Paul Merson

Paul Charles Merson (born 20 March 1968) is a former English professional footballer and manager, turned football television pundit. As a player he played a large majority of his career as a winger.

He notably played in the Premier League for Arsenal, Middlesbrough and Aston Villa, as well as appearing in the Football League for Brentford and Portsmouth. He also played for Walsall where he spent two years as player-manager before finishing his career in Non-League football with Tamworth. He briefly came out of retirement in 2012 for Welshpool Town where he played in a one-off game. Merson earned 21 caps for England, scoring 3 times.

Club career

Arsenal

Born in Harlesden, North West London, Merson started his career at Arsenal, joining the club as an apprentice in 1984. After a loan spell at Brentford, then under manager Frank McLintock, he made his debut for the Gunners on 22 November 1986 against Manchester City, and gradually established himself in George Graham's successful Arsenal side of the late 1980s. By the 1988–89 season he was a regular on the right wing, at the end of which Arsenal secured the First Division title with a last gasp Michael Thomas goal in the final game of the season against Liverpool. Merson scored ten times that season, made his debut for the England U21 side, and was voted PFA Young Player of the Year.

Sky Sports

Sky Sports is a group of sports television channels operated by the satellite pay-TV company Sky plc. Sky Sports is the dominant subscription television sports brand in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It has played a major role in the increased commercialisation of British sport since 1991, sometimes playing a large role in inducing organisational changes in the sports it broadcasts, most notably when it encouraged the Premier League to break away from The Football League in 1992.

Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 are available as a premium package on top of the basic Sky package. These channels are also available as premium on nearly every satellite, cable and IPTV broadcasting system in the UK and Ireland. Sky Sports News HQ is provided as part of basic packages. Sky Sports is perhaps best known for its Premier League football coverage. The Sky Sports network is managed by Barney Francis.

Before BSkyB

Eurosport (1989–1991)

At launch on 5 February 1989, Sky Television operated Eurosport as a 50/50 joint venture with the European Broadcasting Union. The channel was marketed as one of Sky's four channels upon its launch, although additional sports programmes such as long-running international cricket coverage was occasionally broadcast on Sky Channel.

Paul

Paul may refer to:

People

Christianity

Roman and Byzantine empire

Royals

Other people

Soccer Saturday

Gillette Soccer Saturday is a weekly television programme broadcast on Sky Sports in the United Kingdom and Ireland during the football season. The programme updates viewers on the progress of association football games in the United Kingdom on Saturday afternoons. The current host is Jeff Stelling. The programme is sponsored by Gillette.

History

Soccer Saturday grew out of Sports Saturday, which started in 1992 hosted by Paul Dempsey. Current host Jeff Stelling joined the programme in 1994 and became its sole presenter a year later. The name of the programme changed to Soccer Saturday in 1998.

Prior to May 2010, portions of the programme were simulcast on Sky Sports 1 as well as Sky Sports News. The portions simulcast were between 12:00–12:30 pm and 3:00 pm–5:15 pm, although this differed depending on the matches being covered on Sky Sports 1. From the start of the 2010–11 season these simulcasts were dropped and for the next three seasons the programme was exclusive to Sky Sports News but this Sky Sports 1 simulcast returned for the 2013–14 season as part of Sky Sports 1's new all-day Saturday football service. For the 2014-15 season the programme moved from Sky Sports 1 to Sky Sports 5.