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Christopher Wreh

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Not to be confused with Christopher Wren.

Christopher Wreh
Personal information
Full name Christopher Wreh[1]
Date of birth (1975-05-14) 14 May 1975 (age 49)[1]
Place of birth Monrovia,[1] Liberia
Height 1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)[2]
Position(s) Striker
Youth career
Invincible Eleven
1989–1993 Monaco
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
1993–1997 Monaco 13 (3)
1996–1997 → Guingamp (loan) 33 (10)
1997–2000 Arsenal 28 (3)
1999 → AEK Athens (loan) 11 (4)
1999 → Birmingham City (loan) 7 (1)
2000 → Den Bosch (loan) 7 (2)
2000–2001 Al-Hilal
2001 AFC Bournemouth 0 (0)
2001–2002 St Mirren 3 (0)
2003 Persepolis 0 (0)
2003–2004 Bishop's Stortford 1 (1)
2004 Buckingham Town
2007–2010 Perseman Manokwari
International career
1995–2002 Liberia 36 (12)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals

Christopher Wreh (born 14 May 1975) is a retired Liberian professional footballer who played as a striker. He was a member of the Arsenal side which won the Premier League and FA Cup double during the 1997–98 season.

At the international level, he won 36 caps for Liberia, scoring 11 goals, and was in their squad for the 1996 Africa Cup of Nations.

Club career

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Wreh played domestically for Invincible Eleven,[3] before signing for French Division 1 club AS Monaco as a youth.[4] A center forward, Wreh played for Monaco as a substitute in the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League semifinal.[5] He had a spell on loan at Guingamp, finishing the season as the team's top scorer and playing in the 1997 Coupe de France Final, which they lost on penalties to Nice.[6][7]

Wreh signed for Arsenal in the summer of 1997 for £300,000,[8] linking up with his former manager at Monaco, Arsène Wenger.[9] Although fourth choice behind Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp and Nicolas Anelka,[citation needed] Wreh still played an important part in the Gunners' Double-winning 1997–98 season. Wreh scored in 1–0 Premier League wins against Wimbledon and Bolton Wanderers in March, the fifth in a 5–0 win against Wimbledon, and netted the only goal of the Gunners' FA Cup semi-final win over Wolverhampton Wanderers both in April.[9][10] Wreh started in the 1998 FA Cup Final, and although he did not score, Arsenal beat Newcastle United 2–0.[10]

Despite scoring in the 1998 FA Charity Shield against Manchester United,[9] Wreh's form dipped and after the arrival of Thierry Henry and Davor Šuker at the club in 1999 he was squeezed out altogether.[9] He had brief loan spells with Birmingham City, for whom he scored once, against Grimsby Town,[10] and at AEK Athens and Den Bosch, but none of these were subsequently made permanent.[9] He left Arsenal in 2000, having scored five times in 46 appearances.

Wreh then became somewhat of a journeyman footballer. He initially signed for Saudi Arabian side Al-Hilal, then returned to the UK in 2001 with brief stints at AFC Bournemouth and St Mirren,[9] but fitness problems meant he rarely played; he then played non-league football for Bishop's Stortford although only one game due to repeated absenteeism[11] and United Counties League club Buckingham Town.[9]

In 2007, he returned to football, signing for Perseman Manokwari of the Liga Indonesia Premier Division where he brought an end to his playing days.[12][13]

International career

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Wreh made his debut for Liberia in 1995, and went on to win 36 caps for his country, scoring 11 goals.[8]

Coaching career

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Wreh was appointed head coach of the Liberian under-20 team in late 2014.[14][15][16] In September 2019 he became assistant coach to the senior national team.[17]

Personal life

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Wreh's son, Chris, is also a footballer and currently plays for Tamworth FC in the English National League.[18]

Honours

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Guingamp

Arsenal

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Christopher Wreh". Barry Hugman's Footballers. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  2. ^ "Christopher Wreh". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 17 March 2016.
  3. ^ "Wreh raring to go". BBC Sport. 28 October 2001. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  4. ^ "Christopher Wreh". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  5. ^ "UEFA Champions League 1993/94 Semi-final 2nd leg". UEFA. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  6. ^ Goujon, Jeremy (23 February 2017). "EAG-Monaco: Il y a tout juste 20 ans, Guingamp était dans le vrai avec Christopher Wreh" [Just 20 years ago, Guingamp were in the right with Christopher Wreh]. 20 Minutes (in French). Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  7. ^ a b "Coupe de France Saison 1996–1997" (in French). Fédération Française de Football. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  8. ^ a b "Christopher Wreh". Sporting-Heroes.net. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g "Christopher Wreh". Arsenal F.C. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  10. ^ a b c "Games played by Christopher Wreh in 1999/2000". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  11. ^ Davey, Ian. "When Saturday Comes - From Arsenal to Bishop's Stortford: the strange case of Christopher Wreh". www.wsc.co.uk. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
  12. ^ Horatio Bobby Willie (14 August 2007). "Liberian players flying high in Indonesia". Liberian Soccer. Archived from the original on 25 November 2010. Retrieved 10 January 2010.
  13. ^ Simon, Thomas (17 March 2015). "Dis-moi pas que c'est pas Wreh" [Don't tell me it isn't true]. France Football (in French). Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  14. ^ Kaiwu, Hassan (24 November 2014). "New Liberia coach James Debbah promises discipline". BBC Sport. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  15. ^ "Liberia hoping for repeat of history". FIFA. 8 October 2015. Archived from the original on 9 October 2015. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  16. ^ Walker, Christopher C. (13 November 2017). "Legal action awaits Liberia FA over illegal suspension". Front Page Africa. Archived from the original on 14 January 2018. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  17. ^ "Christopher Wreh: Former Arsenal star named as Liberia assistant coach". BBC Sport. 1 September 2019. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  18. ^ "Chris Wreh Signs On". www.tamworthfc.co.uk. 23 July 2024. Retrieved 14 October 2024.
  19. ^ "Saison 1996-1997 D1". eaguingamp.com. Retrieved 30 September 2019.
  20. ^ "Christopher Wreh: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 18 April 2018.
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