| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Christopher Wreh[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1975-05-14)14 May 1975 (age 50)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Monrovia,[1] Liberia | ||
| Height | 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Striker | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Invincible Eleven | |||
| 1989–1993 | Monaco | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1993–1997 | Monaco | 13 | (3) |
| 1996–1997 | →Guingamp (loan) | 33 | (10) |
| 1997–2000 | Arsenal | 28 | (3) |
| 1999 | →AEK Athens (loan) | 11 | (4) |
| 1999 | →Birmingham City (loan) | 7 | (1) |
| 2000 | →Den Bosch (loan) | 7 | (2) |
| 2000–2001 | Al-Hilal | ||
| 2001 | AFC Bournemouth | 0 | (0) |
| 2001–2002 | St Mirren | 3 | (0) |
| 2003 | Persepolis | 0 | (0) |
| 2003–2004 | Bishop's Stortford | 1 | (1) |
| 2004 | Buckingham Town | ||
| 2007–2010 | Perseman Manokwari | ||
| International career | |||
| 1995–2002 | Liberia | 36 | (12) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Christopher Wreh (born 14 May 1975) is aLiberian retired professionalfootballer who played as astriker. He was a member of theArsenal side which won thePremier League andFA Cup double during the1997–98 season.
At the international level, he won 36 caps forLiberia, scoring 11 goals, and was in their squad for the1996 Africa Cup of Nations.
Wreh played domestically forInvincible Eleven,[3] before signing forFrench Division 1 clubMonaco as a youth.[4] Acenter forward, Wreh played for Monaco as a substitute in the1993–94 UEFA Champions League semi-final.[5] He had a spellon loan atGuingamp, finishing the season as the team's top scorer and playing in the1997 Coupe de France Final, which they lost onpenalties toNice.[6][7]
Wreh signed forArsenal in the summer of 1997 for £300,000,[8] linking up with his former manager at Monaco,Arsène Wenger.[9] Although fourth choice behindIan Wright,Dennis Bergkamp andNicolas Anelka,[citation needed] Wreh still played an important part in the Gunners'Double-winning1997–98 season. Wreh scored in 1–0Premier League wins againstWimbledon andBolton Wanderers in March, the fifth in a 5–0 win againstWimbledon, and netted the only goal of the Gunners'FA Cup semi-final win overWolverhampton Wanderers both in April.[9][10] Wreh started in the1998 FA Cup Final, and although he did not score, Arsenal beatNewcastle United 2–0.[10]
Despite scoring in the1998 FA Charity Shield againstManchester United,[9] Wreh's form dipped and, after the arrival ofThierry Henry andDavor Šuker at the club in 1999, he was squeezed out altogether.[9] He had brief loan spells withBirmingham City, for whom he scored once, againstGrimsby Town,[10] and atAEK Athens andDen Bosch, but none of these were subsequently made permanent.[9] He left Arsenal in 2000, having scored five times in 46 appearances.
Wreh then became somewhat of a journeyman footballer. He initially signed forSaudi Arabian sideAl-Hilal, then returned to the UK in 2001 with brief stints atAFC Bournemouth andSt Mirren,[9] but fitness problems meant he rarely played; he then playednon-league football forBishop's Stortford although he only played one game due to repeated absenteeism,[11] andUnited Counties League clubBuckingham Town.[9]
In 2007, he returned to football, signing forPerseman Manokwari of theLiga Indonesia Premier Division where he brought an end to his playing days.[12][13]
Wreh made his debut forLiberia in 1995, and went on to win 36 caps for his country, scoring 11 goals.[8]
Wreh was appointed head coach of theLiberian under-20 team in late 2014.[14][15][16] In September 2019 he became assistant coach to the senior national team.[17]
Wreh's son,Chris, is also a footballer and currently plays forBedford Town F.C. in the EnglishNational League North.[18]
Guingamp
Arsenal
