With those huge Christopher Biggins-style spectacles covering his face, coupled with an ability to speak at 100 words a minute, the initial view was that he was just using Cardiff City FC to get publicity for the Barry Island Pleasure Park he owned.
How wrong those sceptics – yes, myself included – were.
Far from being wacky, Wright was a visionary, a marketing genius who dragged the football club from its uppers and sent it roaring into the modern era.
He had brilliant ideas which, to this day, have held Cardiff City in good stead.
Youngsters were let in for just £1, or even free. Where Wright led, other football clubs quickly followed.
He introduced a pay as you play scheme, whereby the price of match-day tickets were determined by the position of the Bluebirds in the table. The higher, the more expensive, the lower the cheaper. Again, other clubs quickly copied the idea.
He linked up with this newspaper to introduce a new Junior Bluebirds section, in doing so ensuring Cardiff possessed the biggest number of young season ticket holders in the whole of the UK.
He brought energy, endeavour and enthusiasm to the football club and city, his off-the-wall ideas ensuring headlines on even the back pages of the London-based tabloids.
Gimmicks? Anything but. Wright’s revolution worked. Oh how it worked.
The gates at Ninian Park quickly rose from 3,000 to 10,000-plus. Even though the Bluebirds were in the bottom division, we had attendances touching 20,000 to watch a game against Shrewsbury and another of 16,000 for the visit of little Barnet.
Wright inspired a whole new generation of fans to support their local football club, who in turn inspired the next generation.
