| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Mark Abraham Bright[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1962-06-06)6 June 1962 (age 63)[1] | ||
| Place of birth | Stoke-on-Trent, England[1] | ||
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2] | ||
| Position | Forward | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1977–1978 | Port Vale | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 1978–1981 | Leek Town | ||
| 1981–1984 | Port Vale | 29 | (10) |
| 1984–1986 | Leicester City | 42 | (6) |
| 1986–1992 | Crystal Palace | 227 | (91) |
| 1992–1997 | Sheffield Wednesday | 133 | (48) |
| 1996 | →Millwall (loan) | 3 | (1) |
| 1997–1999 | Charlton Athletic | 27 | (10) |
| Total | 461 | (166) | |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals | |||
Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and formerfootballer.
Born to aGambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family inStoke-on-Trent at an early age. He playednon-League football for local sideLeek Town before joining nearbyFootball League sidePort Vale in 1981. He turned professional at the club the following year, though he would only enjoy an extended run in the first team during the 1983–84 season. He signed withFirst Division clubLeicester City in June 1984. However, he failed to succeed with Leicester and was sold toCrystal Palace in November 1986. He helped Palace to winpromotion out of theSecond Division via theplay-offs in1989. He went on to play on the losing side of the1990 FA Cup final before winning theFull Members' Cup in1991. Building an effectivestrike partnership withIan Wright, he scored 114 goals in 286 league and cup games for Crystal Palace and was also named on the PFA Second DivisionTeam of the Year in 1987–88 and as the club's Player of The Year in 1990.
He was sold toPremier League rivalsSheffield Wednesday for a fee of £1,375,000 in September 1992, where he would stay for the next five years, scoring a further 70 goals in 170 games in all competitions. He featured in the1993 League Cup final and1993 FA Cup final, which ended in defeat toArsenal both times. He lost his first-team place in the 1996–97 season and wasloaned out toMillwall, also spending time at Swiss clubSion, who were unable to play him in competitive fixtures after failing to agree with Sheffield Wednesday. He eventually signed withCharlton Athletic in March 1997. He helped the club to win promotion to the Premier League with victory in the1998 First Division play-off final before announcing his retirement the following year shortly before his 38th birthday. After retiring as a player, he worked as a pundit on various television and radio programmes. He married singerMichelle Gayle in 1996 and divorced in 2007; they have one son.
Bright was born in Stoke-on-Trent, to Edwin Bright, a forklift truck driver fromThe Gambia, and Maureen Bright, a white English woman.[3] His mother left home in November 1964, and his father put Bright and his brother, Phillip, up for adoption.[4] His first foster home was with Helena Parton, where he and his brother stayed with while his sisters lived with his mother, who divorced Edwin in 1968.[5] Parton ceased fostering the two boys in 1969 after she developed health problems and the boys went on to live with a new foster family inKidsgrove, Bob and Irene Davies, who were experienced foster parents.[6] The rest of his childhood was relatively happy and stable under their care until he left home at the age of 18.[7] As the only black children at Dove Bank Primary, the two brothers were a target for bullies and were put in the same class to help the pair feel more comfortable.[8] A clumsy attempt to combat the racism from the headteacher in a school assembly worked and the boys began to be accepted by the other children due to their natural footballing ability.[9] Roy Bright, frontman of rock bandExit State, claims to be a half-brother of Mark Bright.[10][11]
Bright spent a year as ayouth team player atPort Vale before being released at the age of 16.[12] He then played part-time football atCheshire County League clubLeek Town and forSunday league side Mason's Arms, before he rejoined Port Vale as an amateur in October 1981 on the recommendation of Mason's Arms co-managerRussell Bromage.[13] ManagerJohn McGrath handed him his full debut on the last day of the1981–82 season, in a 2–0 win overTorquay United atVale Park, two weeks after coming on as asubstitute in a goalless home draw withYork City on 1 May 1982.[1] In the game against Torquay, he provided asassist forPaul Bowles, although missed an opportunity to score himself, telling a local reporter that, "I was waiting for the ball to bounce instead of having a go straight away".[14] He went on to sign an initial one-year part-timecontract on £10-a-week while also working as an apprentice for Staffs Hydraulics in Kidsgrove.[15]
He played just once in the1982–83Fourth Divisionpromotion campaign, scoring Vale's second goal in a 2–0 home win overHereford United on 9 October.[1] At the end of the season, he turned down an initial full-time professional contract offer as it paid less than his factory job, though he did sign a revised offer of £110-a-week with appearances and goal incentives.[16] Bright came to prominence for the "Valiants" under the stewardship of new bossJohn Rudge towards the end of the1983–84 season, scoring ten goals in 31 games. However, this was not enough to save the club fromrelegation out of theThird Division.[1]Graham Barnett advised him to reject John Rudge's offer of a two-year contract, and Bright was consequently sold toLeicester City for £33,333 in June 1984.[17] This fee was later doubled due to a top-up clause.[1] Bright turned down a contract offer fromSheffield Wednesday managerHoward Wilkinson as he had already promised Leicester managerGordon Milne he would sign for Leicester.[18]
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Bright's contract with Leicester ran for three years and earned him £300-a-week, nearly tripling his Port Vale wages and a £10,000 signing-on bonus.[19] The "Foxes" struggled in the lower half of theFirst Division table in the1984–85 season. Bright was limited to 18 appearances and spent most of his time on the bench asGary Lineker andAlan Smith were the club's establishedstrike partnership.[20] Lineker finished as the First Division's top-scorer but was sold toEverton in the summer of 1985, leaving Bright with an opportunity to establish himself in the starting eleven atFilbert Street.[21] Bright opened the1985–86 season by scoring two goals in a 3–1 home win over Everton.[22] However, he struggled to match this performance for the rest of the campaign and lost confidence, which was worsened when a section of the Leicester crowd turned on him with racially aggravated abuse.[23]
At a low point in his career, he was diagnosed withdepression after seeking treatment for sleeping problems.[24] Milne was moved upstairs at Leicester at the start of the1986–87 season to become the club's general manager. Bright was not rated by new managerBryan Hamilton.[25] Bright turned down the offer of a move toBrian Horton'sHull City, as he did not want to move too far north, although took Horton's advice to ask Leicester for a move as the club were not willing to let Bright reach 50 club appearances and so trigger another top-up payment to Port Vale.[26]
Bright was signed toCrystal Palace by managerSteve Coppell for a £75,000 fee on 13 November 1986.[27][28] The initial contract was only a temporary three-month deal as there were medical concerns with hisOsteitis pubis, meaning that if he was unfit at the end of this period he would be returned to Leicester. However, he went on to sign a permanent contract after completing the trial period.[29] Palace already had a successful strike partnership inIan Wright andAndy Gray, though Coppell moved Gray into central midfield to accommodate Bright up front.[30] The "Eagles" were pressing for promotion out of theSecond Division but finished two points outside theplay-offs in1986–87. Bright was named on thePFA Team of the Year and earned the Golden Boot for the highest scorer in the division in1987–88 with 24 goals, although the club finished one place and two points outside of the play-offs.[31][32] A third-place finish in1988–89 secured them a place in theplay-offs and Bright scored in the semi-final victory overSwindon Town, which helped Palace to reach theplay-off final; Palace then beatBlackburn Rovers 4–3 onaggregate to win promotion to the top-flight.[33]
Palace competed well in the First Division, except for the trip toAnfield where they were beaten by a club-record9–0 margin byLiverpool, an experience Bright described as "numbing".[34] He ended the1989–90 season with 12 league goals, including a brace againstManchester United atOld Trafford, helping the team to finish five points above the relegation zone.[35] The club's greatest achievement would come in theFA Cup however, as they gained revenge on Liverpool by beating them 4–3 afterextra time in the semi-finals atVilla Park to secure a place in the1990 FA Cup final, with Bright scoring the first of Palace's four goals.[36] The club's first ever FA Cup final appearance, they held Manchester United to areplay after an initial 3–3 draw atWembley Stadium but lost the replay 1–0 to a lateLee Martin goal asAlex Ferguson won his first trophy as Manchester United manager. Bright was disappointed as he felt he had not performed in the original game.[37] One consolation for Bright was that he was named Crystal Palace's Player of The Year for the 1989–90 season.[38]
As Palace impressed in the First Division throughout1990–91, Bright proved his predatory skills at the highest level with a sequence of seven top-flight goals in just ten midwinter games as the "Eagles" secured their highest ever league finish of third.[39] The potency of Bright and Wright's partnership was demonstrated on 25 September, when both players scored hat-tricks in an 8–0 win overSouthend United atSelhurst Park in theLeague Cup.[40] Palace went on to win theFull Members' Cup, beatingBristol Rovers,Brighton & Hove Albion,Luton Town,Norwich City and then Everton in theWembley final, with Wright scoring a brace in extra-time.[39] After Wright had left the club, Bright continued his great form for Palace and hit a total of 22 goals in the1991–92 season.[41] However, Coppell failed to replace Wright adequately, andMarco Gabbiadini was bought and sold on within the space of four months for a loss of £600,000.[42] Bright scored Crystal Palace's first-ever Premier League goal on the opening day of the1992–93 in a 3–3 home draw againstBlackburn Rovers before being sold on to Sheffield Wednesday.[43]
Bright joined Sheffield Wednesday on 11 September 1992 in a cash plus player exchange deal involving fellow strikerPaul Williams that was rated at a total transfer value of £1,375,000.[44][28] The Wednesday players were experienced and at the peak of their careers; managerTrevor Francis was eager to win trophies atHillsborough and felt Bright would prove a good partner to club stalwartDavid Hirst, particularly with the highly talentedChris Waddle in midfield.[45] After scoring six goals in theLeague Cup, Bright played in theLeague Cup final, which ended in a 2–1 defeat toArsenal.[46] Wednesday also reached thefinal of the FA Cup, where they would again face Arsenal, with Bright scoring an extra-timeheader againstderby rivalsSheffield United to secure victory in the semi-finals. The final proved to be a disappointment, however, as he controversially elbowed Arsenal defenderAndy Linighan in the face, causing abroken nose. Later, with the scores level in the last minute of extra time, a heavily bandaged Linighan out-jumped Bright from acorner to score the winning goal.[47] After the game, Bright phoned Linighan to apologise.[48]
Bright finished as theclub's top-scorer for three consecutive seasons, eventually became the "Owls" highest goalscorer in thePremier League as of December 2019, scoring 48 goals between 1992 and 1996.[32] With 19 goals, he was the Premier League's seventh-highest scorer in1993–94. In Francis's last season in charge, he hit 13 goals in the1994–95.[49] He signed a new two-year contract in the summer of 1995, having rejected an approach fromWest Ham United managerHarry Redknapp.[50] Wednesday then finished 15th in the league in1995–96 under the stewardship ofDavid Pleat, with Bright scoring 14 goals in all competitions despite playing a complete league game only 15 times.[51] Pleat paid £2.7 million forHuddersfield Town forwardAndy Booth in July 1996, signalling the end of Bright's time at Hillsborough.[51] Having been almost entirely frozen out of the first-team during the1996–97 season, Bright wasloaned toSouth London derby rivalsMillwall in the Second Division and scored on his debut for the "Lions" in a 1–1 draw atAFC Bournemouth.[52]
Bright began training with the Swiss clubSion in January 1997.[53] He left soon after due to unpaid wages and issues with his transfer fee with Sheffield Wednesday.[54] Despite being unwanted at Leicester, the club still demanded a transfer fee of £60,000, which Sion chairmanChristian Constantin refused to pay, which meant that Bright trained with the squad atStade Tourbillon but was unable to feature in any competitive games.[55] Despite this, he enjoyed his time training under managerAlberto Bigon and alongsideRoberto Assis, the elder brother and later agent ofRonaldinho.[56]
Bright eventually signed withCharlton Athletic in March 1997 on a contract to run until the end of the1996–97 season.[57] After two substitute appearances, he scored a brace in his first start for the "Addicks" in a 2–1 win overPortsmouth atThe Valley on 19 April.[58] ManagerAlan Curbishley was keen on experienced players to bolster his young squad, therefore signed Bright to a one-year deal in the summer.[59] He scored seven goals in the1997–98 campaign to help Charlton to a fourth-place finish in the First Division and a place in the play-offs. Charlton overcameIpswich Town in the semi-finals and then beatSunderland in theplay-off final,[32] which was won 7–6 onpenalties after a 4–4 draw; Bright started the final, although did not take apenalty in the shoot-out as he was taken off in extra-time.[60] He then agreed on a new one-year contract, accepting a role mainly as a squad player and experienced pro for the younger players to learn from.[61] Charlton failed to survive in the Premier League, however, and Bright retired from professional football at the end of the1998–99 season.[62] Bright wrote in his autobiography that he earned a total of £1.2 million from his 18-year career as a professional player.[63]
After retiring, Bright became a football correspondent onThe Big Breakfast and co-presentedThe Wright Bright Show with former teammate Ian Wright onBBC Radio 5 Live.[64] He also commentates on some international matches, often alongsideJonathan Pearce andSteve Wilson onMatch of the Day.[32] He has worked as a sports correspondent for theBBC onBBC London News,Football Focus,Fighting Talk,5 Live Sport, and onfinal Score.[65] He has also provided punditry forMatch magazine andBritish Eurosport.[65][66] In summer 2009, he joined the Crystal Palace academy set-up, along with his former teammateJohn Salako.[67] He was inducted into the City of Stoke-on-Trent Hall of Fame in 2019.[68] He published his autobiography,My Story - from foster care to footballer, in November 2019.[69]
He met British singer and actressMichelle Gayle in 1995, and the couple married inLas Vegas the following year.[70] They divorced in 2007, although they remain friends.[71] Their son, Isaiah, was born in April 2000.[72] Bright married Dionne, the estranged sister of his former teammate Ian Wright, in June 2025.[73][74] Bright has completed sixhalf marathons since his retirement in 1999, all of them in theGreat North Run.[32] He is also a regular competitor in theLondon Marathon, raising funds forcancer research in 2000, theWillow Foundation in 2005 and The Rhys Daniels Trust in 2006.[32]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | Other | Total | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Port Vale | 1981–82 | Fourth Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 1982–83 | Fourth Division | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1983–84 | Third Division | 26 | 9 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 31 | 10 | |
| Total | 29 | 10 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 34 | 11 | ||
| Leicester City | 1984–85 | First Division | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 18 | 0 |
| 1985–86 | First Division | 24 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 6 | |
| 1986–87 | First Division | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 42 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 47 | 6 | ||
| Crystal Palace | 1986–87 | Second Division | 28 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 30 | 7 |
| 1987–88 | Second Division | 38 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 42 | 26 | |
| 1988–89 | Second Division | 46 | 20 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 5 | 59 | 25 | |
| 1989–90 | First Division | 36 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 8 | 3 | 50 | 18 | |
| 1990–91 | First Division | 32 | 9 | 3 | 0 | 11 | 6 | 46 | 15 | |
| 1991–92 | First Division | 42 | 17 | 1 | 0 | 11 | 5 | 54 | 22 | |
| 1992–93 | Premier League | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 1 | |
| Total | 227 | 91 | 14 | 3 | 45 | 20 | 286 | 114 | ||
| Sheffield Wednesday | 1992–93 | Premier League | 30 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 44 | 20 |
| 1993–94 | Premier League | 40 | 19 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 2 | 50 | 23 | |
| 1994–95 | Premier League | 37 | 11 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 43 | 13 | |
| 1995–96 | Premier League | 25 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 7 | 32 | 14 | |
| 1996–97 | Premier League | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 133 | 48 | 13 | 7 | 24 | 15 | 170 | 70 | ||
| Millwall (loan) | 1996–97 | Second Division | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | 1 |
| Charlton Athletic | 1996–97 | First Division | 6 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 |
| 1997–98 | First Division | 16 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 24 | 7 | |
| 1998–99 | Premier League | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7 | 1 | |
| Total | 27 | 10 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 37 | 10 | ||
| Career total | 461 | 166 | 33 | 11 | 84 | 35 | 529 | 212 | ||
Port Vale
Crystal Palace
Sheffield Wednesday
Charlton Athletic
Individual