LEGENDARY footballist Ian Wright has undergone a stadium tour ahead of this afternoon’s World Cup opening game riding his Bonneville Black Bobber.
Starting at Wembley Stadium in the north-west of the London, Wright made his way to the Emirates Stadium. Now home to his beloved Arsenal, it was actually down the road in Highbury where Wright became a true Gunners legend, scoring a then club record 185 goals.
Having made the five-minute journey there to take in the art deco façade of the old East Stand that now forms one side of an apartment block, he journeyed south to Selhurst Park. The route through the centre of the capital was the perfect opportunity to sample the relaxed riding style and comfort of the Bobber Black – the ideal choice for a city cruise.
Once at Crystal Palace, where he got his first big break, it was a short hop over to the nearby athletics stadium. As it turns out, he had mistakenly arrived there on the day of his trial with the club all those years ago, only to be told he was in the wrong place and having to run the two miles to make it on time.
The rest, as they say, is history and the journey was the ideal way to marry Wright’s first love of football with his second – riding motorbikes.
“I didn’t realise I loved motorbikes until the first time I got on one. I rode from Croydon to Brighton in convoy and that’s what I loved about being on the bike – the fact that you could be with loads of people, but still you had your own space and time. I just loved being on the bike,” he said, before adding ‘Oi, oi, saveloy…’ or something.
