Ian Wright tries to retrieve 300 of his prized mementos worth almost £300,000 after they were ‘sold off when his ex-wife stopped paying the storage unit rental fee’
- Former Arsenal star, 56, said to be ‘in tears’ over sale of his football memorabilia
- This Is Your Life red book and 1992 Premier League Golden Boot among items
- Ex-wife Debbie was keeping items in a storage unit, but failed to pay the fees
- Kurt Wojchiechowski, 24, hopes to sell off the items for at least £115,000
- Wright already facing financial woes with a reported £2million tax bill to pay
Football legend and I’m A Celebrity star Ian Wright is said to have been left ‘in tears’ after 300 of his most prized possessions – including his beloved 1992 Golden Boot – have been sold off after his ex-wife reportedly failed to keep up with storage rental costs.
His special trophy, which was the first ever issued by the Premier League, as well as Wright’s This Is Your Life red book, were among hundreds of items kept in a storage unit in Orlando, Florida.
The former Arsenal and Crystal Palace player’s ex-wife, Debbie, rented the lock-up following her split from Wright, 56, in 2004.
Not all-Wright: The ex-Arsenal star is said to be ‘in tears’ after his prized possessions were sold
Other items listed in the unit include 235 photographs, 24 pictures, 13 balls, 12 trophies and 10 hats.
When Debbie – who shares a son, Stacey and daughter, Bobbi with Wright – failed to keep up with the costs, the unit was seized and sold off to a man in Florida two years ago.
Now Kurt Wojchiechowski, 24, has bought all the items for a small sum and hopes to sell them off for at least £115,000, The Sun On Sunday reports.
Among the items is this Golden Boot award for his 29 goals in season, between 1991 to 1992
The storage unit had 235 photographs, 12 trophies and 10 hats from his footballing heyday
He said: ‘I gave him multiple opportunities to buy it back already. Now all his stuff is securely locked away and I am waiting for the right moment to sell it.’
The former England star apparently attempted to buy back his items, but his offer was rejected.
A source added: ‘Ian’s footballing life was in that storage facility — everything that reminded him of his playing days.’
The revelation comes just days after news that Wright is using his reported £400,000 pay cheque from I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here to pay off a massive £2million tax bill.
In his 2016 book A Life In Football: My Autobiography, Ian detailed the financial problems he has faced, saying: ‘The only serious clouds in those skies is the income tax issues that have been with me for a while now.’
Wright, pictured with his ex-wife Debbie in 1998. The pair share two children, Stacey and Bobbi
Speaking of how many footballers of his generation fell victim to poor judgement and ill advice, he revealed he has fallen into problems with his tax.
He said: ‘I’m not a tax fraud, I am not a tax cheat, but at the moment I am at the complete mercy of the HM Revenue & Customs because of things that happened back then…
‘The fact that it was bad advice and probably some financial skulduggery is not their concern; they want to get paid and my name is on the bill.’
After buying a whopping nine properties, he was left with just one – which he had bought for his mother Nesta – when his tax bill landed.
He went on: ‘One after another, the taxmen were coming for me over my former properties because of something called ‘deferred tax’…
‘Essentially, means it hasn’t been paid. I put my trust in people who for 20-odd years didn’t give me the advice I should have got. I’ll be paying for that for a long time.’
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