FORMER Arsenal striker Ian Wright continues to prove that he is just as much of a legend off the pitch as he was on it.
The 61-year-old has been a huge advocate for women’s football over the years.
And last April, he showed just how much he cared with an incredible gesture to a player who had suffered a potentially career-jeopardising injury.
After Stoke City defender Kayleigh McDonald suffered a ruptured ACL during a match against Burnley, she was forced to set up a GoFundMe page to raise funds when the club refused to pay for surgery.
Stoke eventually backtracked – largely thanks to Wright, it has been revealed.
The Telegraph has revealed that he paid for a sports lawyer to advocate for McDonald.
And when the club pulled funding for her rehab at the end of last year, Wright started paying for it out of his own pocket.
The defender has revealed that her rehab costs around £1,700-a-month.
McDonald has insisted that Wright deserves more recognition for his kind gesture.
She told Telegraph Sport: “I wouldn’t be in a great place mentally if it wasn’t for Ian Wright.
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“I would probably still be waiting for my surgery if it wasn’t for him.
“For him to do this for me, someone he didn’t know, I think there should be more of a spotlight shone on him.”
News of the Arsenal legend’s incredible generosity comes after he was criticised by former England Lioness Eni Aluko for “blocking” opportunities for women in football broadcasting.
Speaking on Radio 4 Woman’s Hour earlier this week, she said: “I’ve worked with Ian a long time and, you know, I think he’s a brilliant broadcaster, but I think he’s aware of just how much he’s doing in the women’s game. I think he should be aware of that.
“The fact of the matter is, there is a limited amount of spaces available.
“If we had a situation where there was an equal opportunity in the men’s game for broadcasters and coaches that there is in the women’s game, it’s a free for all.
“But that’s not the case. I can’t dominate the men’s game in the way that, you know, you used Ian as an example.”
When asked to clarify if she thought it was wrong for Wright to be at the forefront of women’s football coverage, Aluko added: “I don’t know about wrong, but I think we need to be conscious and we need to make sure that women are not being blocked from having a pathway into broadcasting in the women’s game.
“It’s still new, it’s still growing. There’s a finite amount of opportunities and I think that men need to be aware of that.
“Men need to be aware that, you know, you’re in a growing sport, a growing sport for women, and we haven’t always had these opportunities, and so it’s about the awareness and supporting other women through that pathway.”
Wright has continued to back the growth of women’s football in recent years.
In 2023, he teamed up with Barclays to help create the Ian Wright Coaching Fund – an initiative created to increase the number of female coaches at grass-roots level.
He made a £15,000 donation and paid for 664 female coaches to attend their Level One training course.
And in 2022, following England’s European Championship semi-final win over Sweden, he insisted that all girls should have the opportunity to play football at school.
Wright said: “Whatever happens in the final now, if girls are not allowed to play football in their PE, just like the boys can, what are we doing?
“We have to make sure they are able to play and get the opportunity to do so.”
The former Arsenal striker started a women’s football podcast with Manchester City legend Steph Houghton last year and regularly features on ITV’s coverage of the Lionesses.
