Paul Merson Arsenal
Paul Merson was reflecting on his experiences transitioning from playing at Aston Villa, a Premier League club, to playing at Portsmouth, in the Championship, emphasizing the differences in club facilities and support.
Paul Merson said “Villa’s an unbelievable football club. It doesn’t get the recognition for the size of the club, it’s a massive football club. I loved it at Villa, I probably played my best football at Villa over a consistent amount of time.”
Upon joining Portsmouth, Merson encountered a different locker room culture and shared an amusing story about his initial reaction to their laundry practices.
Paul Merson said “So I go into the dressing room at Portsmouth after training one day, I take my kit off and I throw it on the floor in the middle of the dressing room. At Arsenal and Villa and places like that they wash your kit. You turn up the next day and all your kit’s hanging up or rolled up in a towel ready for training again. I throw my kit on the floor and all the lads start laughing. I said what are laughing at? They said we clean our own kit here. I said, we’re a Championship team, what do you mean we clean our own kit? So straight away I’m thinking what have I done here?”
To avoid doing his own laundry at Portsmouth, Merson made a light-hearted agreement with the kitman, offering a substantial reward if the team achieved unexpected success.
Paul Merson said “One of the lads has gone, the kitman will clean it for you for 30 quid a month or 30 quid a week, something like that. I was on a big bonus if we got promoted. I thought I’d try to be funny so I said I’ll tell you what, clean my kit for nothing and at the end of the season if we get promoted I’ll give you 10 grand. We only went and got promoted and I had to give him 10 grand! Portsmouth had finished bottom six for the last 10 years and we went and won the league!”
