright-Phillips both became professional footballers, too, the former playing most notably for Chelsea and Manchester while the latter is the New York Red Bulls' top scorer in history. 

However, neither turned out for Ian's beloved Arsenal in their career, something older brother Shaun thinks his dad holds an element of regret over. 

When asked by FourFourTwo whether he thinks his dad would've wanted wanted them to walk out at either Highbury or the Emirates as an Arsenal player, Shaun thinks he would have. 

"I’d imagine that if you asked him now, he’d say yes," Shaun Wright-Phillips told FFT. "It would’ve been a nice story to tell."

At the same time, though, Shaun also recognises his dad, Ian, was proud of both their playing careers, regardless of if they played for Arsenal or not.

"But I think he was just happy with what we achieved. We made our own paths. 

"I played the way I wanted to, by enjoying watching a lot of wingers and attacking football when I was growing up; my brother liked watching people score goals, and you can see that with what he did in MLS. We didn’t listen to much of the talk on the outside."

Instead of Arsenal, Bradley's career in England saw him start at Manchester City before he moved to Southampton in 2006. Spells at Plymouth Argyle, Charlton and Brentford followed, before a move to MLS presented itself. 

His brother eventually ended up joining him at New York Red Bulls for a season in 2015/16, with the winger leaving QPR after successful years as a Manchester City and Chelsea player. 

Both have retired from professional football now, though, with Shaun's son, D'Margio Wright-Phillips, playing at Northampton in League Two, on-loan from Stoke City. 

Still only 21, perhaps it'll be D'Margio, rather than Bradley or Shaun, who will end up fulfilling Ian Wright's wishes of having a relative who has also played for Arsenal. 

Ryan Dabbs
Staff writer

Ryan is a staff writer for FourFourTwo, joining the team full-time in October 2022. He first joined Future in December 2020, working across FourFourTwo, Golf Monthly, Rugby World and Advnture's websites, before eventually earning himself a position with FourFourTwo permanently. After graduating from Cardiff University with a degree in Journalism and Communications, Ryan earned a NCTJ qualification to further develop as a writer while a Trainee News Writer at Future. 

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