When Paul Merson joined Portsmouth under Harry Redknapp, he says he got one of the biggest shocks of his career. After training, he did what he’d always done at Arsenal and Aston Villa. He took all his kit off and dumped it in a pile on the dressing-room floor, expecting it to be washed and ready for him the next day. The lads started laughing. Merson asked what they were laughing at, and they told him, basically, “We wash our own kit here.” He couldn’t believe it. He said he was standing there thinking, what have I done? Someone then told him the kitman would do it for a fee. So Merson tried to be clever. He offered the kitman a deal. Wash his kit for free all season, and if Portsmouth got promoted, he’d give him £10,000. Merson’s point was that he thought it was a completely safe bet. Portsmouth hadn’t exactly been flying for years. Of course, they went and got promoted. So he had to pay up. And because the kitman didn’t want it going through any official channels, Merson said he ended up meeting him at a service station to hand over the money.