Everything you need to know about former Aston Villa player and current pundit Paul Merson.
Merson has been a dominant figure in the footballing industry over recent decades. Since starting his footballing career at Arsenal in 1985 the former attacker has been consistently involved in the game.
In his playing career, he spent a great spell at Villa Park and helped the side lift the Intertoto Cup in 2001.
Since his retirement, he has worked regularly as a pundit for multiple outlets but mainly Sky Sports.
In this article, we explore fans’ most asked questions about the former attacker alongside his life at Aston Villa.
How old is Paul Merson?
Merson was born on March 20, 1968. This makes the pundit 56 years old at the time of writing.
Is he married?
Merson has been married three times throughout his life. Lorraine and Louise were his first two wives and he is now with Kate. Throughout his life, he has had eight children including one set of twins.
His son, Sam, followed in his father’s footsteps and made a career in football. He has mainly played in the lower division throughout his career, most notably at St. Albans.
Who does Paul Merson support?
Despite playing a big part of his career at Arsenal, Merson is a lifelong Chelsea fan. He has continued his support of the Blues throughout his life.
Read more: Every fact you didn’t know about Aston Villa’s Brazilian superstar Douglas Luiz.
When was Paul Merson at Aston Villa?
Merson joined Aston Villa in 1998 after having a brief spell at Middlesbrough. Here, the forward spent four full seasons at the Birmingham outfit making 145 appearances and scoring 19 times.
On top of his Intertoto Cup title, he also oversaw Villa’s run to the FA Cup final in 2000 where they lost 1-0 to Chelsea. Upon looking back on his career at Villa Park, Merson stated that playing for the club was ‘the best part of his career’.
Who else did he play for?
Merson has played for multiple clubs throughout his career. His first club Arsenal was where he spent of his most time, making over 400 appearances in 11 seasons. From here, he would play for Middlesbrough, Portsmouth and Walsall. Merson also had a brief spell on loan to Brentford in his early days.
Later in his career, he made a few brief appearances for multiple clubs including Tamworth, Welshpool Town, Caerau and Hanworth Villa.
Is Paul Merson on Sky Sports?
Merson has been a regular pundit on Sky Sports since his retirement from the game. His main job is as a match reporter and has been featured regularly on Soccer Saturday.
At the time of writing, he still works at Sky Sports despite the many changes to their punditry line-up over the years.
Did Paul Merson have a gambling problem?
Yes, Merson suffered from a gambling addiction for 35 years. The former Villian man has been very open about his battle which had caused ‘his life to fall apart’.
It was revealed that he had lost roughly £7 million due to this problem and has since been treated. He now aims to try and support other footballers who are involved in betting and has spoken out about Ivan Toney and Sandro Tonali’s lengthy bans.
Does he have social media?
Merson can be found on both Instagram and X, formerly Twitter. His Instagram account is called @paulmerseoffical while his X account is @PaulMerse.