IAN WRIGHT has been one of the most prolific goalscorers and colourful characters in British football since he burst on to the scene at Crystal Palace15 years ago.

Dogged by disciplinary problems in recent seasons, the 36-year-old striker plans to hang up his boots at the end of the current campaign.

His epitaph won't be written on whether or not he helps Burnley to promotion, but there's no doubting that he will want to be remembered for the right reasons.

And that means scoring goals right to the last.

Things didn't work out for him at Celtic following his shock move north of the border to sign for John Barnes last October.

But he found the net on his debut but scored just two other goals in 10 appearances as the club ran into problems on and off the field.

However, Wright inists he didn't go to Glasgow for the money and believes that his move to Burnley underlines that he still has a passion for the game.

He said: "I've been slaughtered as some kind of football mercenary and that I was playing up in Scotland just for the money.

"But that's rubbish and I hope this proves just how much I want to play football because I love the game so much.

"I wish everyone at Celtic all the best and hope they get the title that I wanted to win so badly with them."

At 36 and having achieved so much in the game, including 33 full England caps Championship, FA Cup and European medals with Arsenal, it seems strange to think that Burnley may offer him a fresh start and a new lease of life. But after things turned sour for Celtic, it appears he is delighted to be back in English football.

"I felt I was caught up in a war in Kosovo not involved in a football result that wrecked John Barnes' career as Celtic manager." Wright added: "Some so-called fans, a few morons who know nothing better, covered my car in spit, they were shouting obscenities at myself and Regi Blinker.

"They were screaming at me to get back to London, to clear off out of the place and that I didn't deserve to wear their colours. It was stone age stuff from reptiles."

It wasn't all animosity, however, as he added: "The majority of Celtic fans I have met have been totally positive and stick by the club and players no matter what."

And Burnley fans will be delighted with the news that their club has secured the services of Arsenal's all-time record goalscorer and a man who has found the net over 300 times in his career, particularly as their own homegrown hero, Andy Payton, will be missing for the next three games.

The Clarets have put themselves in with a great shout of going up.

Wright, although passed his peak, surely still has goals in him and Second Division defenders could be in for a few sleepless nights.

Burnley, on the other hand, may have just placed the last piece in their promotion-winning jigsaw.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.