We speak to the Arsenal legend about his first pair of boots, Pantofola d'Oro and those famous Nike adverts.
Only one place to start Wrighty, do you remember your first pair of football boots?
My first pair I bought for myself were a pair of PUMA SPA Kings and the first pair I ever put on were a pair of George Best boots. When I was at school boys were wearing PUMA Royals and the King Pele. As I got older I went onto adidas. I remember the first adidas boots I saw were the 74’s but I couldn’t afford them and then I remember wearing the adidas Profi.
What boots were you wearing when you turned pro?
When I turned pro I used to train in all-black Pantofola d’Oro boots but it’s only because of my agent that I didn't wear them in games, but they were the best boots ever! When I went to Crystal Palace I still used to buy all of my boots and I went to my Palace trials in a pair of Diadora’s. They were absolutely fantastic boots, I bought them off a guy called Frank Johnson in Brixton but as things started to kick off and I started to make a bit of noise, people would recognise me and that’s when Nike approached me and they started giving me boots.
Did Nike offer you a contract?
They would just send me some Tiempo boots to start with but then they wanted me to wear them exclusively. After that there was a little contract involved and then the contract obviously got bigger and bigger, I couldn’t believe it. By the time the adverts with Nike started they were paying me a fortune…well, in those days anyway! But I remember when I was playing I always used to have a glance at adidas to see what they were doing. Back then adidas and Puma were the dons because they were the ones who started it all.
What do you remember about those early Nike ads? The Nike Legends ad must have been a fun one?
That ad [Nike Legends vs Satan’s Crew] was mega. We had Maldini, Ronaldo, Kluivert, Figo and anyone you can mention. The other team were battering us and I got head-butted so I was the one getting in the face of the referee! The main thing for me was that I was in them, and I was just pleased to be involved. It was a seminal moment for me, especially when I did my ‘Can You Kick It?’ ad for Arsenal, that was when it really took off for Nike in ’92. I’m not saying it was because of me, but you know what I mean, I was there at the start when Nike really came to the fore in football.
When you broke Cliff Bastins Arsenal goal record you lifted your shirt to show a vest with ‘179 Just Done It’ on - was that your idea or Nike's?
‘Just Done It’, that was my idea! I came up with that. I remember there was a guy at Nike called Nick Bevan and said I want a vest with ‘Just Done It’ on and they loved it and went crazy for it. Of course I lifted it one goal too early at 178 but I scored another five minutes later so it didn't matter!
You were one of the first adopters of the original Nike Mercurial in the 1997/98 season - what do you remember of those?
Yeah the ones that big Ronaldo wore! They had a really nice shape about them. I wore the black ones with blue seam going through them and a shiny satin. They were a nice boot because they were a great shape on your feet. I was speaking to someone the other day and they were showing me pictures and I had those on! They were really nice boots man.
Finally then, what’s your assessment on the football boots of today?
For me nobody has really come along and challenged adidas and Puma in terms of classic boots. Nike are great at what they do, but they're very commercial. Nowadays if a player wears normal black and white boots they’re the ones who stand out! It used to be only the really good players who could get away with wearing coloured boots but now everyone wears them! I used to be in a situation where I couldn’t wait to play in my leather boots on a Saturday because you could polish them up and make them look shiny. It’s really different nowadays and I’m not sure we’re ever going to go back to classic leather boots. If I had a charity game tomorrow I’d still want to play in a pair of PUMA SPA Kings or Pantofola d’Oro boots!
Ian Wright and the Carlsberg Fan Squad are taking 1,000 fans to Wembley for the Ultimate England Experience at England v San Marino on October 9th. For the chance to win Barclays Premier League tickets every week and to see how Carlsberg are making football better for fans follow @CarlsbergUK on Twitter.
