The flawed genius was a cult hero with Gunners fans, but gambling and drug addictions blighted his career
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YOU may know him as one of the faces behind the Gillette Soccer Saturday desk on Sky Sports each weekend.
But Paul Merson’s playing career scaled some incredible heights, like two League titles with Arsenal and 21 caps for England.
However, he also hit some deep, deep lows as he struggled with various addictions.
"No one forced me to take drugs, no one made me drink and gamble," he says.
"That's the way it is. People look back on things and say that could have been a turning point, but I had everything.
"A lovely wife. Lovely kids. Big house. Cars. Great wages.
“I played for the best club in the country, by far. The fans liked me. And I done that."
He really did have a gambling problem…
Merson’s gambling problem got so severe that he even considered breaking his own fingers just so he couldn’t pick up the phone to his bookmaker.
He estimates that he’s lost around seven million pounds on gambling and he always struggled to put a stop to his betting.
"Slamming my fingers in a door or breaking them one by one with a hammer was the only way I knew of ending the cycle," he said.
"It was insanity really."
Indeed.
It didn’t help that he had a drug problem either…
Merse’s gambling difficulties were compounded by the fact that his drug use was also getting the better of him.
The net result was that Merson would bet on anything and everything.
There was £10,000 on the Eurovision Song Contest, £20,000 on an NFL game and even £5,000 on a bowls match on BBC2.
‘‘I did it all. I was out of my mind.”
He nearly lost his house…
In January 2008, Merson came perilously close to losing his home as he defaulted on the mortgage of his home in Four Oaks, West Midlands.
With arrears of over £17,000 on his mortgage with Lloyds, the bank took him to court in a bid to repossess the property.
But Merson, representing himself, managed to strike a deal to keep his home and pay off the debt in instalments.
"I was offered bankruptcy but refused because I was determined to pay off my debts myself - the noble way," he said.
Fair play to him.
He even played hungover…
On one New Year’s Eve, the night before a game at Wimbledon, Merson was told he was going to be on the bench for the match.
He thought he might as well get stuck in at a party that was going on at the team hotel.
Bad call.
The following day, and with Merson being sick repeatedly, manager George Graham threw him into the action with ten minutes to play.
Somehow, a green Merson made it through his cameo but it was a lesson learned the hard way.
He had a rapport with the crowd…
Famous for his famous double-handed drinking celebration after winning the Coca-Cola Cup in 1993, Merse was always a fans' favourite.
Not that they let him off the hook though.
"I got called cokehead and crackhead," he recalled, "but they weren't calling me anything I wasn't."
He didn’t see eye to eye with Graham Taylor…
When he was at Aston Villa, Merson found himself out of favour when new manager Graham Taylor arrived in 2002.
Frustrated by his lack of game time, he called a meeting with the boss but was told, bluntly, that he wasn’t part of the manager’s plans.
"How much money do you want the club to pay you to go?" Taylor asked Merson.
Believing the offer to be a joke, Merson suggested £100,000 at which point Taylor left the room. He returned soon after later with a cheque.
"‘****,' I thought, 'why didn’t I ask for £200,000?'" said Merson later.
Or Glen Johnson for that matter…
In 2011, Merson questioned the ability of Liverpool defender Glen Johnson on Sky Sports, saying that the full-back "can’t defend for toffee."
Johnson wasn’t amused and took to Twitter to issue his response.
"Comments from alcoholic drug abusers are not really gonna upset me and who is Paul Merson to judge players.
"He was average at the best of times, the only reason he's on that show is coz (he gambled all his money away. The clown!"
We know who we agree with.
He had regrets…
Merson was part of the legendary Arsenal team that went to Anfield and won the title with virtually the last kick of the 1988/89 season.
But while the Gunners celebrated one of the most sensational climaxes to in football history, Merson wasn’t quite so happy.
“By the time we got back to London,” said Merse, “it was too late to go out.”
But he was a hell of a player…
Despite all of his off-field troubles, Merson still managed to carve out a career to be justifiably proud of.
He won two First Division titles with Arsenal, not to mention the FA Cup, League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup.
He also won the 1989 PFA Young Player of the Year too and represented his country at the 1992 European Championships and the 1998 World Cup.
And so what if he only won 21 caps. He made more memories in his rollercoaster career than most players could ever dream of.
