Paul Merson: Football, Gambling and Me

In December 2020, the government launched a review of the 2005 Gambling Act, aiming to overhaul legislation that was created long before the digital age, aiming to ensure it offered adequate protection to those who need it.

A white paper is expected either at the end of this year or beginning of next, leaving football clubs concerned about the potential impact any legislative changes could have on their lucrative partnership agreements with gambling firms.

Advertising and sponsorship by betting firms has exploded in recent years, with more than a third of English Premiership clubs promoting gambling companies on the front of their shirts.

Against that backdrop comes this poignant and powerful documentary.

Over the past 35 years, former Arsenal and England footballer Paul Merson has lost a fortune.

Cameras follow him as he tries to understand why his life has been so badly blighted by gambling and explores the long-established relationship between football and gambling – at a time when so many are calling into question the industry’s place in sport.

Now on the path to recovery, Paul wants to understand what caused his addiction. Could it be the way his brain is wired, his environment, or a combination of both? Paul chats to former team-mates, scientists and psychologists to see if he can get close to finding the answer.

Paul starts by catching up with Wes Reid. When they received their first pay cheques as Arsenal trainees, they both went to the bookies and Paul lost his entire week’s wages in 15 minutes, kicking off a more than three-decade obsession that would cost him almost everything.

He also talks to former professional footballers Keith Gillespie of Newcastle and Northern Ireland, ex-Arsenal and Wales star John Hartson, and Reading’s Scott Davies who, between them, gambled away £15 million.

Paul gets scientific insights from Dr David Erritzoe, a consultant psychiatrist working at Imperial College London. He and his team have embarked on a groundbreaking piece of research in a bid to map the brain, pinpoint the neurobiological basis of gambling addiction, and hopefully develop new treatments.