In the mid-to-late 90s, slapping Ian Wright on Arsenal-related material was usually a safe bet, but the club’s merchandise catalogue for the spring and summer of 1998 provides a rare artefact – imagery of a player in a kit in which he never played a competitive game.
The 1997-98 double season – nearly over when the catalogue went to press, as evidenced by Arsène Wenger’s introduction and the big question-mark on the end-of-season video cover – was Wright’s last at Highbury, with injury forcing him to miss much of the second half of the campaign.
He was to join West Ham United that summer, though he would play one game in the Dreamcast-sponsored version of this kit – Lee Dixon’s testimonial against Real Madrid in November 1999.
It’s also interesting to note that the official socks for the goalkeeper kit were the same as the outfield home set but David Seaman never wore that full strip in a first-class game – instead, the navy socks from the away kit were used.
I have the Ian Wright big-head figurine from the second last page! Found it in in a memorabilia shop near Hampden in 2004
Have the warm up jacket and rain coat And VNeck.