Arsenal legend Ian Wright admits being rejected as a teenager almost drove him out of the game.
Talking in the ITV4 show 'Ian Wright: Nothing to Something', he explained how as a teenager almost every London football club rejected him for a trial.
He said: "All the time I thought I was such a good player, but then again I got refused by so many people.
He confessed how he tried to write to clubs but heard no response and at one stage thought: "'Football, I'm not bothering with it, it's over for me.'"
But three days before his 22nd birthday, he was given a shot at the big-time by Crystal Palace.
The first person he had to tell was his beloved mum, he said: "'Mum, I'm a professional footballer. But it's only for three months.' And so she was crying, and I was crying and that. It was brilliant. But then, six weeks into that, they signed me."
