Ian Wright has admitted that he doubted his ability to make it as a professional player following the announcement of his addition to the Premier League Hall of Fame.
The Arsenal legend is one of six additions to the recently created Hall of Fame, which has nearly doubled from 10 to 16 stars.
The former striker was already a big name for the Gunners when the Premier League was created in 1992 and was their main striker up until his departure in 1998.
His final season at Highbury was a highly memorable one as he won the Premier League and FA Cup double with the Gunners as well as becoming the club's greatest goal scorer of all time with 185 goals in a record only since beaten by Thierry Henry.
Despite his huge success at Arsenal though, the charismatic star admitted his personal struggles nearly prevented him from becoming a professional player.
'You have to remember that for the majority of my football journey, I never thought I'd become a professional footballer,' he said on Twitter after hearing of his Hall of Fame inclusion.
'So to do that, enjoy the times I had with the fans and my team-mates and now to receive this accolade, is a true honour. I feel really humbled and grateful
'Growing up in South London, football was my escape. We played for pure enjoyment & that's something that never left me when I played. I always felt like I was running out of time & this is a nice moment to appreciate the journey, the hard work and getting over the doubts I had. Hall of Raasclart Fame you know.'
Following his departure from the Gunners, Wright, who was also capped 33 times by England, joined West Ham United for a season before dropping out of the top flight and ending his career with productive but short spells at Nottingham Forest, Celtic and Burnley. Today the 58-year-old remains in the game working as a TV pundit.
Wright's inclusion adds to the 10 names already on the list following his former team-mate Patrick Vieria's addition in march along with Wayne Rooney.
Along with Wright, former Manchester United rivals Peter Schmeichel and Paul Scholes were added as were more recent Premier League stars such as Chelsea legend Didier Drogba, and ex-Manchester City duo Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero.
