Arsenal legend Ian Wright is embroiled in a fresh row with ITV colleague Eni Aluko, who once again insists women’s football should prioritize the use of female pundits.
Ian Wright is at the center of another row when it comes to women’s football coverage (Image: PA)
Arsenal legend Ian Wright has been embroiled in yet another spat with TV pundit Eli Aluko. ITV presenter Laura Woods was quick to defend Wright after former England star Aluko argued that female pundits should be prioritized to cover matches in women’s football.
Wright is a highly popular television host and expert who has championed women’s competition at all levels. Aluko has even suggested in the past that Wright is making the jump to the women’s competition and building a new career from it.
But in fact, one eagle-eyed Crystal Palace fan pointed out some great footage from the run-up to the 1990 FA Cup final, when Wright and his teammates donned suits and went for the traditional pre-match walk at Wembley before the showdown with Manchester United.
Footage from just 3 minutes and 30 seconds later clearly shows players from England’s women’s team, which beat Scotland 4-0 at Wembley that day, standing on the side of the pitch and shouting into the lights. He clearly knows them and goes over to say hello, which highlights his long-standing interest and passion for the women’s game.
read more: Laura Woods rages and cries at Eni Aluko as TV war breaks outread more: Eni Aluko hits back at Laura Woods as row escalates and gets personal again
A Palace fan said: “This says everything about Ian and dispels all the myths about Ian. You can see the warmth, the respect, the admiration. He’s a player they know, a player they respect and this shows once and for all that Righty has had a real interest in the women’s game for years and this proves that.”
This is not the first time Aluko has taken aim at coverage of the women’s game, and she later apologized for Wright’s refusal to accept. This time, Aluko criticized ITV’s choice to cover the women’s match in last year’s women’s final.
“Last year at the Women’s Lionesses final, I was sitting in the stands. I wasn’t in the ITV final. Farrah Williams was next to me. Farrah Williams has 170 caps for England. He has 170 caps for England. He has 170 caps for England.”
“The two broadcasters that had the rights, ITV and the BBC. The BBC has Ellen White, Steph Houghton and Nedum Onuoha. There’s no malice towards Nedum Onuoha, nothing against him. I don’t know if he played for England or not. You’re part of the main panel for the England women’s final.”
Ian Wright and Mark Bright speaking with England women’s players before the 1990 FA Cup final (Image: YouTube)
“Let’s go to ITV. I’m in the stands with 105 caps, so there’s two women with 290 caps. That’s crazy. ITV, that’s Ian Wright, Emma Hayes, Kaz Carney.”
“So two of the six spots go to men, while you, sitting in the stands, have won 290 (caps). I’ve never been to a final and I’d probably be hard-pressed to remember a woman, a woman pundit, who has been to a men’s major final.”
“I’m speaking as a pundit, so there’s something wrong. Why aren’t people like me and Fuzz (Farah) out there? It’s not against Ian, it’s not against them. I’m just saying, broadly speaking, we need to be aware of it.”
This prompted a scathing response from Mr Woods, who defended his co-host and ITV expert Mr Wright. “Cap doesn’t automatically win the job and doesn’t automatically make him a great critic,” Woods said on social media.
Eni Aluko commented on the podcast last week (Image: 90’s Baby Show)
“How you communicate, how you express your ideas clearly, how you do your research, how you communicate information to your audience, your likeability, and your chemistry with the panel are what make a great critic.
“‘Women’s games should be by women and for women’ is one of the most damaging statements I’ve ever heard. It’s not only a setback for women’s sports, it’s a setback for female professionals in all forms of competition.
“If you want to grow something, you don’t have to manage it.
“We want to encourage not only little girls and women but also little boys and men to watch women’s football. And when they see players like Ian Wright taking their football as seriously as he does, they follow suit. That’s how you grow the sport.”
“Here’s a picture of our team at ITV. We won Best Production at the 2025 Broadcast Sport Awards for our coverage of the Women’s Euros. Seb Hutchinson also won Best Commentator, so I think ITV got it right.”
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