Mark Wright has admitted making his professional football debut in the FA Cup yesterday (10.01.21) was a "special moment" he will "never forget".
Mark Wright
The 33-year-old TV star came on as a sub for League Two club Crawley Town as they destroyed Premier League side Leeds United 3-0 in the famous football competition on Sunday, and his three-minute cameo marked his first ever professional football appearance after he signed for The Reds on a non-contract basis last month in a bid to make it in the beautiful game.
Mark - who has been documenting his attempt to make it in football in BBC documentary series 'Mark Wright: The Last Chance' - told 'Good Morning Britain': "It was an incredible moment, obviously I only got a few minutes. But just to be part of that squad, and that team that I’ve been playing with for three months.
"You’ve got that togetherness straight away so to see the boys perform like that was sensational.
"But to come on and make my debut in the FA Cup against Leeds while my brother was making his debut as well. It was a special moment and one I’ll never forget and my family will never forget."
The former 'TOWIE' star's brother Josh Wright - who has been a pro footballer since 2007 - also came on as a sub during the game, after signing a two-and-a-half-year deal with Crawley earlier this month.
Mark was a semi-pro footballer before he ever graced the small screen in 'The Only Way is Essex' in 2010.
He previously made nine appearances for Crawley, when they were a non-League team, in the 2006/07 season.Mark was loaned there from his then-parent club Grays Athletic, who also loaned him out to fellow Conference National side Rushden & Diamonds in the same season.
Tagged in Mark Wright