In October 2011, Merson was involved in a car crash with a lorry on the M40 motorway near Warwick and arrested for drink-driving.

Paul Merson breaks down in tears while recalling his Paul Merson breaks down in tears while recalling his

A few minutes before Paul Merson tells the surreal story which makes him cry, in a beautiful but broken memory, he looks at me intently. We had a deposit [for a house] and my brain said: ‘You’re not going to be working, there’s not going to be any money coming in. He reckons he played his best football at Villa but I remember his remarkable performances of 90/91.I'd advise any football fan to read this, but also anyone that's been touched by addiction, either directly or indirectly. For me, gambling has always been the cruellest addiction, the most difficult to live with and the most hideous for my family because it is invisible until it is too late.

Hooked: Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery Hooked: Addiction and the Long Road to Recovery

Merson later announced his retirement from professional football as a player on 9 March 2006, less than a month after joining Tamworth. I wet the bed, sucked my thumb and my mum says I barely spoke before I had speech therapy when I was six.Not just happy to talk to anyone but keen to talk to everyone when I’d usually struggle to overcome my shyness. In January 2020, Merson spoke about how his drink, drug and gambling habits fuelled his struggles with mental health. Both Arsenal and the Football Association made it clear that I’d have to have successful treatment and submit to frequent drug and alcohol tests if I ever wanted to play football again.

Hooked by Paul Merson | Headline Publishing Group, home of

Part of the note read: "I need to stop gambling, I love my wife and kids and I'm so happy with them. Merson highlights the way gambling advertising is so pervasive – especially around football on television. Despite a number of offers from clubs as high as the Championship, Merson decided to drop down the leagues and play for part-time Conference club Tamworth, which surprised many but enthralled the Tamworth fans. After making his debut for Arsenal in the 1986–87 season, Merson went on to play eleven seasons with the North London club.There's no hiding, he owns it and talks extremely frankly about the his drink, drugs and gambling issues. You would have to be blind not to notice a blizzard of cocaine blowing through the pubs and clubs I frequented.