Mark Bright

Mark Abraham Bright (born 6 June 1962) is an English sports correspondent and former footballer.

Born to a Gambian father and English mother, he was adopted into a foster family in Stoke-on-Trent at an early age.

His mother left home in November 1964, and his father put Bright and his brother, Phillip, up for adoption.

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.

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 in Kidsgrove, Bob and Irene Davies, who were experienced foster parents.

The rest of his childhood was relatively happy and stable under their care until he left home at the age of 18.

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.

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.

Roy Bright, frontman of rock band Exit State, claims to be a half-brother of Mark Bright.

Bright spent a year as a youth team player at Port Vale before being released at the age of 16.

He played non-League football for local side Leek Town, before joining nearby Football League side Port Vale in 1981.

He then played part-time football at Cheshire County League club Leek Town and for Sunday league side Mason's Arms, before he rejoined Port Vale as an amateur in October 1981 on the recommendation of Mason's Arms co-manager Russell Bromage.

Manager John McGrath handed him his full debut on the last day of the 1981–82 season, in a 2–0 win over Torquay United at Vale Park, two weeks after coming on as a substitute in a goalless home draw with York City on 1 May 1982.

In the game against Torquay, he provided as assist for Paul 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".

He went on to sign an initial one-year part-time contract on £10-a-week, while also working as an apprentice for Staffs Hydraulics in Kidsgrove.

He played just once in the 1982–83 Fourth Division promotion campaign, scoring Vale's second goal in a 2–0 home win over Hereford United on 9 October.

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.

He turned professional at the club the following year, though would only enjoy an extended run in the first-team during the 1983–84 season.

Bright came to prominence for the "Valiants" under the stewardship of new boss John Rudge towards the end of the 1983–84 season, scoring ten goals in 31 games, though this was not enough to save the club from relegation out of the Third Division.

He signed with First Division club Leicester City in June 1984.

Graham Barnett advised him to reject John Rudge's offer of a two-year contract, and Bright was consequently sold to Leicester City for £33,333 in June 1984.

This fee was later doubled due to a top-up clause.

Bright turned down a contract offer from Sheffield Wednesday manager Howard Wilkinson as he had already promised Leicester manager Gordon Milne he would sign for Leicester.

Bright's contract with Leicester ran for three years and earned him £300-a-week, nearly tripling his Port Vale wages, as well giving him a £10,000 signing-on bonus.

The "Foxes" struggled in the lower half of the First Division table in the 1984–85 season and Bright was limited to 18 appearances and spent most of his time on the bench as Gary Lineker and Alan Smith were the club's established strike partnership.

Lineker finished as the First Division's top-scorer, but was sold to Everton in summer 1985, leaving Bright with an opportunity to establish himself in the starting eleven at Filbert Street.

Bright opened the 1985–86 season by scoring two goals in a 3–1 home win over Everton.

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.

At a low point in his career, he was diagnosed with depression after seeking treatment for sleeping problems.

He failed to find success with Leicester however, and was sold on to Crystal Palace in November 1986.

Milne was moved upstairs at Leicester at the start of the 1986–87 season to become the club's general manager and Bright was not rated by new manager Bryan Hamilton.

Building an effective strike partnership with Ian Wright, he scored 114 goals in 286 league and cup games for Crystal Palace and was also named on the PFA Second Division Team of the Year in 1987–88 and as the club's Player of The Year in 1990.

He helped Palace to win promotion out of the Second Division via the play-offs in 1989 and went on to play on the losing side of the 1990 FA Cup final, before winning the Full Members' Cup in 1991.

He was sold to Premier League rivals Sheffield 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 the 1993 League Cup final and 1993 FA Cup final, which ended in defeat to Arsenal both times.

He lost his first-team place in the 1996–97 season and was loaned out to Millwall, also spending time at Swiss club Sion, who were unable to play him in competitive fixtures after failing to come to an agreement with Sheffield Wednesday.

He married singer Michelle 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 from The Gambia, and Maureen Bright, a white English woman.

He eventually signed with Charlton Athletic in March 1997 and helped the club to win promotion to the Premier League with victory in the 1998 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.