Paul Gascoigne

Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. He is described by the National Football Museum as "widely recognised as the most naturally talented English footballer of his generation".

Born and raised in Gateshead, Gascoigne signed schoolboy terms with Newcastle United, before turning professional with the club in 1984. Three years later, he was sold to Tottenham Hotspur for £2.2 million. He won the FA Cup with Spurs in 1991, before being sold to Italian club Lazio for £5.5 million. In 1995, he was transferred to Rangers for £4.3 million and helped the club to two league titles, a Scottish Cup. He returned to England in a £3.4 million move to Middlesbrough in 1998. He made his debut in the Premier League in the 1998–99 season, having already featured in the 1998 Football League Cup Final. He switched to Everton in 2000, and later had spells with Burnley, Gansu Tianma and Boston United.

Gascoigne represented the England national team from 1988 to 1998, in which he was capped 57 times and scored ten goals. He was part of the England team that reached fourth place in the 1990 FIFA World Cup, where he famously cried after receiving a yellow card in the semi-final with West Germany, which meant he would have been suspended for the final had England won the game. He also helped the team to the semi-finals of Euro 96, which included scoring a goal against Scotland, described in 2013 as "one of the most iconic goals in the game's recent history". He has been involved in a number of high-profile goal celebrations at both club and international level, including the "dentist's chair" celebration from Euro 96, and mimicking playing the flute with Rangers in 1998, a reference to the Protestant Orange Order.

In the later part of his career, and especially following retirement, Gascoigne's life became dominated by severe mental and emotional problems, particularly alcoholism. He has been jailed or sectioned on numerous occasions and his struggles receive regular coverage in the British press. He has frequently attempted to live without alcohol, though rehabilitation programmes have provided only temporary relief. His personal issues ended his coaching career, and he has not worked in football since being dismissed as the manager of Kettering Town in 2005.

Early life

Gascoigne was born in Gateshead, County Durham, on 27 May 1967. His father, John (1946–2018), was a hod carrier, and his mother, Carol, worked in a factory. He was named Paul John Gascoigne in tribute to Paul McCartney and John Lennon of the Beatles.

He attended Breckenbeds Junior High School, then the Heathfield Senior High School, both in the Low Fell area of Gateshead. He was noticed by football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, though failed to impress in a trial at Ipswich Town. Further trials at Middlesbrough and Southampton also proved unsuccessful, before the team he supported, Newcastle United, signed him as a schoolboy in 1980. Former Ipswich and Newcastle scout Charlie Woods has claimed Ipswich were keen on signing Gascoigne, but once Newcastle got wind they quickly signed up the youngster. Gascoigne frequently got into trouble with his friend, Jimmy "Five Bellies" Gardner. The pair were even taken to court and fined over a hit and run incident. Newcastle chairman Stan Seymour Jr. described Gascoigne as "George Best without brains".

While Gascoigne was successful on the football field, his childhood was marked by instability and tragedy. Initially, his family lived in a single upstairs room in a council house with a shared bathroom, and moved several times during his early life. When he was ten, Gascoigne witnessed the death of Steven Spraggon, the younger brother of a friend, who was killed in a traffic collision. Around this time, his father began to experience seizures. Gascoigne began developing obsessions and twitches, and was taken into therapy, but soon quit the therapy sessions after his father expressed doubts over the treatment methods.

Gascoigne developed an addiction to gaming machines, frequently spending all his money on them, and also began shoplifting to fund his addiction. He experienced further tragedy when a friend, whom he had encouraged to join Newcastle United from Middlesbrough, died whilst he was working for Gascoigne's uncle on a building site.

Brian Tinnion met Gascoigne for the first time at the age of 14 when Tinnion signed for Dunston Juniors, another side Gascoigne played for. Tinnion explained that though Gascoigne eventually became the stand out, by the age of 15, most felt that Ian Bogie would be the top player out of this particular Newcastle youth set up. Gascoigne decided to provide financially for his family – his parents and two sisters – as he saw professional football as a way of earning more money than the rest of the family were capable of. He enjoyed football, and later wrote that "I didn't have twitches or worry about death when I was playing football". He was signed on as an apprentice at Newcastle on his 16th birthday.

He was usually overweight whilst signed to the Newcastle youth side. Jack Charlton, the Newcastle manager, claimed Gascoigne was "a bit chubby" and looked anything but a footballer. Gascoigne ate Mars bars and other junk food. Charlton was not overly concerned as he believed this weight would give Gascoigne extra strength on the football pitch and did not seem to slow him down. He also noted that Gascoigne showed early signs of being gaffe-prone and a prankster. Charlton warned Gascoigne about his junk food diet and gave him two weeks to lose the extra weight. Gascoigne then trained for ten days wrapped in a black bag.

Club career

Newcastle United

Gascoigne captained Newcastle United's youth team to the FA Youth Cup in the 1984–85 season, and scored twice in the 4–1 victory over Watford in the final at Vicarage Road. In the first leg of the final, they drew 0–0. Teammate Joe Allon stated that Newcastle were unusually poor in the first leg, but in the second leg, Gascoigne was instrumental in Newcastle's victory. After the match, Jack Charlton told Gascoigne he would be in the first-team the next day against Norwich City. Gascoigne did travel to Norwich, though Charlton chose not to pick him. Gascoigne made his first-team debut as a substitute for George Reilly in a 1–0 win over Queens Park Rangers on 13 April 1985 at St James' Park. Charlton later noted that Gascoigne's first-team appearances under him were too brief to suggest he was more than a useful talent. At the age of 18 Gascoigne signed a two-year £120 a week contract at Newcastle, with the club also having a further two-year option clause. Through noting Gascoigne's generous personality, Charlton arranged that around half of Gascoigne's wage be paid into a bank account for him to collect in a lump sum at the end of his first contract.

Willie McFaul took over as manager for the 1985–86 season, and named Gascoigne in his starting lineup from the opening game of the campaign; he took the place of Chris Waddle, who had been sold to Tottenham Hotspur in the summer. He scored his first goal at home to Oxford United in a 3–0 victory on 21 September 1985, and claimed a further eight goals in the 1985–86 campaign. Newcastle finished 11th in the First Division that season and, at the end of it, Gascoigne was featured on the front cover of the ''Rothmans Football Yearbook''. He scored 5 goals in 24 league games in the 1986–87 season, as the "Magpies" slipped to 17th place, just three points above the relegation play-offs.

In 1988, on the BBC programme '' Football Focus'', Newcastle's then all-time top scorer, Jackie Milburn, stated that Gascoigne was "the best player in the world". In a 0–0 draw with Wimbledon at Plough Lane in February 1988, hard-man Vinnie Jones singled him out for attention, and in an incident that would become a much-publicised photograph, Jones grabbed him by the genitals as Gascoigne screamed in agony. He was named as the PFA Young Player of the Year and listed on the PFA Team of the Year in the 1987–88 season. However his period at Newcastle coincided with a period of unrest and instability at the club, which left the club unable to hold on to such a talented young player. Gascoigne promised Alex Ferguson that he would sign for Manchester United. Ferguson duly went on holiday to Malta, expecting to sign Gascoigne. On his holiday, he received the news that Gascoigne had signed for Tottenham Hotspur, for a record British fee of £2.2 million. In his 1999 autobiography, Ferguson claimed that Gascoigne was wooed into signing for Spurs after they bought a house for his impoverished family. Gascoigne in his autobiography states that after he was given his £100,000 signing on fee, he spent £70,000 buying property for his mother and father.

Tottenham Hotspur

In his first season at White Hart Lane, Gascoigne helped Terry Venables's Tottenham Hotspur to sixth in the First Division, scoring 7 goals in 37 appearances. They rose to third place in 1989–90, but were still 16 points behind champions Liverpool. On 26 September, he scored four goals in a 5–0 victory against Hartlepool United in the second round of the 1990–91 Football League Cup. He was named as BBC Sports Personality of the Year in 1990, and on accepting the award said: "I haven't won anything in the game as yet. But the World Cup did help to put England on the map". He was also named as the club's Player of the Year.

Gascoigne was named on the PFA Team of the Year in the 1990–91 season as Tottenham reached the FA Cup Final, with victories over Blackpool, Oxford United, Portsmouth, Notts County and North London derby rivals Arsenal. He scored the opening goal of the 3–1 victory over Arsenal at Wembley with a free-kick, one of six goals he scored in the competition. Spurs at this juncture were also under significant financial strain with huge £10 million debt. With Spurs being tied to massive debt, they hired a financial advisor called Nat Solomon. Solomon strongly argued for selling Gascoigne to Lazio to keep the vultures at bay. Going into the final against Nottingham Forest, Spurs had readily accepted an offer from Lazio and Gascoigne had already agreed to the playing terms to join the Italian club. The deal would be worth £8.5 million to Tottenham. His final was to end in injury however as 15 minutes into the game he committed a dangerous knee-high foul on Gary Charles and ruptured his own cruciate ligaments in his right knee. England teammate Stuart Pearce scored from the resultant free-kick, and Gascoigne subsequently collapsed after the kick-off, forcing him to leave the match on a stretcher. Tottenham went on to win the Cup in extra-time.

He missed the entire 1991–92 season while he recovered, suffering a further knee injury in late 1991, when an incident at a nightclub on Tyneside kept him out for even longer. The saga over Gascoigne's proposed transfer to Lazio dominated the tabloid press throughout 1991, often overshadowing the key national news of that time – namely the recession and rise in unemployment that it sparked – although the broadsheet newspapers generally kept stories about Gascoigne confined to their back pages.

Lazio

Gascoigne eventually joined Lazio for a fee of £5.5 million (equivalent to £ million in ); he received a £2 million signing-on fee and signed a contract worth £22,000 a week. He made his Serie A debut on 27 September 1992 in a match against Genoa, which was televised in Britain as well as Italy. He failed to fully settle in Italy and was beset by negative media interest which was not helped by the numerous occasions he punched reporters, and the time when he belched down a microphone on live television. He was well received by the club's fans, but not by the club's owner Sergio Cragnotti, who resented him after Gascoigne greeted him by saying "''Tua figlia, grande tette''" (roughly translated as "Your daughter, big tits"). His form was inconsistent in his first season at the Stadio Olimpico as he had previously spent a year out injured, but he endeared himself to Eagles fans when he scored in the 89th minute to equalise during the Rome derby against A.S. Roma. He broke his cheekbone whilst on international duty in April 1993, and had to play the remaining games of the season in a mask. Lazio ended the campaign in fifth place, which was considered a success as it meant qualification for European competition for the first time in 16 years.

He fell badly out of shape before the 1993–94 season and was told by manager Dino Zoff to lose two stone (13 kg) by the start of the campaign else he would lose his first-team place. Gascoigne went on an extreme weight loss diet and succeeded in shedding the excess fat. In one spell out injured Zoff told Gascoigne to go on holiday to recuperate. Gascoigne explained to Zoff he did not want to go on holiday. To the surprise of the Lazio fitness staff, Gascoigne arrived back from his holiday overweight. When he spoke to the coach about his weight, Gascoigne reportedly stated to Zoff, "I told you not to send me on holiday, Signor Zoff!" He captained the club against Cremonese when regular captain Roberto Cravero was substituted.

In 1994, Zdeněk Zeman arrived from Foggia to coach Lazio and Gascoigne. Zeman was a coach noted for his use of his whistle in training sessions. One session, Zeman misplaced his whistle and found it when a goose who frequented the Lazio training ground was seen wearing it. Pierluigi Casiraghi later reasoned Gascoigne was the culprit who placed Zeman's whistle on the goose. In April 1994, he broke his leg in training whilst attempting to tackle Alessandro Nesta. Upon his recovery, he was disgruntled with Zeman's stern fitness approach, and both club and player decided to part ways at the end of the 1994–95 season.

Rangers

Rangers manager Walter Smith flew to visit Gascoigne at his home in the Rome countryside in the early summer of 1995. Smith explained: "He said, 'What are you doing here?' I said, 'I'm here to see you.' He said, 'What is it you're wanting?' I said, 'I'm here to see if you'll come and play for Rangers.' He said, 'Aye, alright.'"

Gascoigne signed for Rangers in July 1995 for a club record fee of £4.3 million, on wages of £15,000 a week. He made an immediate impact: in the fifth league game of the 1995–96 season, the Old Firm fixture at Celtic Park, he scored a goal after running almost the full length of the pitch to get on the end of a pass in a breakaway; it proved vital as this was the only match lost by title rivals Celtic during the campaign. On 30 December, Gascoigne was booked by referee Dougie Smith after picking Smith's yellow card up from the ground and jokingly 'booking' the referee during a match against Hibernian. Rangers went on to win the Scottish Premier Division, clinching the title in the penultimate game of the season against Aberdeen at Ibrox Stadium; Gascoigne scored a hat-trick including two solo efforts. Rangers won the double as they also won the Scottish Cup