The night Wright silenced the Bridge
It is the sight of Gianfranco Zola warming up that Ben Wright remembers most vividly from the night he famously scored a lastminute goal against Chelsea in a Uefa Cupmatch at Stamford Bridge.
‘‘I looked over to the opposition and I remember just seeing Zola therewith the ball, just juggling and some of the things hewas doing, I have vivid memories of that before the game even started,’’ saidwright, who moved to New Zealand when he retired from the professional game at 30.
It was September 19, 2002, and Norwegian club Viking FK had travelled to London to play Premier League heavyweights Chelsea in the first round of the UEFA Cup. The tie would be played over two legs with the return fixture taking place in Stavanger twoweeks later.
There was a lot of media interest in Wright, a 21-year-old English striker who jumped at the opportunity to follow his former Bristol Citymanager Benny Lennartsson to Norway at a stagewhen he was still finding his feet as a professional football player.
He had struggled for game time at League One level but wasmore excited to be playing in front of friends and family than the prospect of testing himself against the Premier League stars such as Zola, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and John Terry.
‘‘I was obviously living innorway at the time, I left Englandwhen I was 20 and you’re still discovering yourself as a person and a player,’’ he said.
‘‘You try and develop all the time and it’s one of the reasons why I left but I remember being excited because it was a chance to come back to England and play in front of friends and family.
‘‘I remember trying to get tickets because normally when I’m over in Norway it was pretty easy because your family is not there but coming back I had everyone asking for tickets.
‘‘But as a player it’s hard to explain. When you’re in that zone it’s very much a game of football, I’m young and I’m trying to establish myself in the team and you just think of it as another game, you try not to get too caught up in it all.
‘‘There was no real pressure on us at all, but we still had some good players at the time and Viking is a good side, and we were quietly confident.’’
The game had gone as expected for 89 minutes, Chelsea scoring twice through Hasselbaink and Quique de Lucas to give themselves a comfortable 2-0 advantage. Thatwas until Wright rose high at the far post and nodded home to give Viking a glimmer of hope.
His celebration wasmuted, simply jogging through to retrieve the ball from the back of the net, but his last-minute strike proved crucial as Viking went on to stun Chelsea 4-2 at home two weeks later thanks to another late goal.
‘‘It was a mixed feeling because as a player you always want the next thing and you’re always on to the next.
‘‘At the time it didn’t count for anything but it was good to keep us in the tie.
‘‘We knew coming back to Stavanger that it was always going to be tough for Chelsea and it just kept us in the game and gave us a lifeline, and in the end it proved crucial because we won the home leg.
‘‘It’s something you’re proud of. I’m proud that I contributed towards it and it was a nice achievement, but at the time you’re just on to the next one. Afterwards it was a buzz because we still had a chance, there was a lot of belief and it just gave everyone huge belief going into the second leg.’’
Now 39 and living in Nelson with his wife and two children, Wright still plays football at amateur level with Nelson Suburbs but scoring at Saxton Field is a far cry from doing it at Stamford Bridge.