Aluko claims ‘damaging’ privilege in petty swipe at Wright as Woods responds to deluded Hail Mary

Lewis Oldham
Eni Aluko and Ian Wright
Eni Aluko and Ian Wright.

Eni Aluko has had another petty swipe at fellow pundit Ian Wright, with presenter Laura Woods right to explain why her “damaging” claim is all wrong…

In April 2025, Aluko sparked uproar by hitting out at Arsenal legend Wright for “blocking” opportunities for female pundits looking to cover the women’s game.

A few days later, Aluko issued a “sincere apology” to Wright for her comments as she was “wrong” to “name” him when trying to make a wider point.

Wright, meanwhile, said he “cannot accept” Aluko’s apology as he was “disappointed” by her comments, and he will perhaps be even more annoyed at her now.

This time, Aluko has taken issue with BBC and ITV overlooking her and Fara Williams and preferring other pundits as they deserve more than being left “sat in the stands” after earning 290 caps between them.

“Last year, at the Women’s Lionesses final, I’m sat in the stands, I wasn’t on ITV for the final, Fara Williams was sat next to me, Fara Williams has 170 caps [172 caps] for England, something ridiculous, I think she’s the most-capped player, she’s sat in the stands,” Aluko said on the 90s Baby Show podcast.

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“The two broadcasters that had the rights for the game – ITV and BBC – on BBC you’ve got Ellen White, Steph Houghton and Nedum Onuoha, no offence to Nedum Onuoha, nothing against him, I don’t know whether he played for England or not, but you’re on the main panel for the final for England Women.

“Let’s go over to ITV, I’m in the stands with 105 caps, so you’ve got two women, between us we’ve got 290 caps, something ridiculous, you turn over to ITV and it’s Ian Wright, Emma Hayes and Kaz [Karen] Carney.

“So out of six punditry spots, two have gone to men. Meanwhile you’ve got 290 caps, whatever it is, sitting in the stands. It’s nothing against Ian, it’s nothing against them, I’m just saying broadly speaking we need to be aware of that because if we’re building a game where the limited opportunities are now being taken by men, where we can’t go into the men’s game and get the same opportunities, we’re stuck.”

She later added: “The issue I have with Ian is that, I think in his position he needs to clock what I’m saying.”

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This really is a backward way of thinking; Aluko has done herself more harm than good during this process as she’s come across as incredibly petty and entitled.

She was a great player for England for many years, but this should not automatically mean that she is given more punditry opportunities than others. The punditry game is actually very similar to playing in that opportunities are given based on merit, and Aluko would be featured a lot more were she well-informed and produced insightful analysis of matches, which she has very rarely done in this role.

Wright should actually be supported for being one of the biggest advocates of women’s football. He has done more than any other pundit to shed light on it to help its growth, and he, Emma Hayes, Karen Carney, Ellen White, Steph Houghton and Nedum Oduoha are simply better at the job than Aluko.

Aluko would be better served by taking time to grow as a pundit rather than damaging her image further by insisting that caps mean the most, with this deluded Hail Mary to surely, if it was not over already, end her time as a pundit on mainstream TV.

And respected presenter Woods has eloquently explained why Aluko is quite so wrong about “gatekeeping” the women’s game and backed Wright for “taking it seriously”.

“Caps don’t win automatic work and they don’t make a brilliant pundit either. The way you communicate, articulate yourself, do your research, inform your audience, how likeable you are and the chemistry you have with your panel are what makes a brilliant pundit,” Woods said on X.

“‘The women’s game should be by women for women,’ is one of the most damaging phrases I’ve heard. It will not only drag women’s sport backwards, it will drag women’s punditry in all forms of the game backwards.

“If you want to grow something, you don’t gate keep it. We want to encourage little boys and men to watch women’s football too, not just little girls and women. And when they see someone like Ian Wright taking it as seriously as he does – they follow suit. That’s how you grow a sport.”

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Premier League Eni Aluko

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