The 60-year-old announced in December that this would be his final season as a pundit on the BBC programme, having become a regular back in 2002 – and first appearing while still a player five years earlier.
Wright looked emotional early on in the show and became teary-eyed at the close of the programme when he was handed a special cap – not dissimilar to the ones handed to England internationals – embossed with the Match of the Day logo.
He was then shown a montage which featured highlights of his time on the show as well as messages from his friends, colleagues, children and grandchildren.
When MOTD cut back to the studio after showing the feature, Wrighty – now donning his cap – was welling up and said: ‘I’m going to miss you guys, I really am.
‘This has been the greatest for me. Match of the Day means the whole world to me, you lot don’t even know. I’ve got my eight, nine, ten [tattoos with the shirt numbers of Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer], my two guys who I love so much on there.
‘People laugh at me for getting my eight, nine, ten, Gary Lineker and Alan Shearer but it’s because I love you man. You’re my guys.’
Shearer chimed in saying he would miss Wright just as much, while Lineker added: ‘We’ll see you next week at the Cup final, I know you’ll be about 200 yards from us [working for ITV] but we’ll see you then at least.
‘But it’s been at absolute pleasure and a delight to work with you for so long. You’re a breathe of fresh air and you always have been. Thank you.’
Wright had hoped to finish his Match of the Day career by seeing Arsenal win the Premier League for the first time in two decades, but they fell just short.
Reflecting on Heung-min Son’s miss against Manchester City in midweek, Wright said: ‘Honestly, you couldn’t have asked for a better person. When he’s going through I’m thinking, “Oh my god this is it”.
‘And then the more you watch it you can see how far his standing foot was from the ball, he kind of rushed the finish, he didn’t get a good connection. How Pep [Guardiola] was is how I was in my front room! I was thinking, “That was it right there, that was the title right there”.
‘The [Aston Villa] game is the one, because it’s so recent as well. You’re right smack bang in the run-in, you’re at home. Yes, Villa are dangerous, but you can see there were a couple of mistakes. Villa were, on the day, very good.
‘When you look back on it, what you’re going to have to do to try to chase down City – we’ve seen Liverpool do it – you have to be nearly perfect. You nearly have to be perfect. There’s going to be points you drop and we dropped them in those games but they’ve progressed.’
Explaining his decision to step down from his role at Match of the Day back in December, Wright said: ‘After my debut show whilst still a player in 1997 and many more memorable years, I’ll be stepping back from BBC MOTD at the end of this season.
‘I feel very privileged to have had such an incredible run on the most iconic football show in the world.’
He continued: ‘Anyone that knows my story knows how much the show has meant to me since I was [a] young boy.
‘MOTD is my Holy Grail. On my first ever show, I told Des Lynam, “This is my Graceland”. It will always be my Graceland and I will always be watching.
‘I’m stepping back having made great friends and many great memories.
‘This decision has been coming for a while, maybe my [60th] birthday earlier this year fast tracked it a little, but ultimately it’s time to do a few more different things with my Saturdays.’
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