Christopher Wreh (born 14 May 1975) is a

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

n retired professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a striker. He was a member of the

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

side which won the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

and

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

double during the 1997–98 season. At the international level, he won 36 caps for

, scoring 11 goals, and was in their squad for the

1996 Africa Cup of Nations The 1996 African Cup of Nations, also known as the Coca-Cola 1996 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 20th edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the football championship of Africa ( CAF). It was hosted by South Africa, who rep ...

Club career

Wreh played domestically for

Invincible Eleven Union of Invincible Eleven & Majestic Sports Association Inc., also known as Invincible Eleven (I.E.), is a Liberian football club based in Monrovia. They are Liberia's oldest club. Their home stadium is the Antoinette Tubman Stadium. I.E. is on ...

, before signing for

French Division 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de Football Professio ...

club

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

as a youth. A

center forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

, Wreh played for Monaco as a substitute in the

1993–94 UEFA Champions League The 1993–94 UEFA Champions League, originally known as the 1993–94 European Cup, was the 39th season of the UEFA Champions League, UEFA's premier club Association football, football tournament, and the second season with the UEFA Champions Lea ...

semi-final. He had a spell

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

Guingamp Guingamp (; ) is a commune in the Côtes-d'Armor department in Brittany in northwestern France. With a population of 7,115 as of 2020, Guingamp is one of the smallest towns in Europe to have a top-tier professional football team: En Avant Guin ...

, 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 Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one million Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in the summer of 1997 for £300,000, linking up with his former manager at Monaco,

Arsène Wenger Arsène Charles Ernest Wenger (born 22 October 1949) is a French former association football, football Manager (association football), manager and football player, player who is currently serving as FIFA's Chief of Global Football Development. ...

. Although fourth choice behind

Ian Wright Ian Edward Wright (born 3 November 1963) is an English media personality and former professional footballer. Wright enjoyed success with London clubs Crystal Palace and Arsenal as a forward, spending six years with the former and seven year ...

Dennis Bergkamp Dennis Nicolaas Maria Bergkamp (; born 10 May 1969) is a Dutch professional Association football, football coach and former Football player, player who was most recently the Assistant manager of Ajax. Originally a wide midfielder, Bergkamp was ...

and

Nicolas Anelka Nicolas Sébastien Anelka (born 14 March 1979) is a French professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player who played as a Forward (association football), forward. As a player, he regularly featur ...

, Wreh still played an important part in the Gunners'

Double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

-winning 1997–98 season. Wreh scored in 1–0

wins against

Wimbledon Wimbledon most often refers to: * Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London * Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships Wimbledon may also refer to: Places London * W ...

and

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

in March, the fifth in a 5–0 win against

, and netted the only goal of the Gunners'

semi-final win over

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

both in April. Wreh started in the 1998 FA Cup Final, and although he did not score, Arsenal beat

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

2–0. Despite scoring in the 1998 FA Charity Shield against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, Wreh's form dipped and, after the arrival of

Thierry Henry Thierry Daniel Henry (; born 17 August 1977) is a French professional football coach, pundit, sports broadcaster and former player. He is considered one of the greatest players of all time and widely regarded as the greatest player in Premi ...

and

Davor Šuker Davor Šuker (; born 1 January 1968) is a Croatian Association football, football administrator and former professional player who played as a Striker (association football), striker. He served as the president of the Croatian Football Federatio ...

at the club in 1999, he was squeezed out altogether. He had brief loan spells with

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

, for whom he scored once, against

Grimsby Town Grimsby Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire, England, that competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "the Mariners", the club was f ...

, and at

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

and

Den Bosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

, but none of these were subsequently made permanent. 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 Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in West Asia. Located in the centre of the Middle East, it covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries ...

n side Al-Hilal, then returned to the UK in 2001 with brief stints at

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth ( ) is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. ...

and St Mirren, but fitness problems meant he rarely played; he then played

non-league football Non-League football describes association football, football leagues played outside the top leagues of a country. Usually, it describes leagues which are not fully professional. The term is primarily used for football in England, where it is ...

for

Bishop's Stortford Bishop's Stortford is a historic market town and civil parish in the East Hertfordshire district, in the county of Hertfordshire, England. It is in the London metropolitan area, London commuter belt, near the border with Essex, just west of the ...

although he only played one game due to repeated absenteeism, and

United Counties League The United Counties League (also known after its sponsor as the ''GCE Hire Fleet Ltd. United Counties League'') is an England, English association football, football league covering an area including the English Counties of the United Kingdom, ...

club Buckingham Town. In 2007, he returned to football, signing for

Perseman Manokwari Perseman stands for Persatuan Sepakbola Manokwari. Perseman Manokwari is an Indonesian football club based in Manokwari, West Papua. They play in the Liga 4. Their home stadium is Sanggeng Stadium. History Perseman Manokwari was established in ...

of the

Liga Indonesia Premier Division Liga Indonesia Premier Division (Indonesian language, Indonesian: ''Divisi Utama Liga Indonesia'') was the second-tier of the Indonesian football league system, football competition system in Indonesia, organized by PSSI. The competition starte ...

where he brought an end to his playing days.

International career

Wreh made his debut for

in 1995, and went on to win 36 caps for his country, scoring 11 goals.

Coaching career

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

Personal life

Wreh's son,

Chris Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, and Christine. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name * Chris Abani (born 1966), Nigerian autho ...

, is also a footballer and currently plays for

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. Affiliated to the Berks & Bucks FA, they are currently members of the . The club were established in October 1870 and have played at ...

in the English

National League National League often refers to: *National League (baseball), one of the two baseball leagues constituting Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada *National League (division), the fifth division of the English football (soccer) system ...

Honours

Guingamp *

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

: 1996 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

runner-up: 1996–97 Arsenal *

: 1997–98 *

FA Charity Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA Cup. If the Premier ...

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

References

External links