Paul John Gascoigne (, born 27 May 1967), nicknamed Gazza, is an English former professional
footballer
A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...
who played as an
attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
. He is described by the
National Football Museum
The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia.
The museum was originally b ...
as "widely recognised as the most naturally talented English footballer of his generation".
Born and raised in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
, Gascoigne signed schoolboy terms with
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, before turning professional with the club in 1984. Three years later, he was sold to
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
for £2.2 million. He won the
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
with Spurs in
1991
File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...
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
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
. He returned to England in a £3.4 million move to
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
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
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
,
Gansu Tianma
Dongguan Dongcheng (Simplified Chinese: 东莞东城) was a football team based in Dongguan, Guangdong province, in the People's Republic of China, that played in the Chinese Football Association Jia League.
Founded on 18 December 1999, as Gansu ...
and
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
.
Gascoigne represented the England national team from 1988 to 1998, in which he was
capped
In sport, a cap is a player's appearance in a game at international level. The term dates from the practice in the United Kingdom of awarding a cap to every player in an international match of rugby football and association football. In the ea ...
57 times and scored ten goals. He was part of the England team that reached fourth place in the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
, 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
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
, which included scoring a goal against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
, 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 celebration
In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst r ...
s 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
Alcoholism is, broadly, any drinking of alcohol (drug), alcohol that results in significant Mental health, mental or physical health problems. Because there is disagreement on the definition of the word ''alcoholism'', it is not a recognize ...
. He has been jailed or
sectioned
Involuntary commitment, civil commitment, or involuntary hospitalization/hospitalisation is a legal process through which an individual who is deemed by a qualified agent to have symptoms of severe mental disorder is detained in a psychiatric hos ...
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
Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...
in 2005.
Early life
Gascoigne was born in
Gateshead
Gateshead () is a large town in northern England. It is on the River Tyne's southern bank, opposite Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle to which it is joined by seven bridges. The town contains the Gateshead Millennium Bridge, Millennium Bridge, Sage ...
,
County Durham
County Durham ( ), officially simply Durham,UK General Acts 1997 c. 23Lieutenancies Act 1997 Schedule 1(3). From legislation.gov.uk, retrieved 6 April 2022. is a ceremonial county in North East England.North East Assembly About North East E ...
, on 27 May 1967. His father, John (1946–2018), was a
hod carrier
A brick hod is a three-sided box for carrying bricks or other building materials, often mortar. It bears a long handle and is carried over the shoulder. A hod is usually long enough to accept 4 bricks on their side. However, by arranging the br ...
, and his mother, Carol, worked in a factory. He was named Paul John Gascoigne in tribute to
Paul McCartney
Sir James Paul McCartney (born 18 June 1942) is an English singer, songwriter and musician who gained worldwide fame with the Beatles, for whom he played bass guitar and shared primary songwriting and lead vocal duties with John Lennon. One ...
and
John Lennon
John Winston Ono Lennon (born John Winston Lennon; 9 October 19408 December 1980) was an English singer, songwriter, musician and peace activist who achieved worldwide fame as founder, co-songwriter, co-lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist of ...
of
the Beatles
The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...
.
He attended
Breckenbeds Junior High School
Grace College (formerly Joseph Swan School, then Joseph Swan Academy) is a mixed secondary school with academy status situated in south Gateshead, England which educates pupils ages 11–18. The school was originally named after the English ...
, then the
Heathfield Senior High School
Heathfield Senior High School was a secondary school in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, United Kingdom. OriginalIy opened as part of an expanded Grammar School system for Gateshead, the School became a comprehensive in 1967. The School taught pupils ...
, both in the
Low Fell
Low Fell is a suburb of Gateshead situated in the Metropolitan Borough of Gateshead in Tyne and Wear, England. Built predominantly on sandstone, grindstone and clay, it is bordered by Sheriff Hill/Deckham to the east, Saltwell/Bensham to the w ...
area of Gateshead. He was noticed by football scouts while playing for Gateshead Boys, though failed to impress in a trial at
Ipswich Town
Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system.
The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...
. Further trials at
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
and
Southampton
Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...
also proved unsuccessful, before the team he supported,
Newcastle United
Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...
, 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
In traffic laws, a hit and run or a hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic collision and not stopping afterwards. It is considered a supplemental crime in most jurisdictions.
Additional obligation
In many jurisdictions, there may be a ...
incident. Newcastle chairman
Stan Seymour Jr.
Stan Seymour Jr. was a former chairman of Newcastle United and the son of Stan Seymour Sr.
Career
Born the son of the player, Stan Seymour Sr., in Scotland, Stan Seymour Jr managed a sports shop in Newcastle upon Tyne.
Seymour Jr. inherited his ...
described Gascoigne as "
George Best
George Best (22 May 1946 – 25 November 2005) was a Northern Irish professional footballer who played as a winger, spending most of his club career at Manchester United. A highly skilful dribbler, Best is regarded as one of the greatest p ...
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
An epileptic seizure, informally known as a seizure, is a period of symptoms due to abnormally excessive or neural oscillation, synchronous neuronal activity in the brain. Outward effects vary from uncontrolled shaking movements involving much o ...
. 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
Brian Tinnion (born 23 February 1968) is an English former football player and manager. He made over 450 appearances for Bristol City, including a spell as player-manager where he is currently in the role of Academy Director. He started as a l ...
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
Ian Bogie (born 6 December 1967) is a former footballer, and former manager of Gateshead and Stockport County. He spent two decades as a professional player, from 1985 up until 2001 he was playing in the English Football League, where he made ...
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
John Charlton (8 May 193510 July 2020) was an English footballer and manager who played as a defender. He was part of the England national team that won the 1966 World Cup and managed the Republic of Ireland national team from 1986 to 199 ...
, the Newcastle manager, claimed Gascoigne was "a bit chubby" and looked anything but a footballer. Gascoigne ate
Mars bars
Mars, commonly known as Mars bar, is the name of two varieties of chocolate bar produced by Mars, Incorporated. It was first manufactured in 1932 in Slough, England by Forrest Mars, Sr. The bar consists of caramel and nougat coated with milk c ...
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
Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne.
Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...
in the final at
Vicarage Road
Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of championship club Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200.
History
It has been the home of Watford since 1922, when the club moved from Cas ...
. In the first leg of the final, they drew 0–0. Teammate
Joe Allon
Joseph Ball Allon (born 12 November 1966) is an English former footballer. A striker, he scored 135 goals in 361 league and cup games in a 14-year career in the English Football League.
Starting his career with Newcastle United in 1984, he f ...
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
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...
. Gascoigne did travel to Norwich, though Charlton chose not to pick him. Gascoigne made his first-team debut as a substitute for
George Reilly
George Reilly (born 14 September 1957) is a Scottish former footballer. He played for Corby Town, Northampton Town, Cambridge United, Watford, Newcastle United and West Bromwich Albion. Reilly scored the winning goal for Watford against Plymo ...
in a 1–0 win over
Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...
on 13 April 1985 at
St James' Park
St James' Park is a football stadium in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It is the home of Premier League club Newcastle United F.C. With a seating capacity of 52,305 seats, it is the eighth largest football stadium in England.
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
William Stewart McFaul (born 1 October 1943), known as Willie or Iam McFaul, is a Northern Irish former football player and now coach. He spent most of his career with Newcastle United.
McFaul was born in Coleraine. He joined Newcastle Unit ...
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
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
in the summer. He scored his first goal at home to
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
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
''The Football Yearbook'' (formerly ''Rothmans Football Yearbook'' and ''Sky Sports Football Yearbook'') is a British football reference book published annually by Headline (a division of Hodder Headline). It was first published in 1970 for the ...
''. 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
''Football Focus'' is a BBC television magazine programme launched in 1974 covering football, normally broadcast live on BBC One on Saturday lunchtimes during the football season. From the 2009–10 season to the 2020–21 season Football Focus ...
'', Newcastle's then all-time top scorer,
Jackie Milburn
John Edward Thompson "Jackie" Milburn (11 May 1924 – 9 October 1988) was a football player principally associated with Newcastle United and England, though he also spent four seasons at Linfield. He was also known as Wor Jackie (particularly ...
, stated that Gascoigne was "the best player in the world". In a 0–0 draw with
Wimbledon
Wimbledon most often refers to:
* Wimbledon, London, a district of southwest London
* Wimbledon Championships, the oldest tennis tournament in the world and one of the four Grand Slam championships
Wimbledon may also refer to:
Places London
* ...
at
Plough Lane
Plough Lane – named The Cherry Red Records Stadium for sponsorship reasons – is a football stadium in Wimbledon, south-west London, which has been the home of AFC Wimbledon since 3 November 2020. A groundshare with rugby league side London ...
in February 1988, hard-man
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer.
Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chels ...
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
The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...
and listed on the
PFA Team of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
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
Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, 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.
White Hart Lane
White Hart Lane was a Association football, football stadium in Tottenham, North London and the home of Tottenham Hotspur F.C., Tottenham Hotspur Football Club from 1899 to 2017. Its capacity varied over the years; when changed to all-seater i ...
, Gascoigne helped
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...
's
Tottenham Hotspur
Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional association football, football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English footba ...
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
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
. On 26 September, he scored four goals in a 5–0 victory against
Hartlepool United
Hartlepool United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Hartlepool, County Durham, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system.
They were founded i ...
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been ...
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
The Professional Footballers' Association Team of the Year (often called the PFA Team of the Year, or simply the Team of the Year) is an annual award given to a set of 55 footballers across the top four tiers of men's English football; the Premie ...
FA Cup Final
The FA Cup Final, commonly referred to in England as just the Cup Final, is the last match in the Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official atten ...
, with victories over
Blackpool
Blackpool is a seaside resort in Lancashire, England. Located on the North West England, northwest coast of England, it is the main settlement within the Borough of Blackpool, borough also called Blackpool. The town is by the Irish Sea, betw ...
,
Oxford United
Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and t ...
,
Portsmouth
Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council.
Portsmouth is the most dens ...
,
Notts County
Notts County Football Club is a professional association football club based in Nottingham, England. The team participate in the National League, the fifth tier of the English football league system. Founded on the 25 November 1862, it is the ...
and
North London derby
The North London derby is the meeting of the association football clubs Arsenal F.C. and Tottenham Hotspur F.C., both of which are based in North London, England. Fans of both clubs consider the other to be their main rivals, and the derby is co ...
rivals
Arsenal
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...
. He scored the opening goal of the 3–1 victory over Arsenal at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
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
to keep the vultures at bay. Going into the final against
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
, 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
Gary Andrew Charles (born 13 April 1970) is an English football coach and former professional player.
He played as a right-back, notably beginning his career with Nottingham Forest and featured in the inaugural Premier League season under Brian ...
and ruptured his own
cruciate ligament
Cruciate ligaments (also cruciform ligaments) are pairs of ligaments arranged like a letter X. They occur in several joints of the body, such as the knee joint and the atlanto-axial joint. In a fashion similar to the cords in a toy Jacob's la ...
s 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
Tyneside is a built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne in northern England. Residents of the area are commonly referred to as Geordies. The whole area is surrounded by the North East Green Belt.
The population of Tyneside as publishe ...
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
In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...
and rise in unemployment that it sparked – although the broadsheet newspapers generally kept stories about Gascoigne confined to their back pages.
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
The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...
debut on 27 September 1992 in a match against
Genoa
Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
, 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
Sergio Cragnotti (; born 9 January 1940, in Rome, Italy) is an Italian entrepreneur and author.
One of the most high-profile and wealthy business figures in Italy in recent times, Cragnotti is best known for having been President of S.S. Lazio. ...
, 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
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
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
The Derby della Capitale ( en, Derby of the capital city), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and R ...
against
A.S. Roma
' (''Rome Sport Association''), commonly referred to as Roma (), is a professional football club based in Rome, Italy. Founded by a merger in 1927, Roma has participated in the top tier of Italian football for all of its existence, except for ...
. 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
Dino Zoff (; born 28 February 1942) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He is the oldest ever winner of the World Cup, which he earned as captain of the Italian national team in the 1982 tournament, at th ...
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
Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...
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
Pierluigi Casiraghi (; born 4 March 1969) is an Italian professional football coach and former player who played as a striker.
Casiraghi began his playing career in Italy in 1985, with Monza. He later played for Juventus, and Lazio, before end ...
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
Alessandro Nesta (; born 19 March 1976) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. Usually deployed as a centre-back, he is widely considered one of the best defenders of all time. He was best known for his pace, artistic ta ...
. 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.
Walter Smith
Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers.
A defender, Smith's playing car ...
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
The Old Firm is the collective name for the Scottish football clubs Celtic and Rangers, which are both based in Glasgow. The two clubs are by far the most successful and popular in Scotland, and the rivalry between them has become deeply em ...
fixture at
Celtic Park
Celtic Park is the home stadium of Celtic Football Club, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With a capacity of 60,832, it is the largest football stadium in Scotland, and the eighth-largest stadium in the United Kingdom. It is al ...
, 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
Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to:
Language and ethnicity
*pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia
**Celts (modern)
*Celtic languages
**Proto-Celtic language
* Celtic music
*Celtic nations
Sports Fo ...
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
The Scottish Football League Premier Division was, from 1975 until 1998, the top division of the Scottish Football League and the entire Scottish football league system. It lay above the Scottish Football League First, Second and (from 1994) ...
, clinching the title in the penultimate game of the season against
Aberdeen
Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...
at
Ibrox Stadium
Ibrox Stadium is a football stadium on the south side of the River Clyde in the Ibrox area of Glasgow, Scotland. The home of Rangers Football Club, Ibrox is the third largest football stadium in Scotland, with an all-seated capacity of .
O ...
; Gascoigne scored a hat-trick including two solo efforts. Rangers won the double as they also won the
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,Heart of Midlothian 5–1 in
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
at
Hampden Park
Hampden Park (Scottish Gaelic: ''Pàirc Hampden''), often referred to as Hampden, is a football stadium in the Mount Florida area of Glasgow, Scotland. The -capacity venue serves as the national stadium of football in Scotland. It is the no ...
. He scored 19 goals in 42 appearances in all competitions, and was named as both
PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year
The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish footbal ...
and
SFWA Footballer of the Year
The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...
.
Rangers won the league title again in 1996–97, their ninth in succession. Gascoigne claimed hat-tricks against
Kilmarnock
Kilmarnock (, sco, Kilmaurnock; gd, Cill Mheàrnaig (IPA: ʰʲɪʎˈveaːɾnəkʲ, "Marnock's church") is a large town and former burgh in East Ayrshire, Scotland and is the administrative centre of East Ayrshire, East Ayrshire Council. ...
and
Motherwell
Motherwell ( sco, Mitherwall, gd, Tobar na Màthar) is a town and former burgh in North Lanarkshire, Scotland, United Kingdom, south east of Glasgow. It has a population of around 32,120. Historically in the parish of Dalziel and part of Lanarks ...
, and ended the campaign with 17 goals in 34 games. However, during this season, manager Walter Smith and assistant Archie Knox became increasingly concerned over Gascoigne's reliance on alcohol. The ''Gers'' won another double by also winning the
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
, beating Hearts 4–3 in
the final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
at Celtic Park, with Gascoigne scoring twice and
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.
McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland in ...
claiming the other two goals.
In 1997, young Italian player
Gennaro Gattuso
Gennaro Ivan Gattuso (; born 9 January 1978) is an Italian professional football coach and former player, who currently serves as manager of La Liga club Valencia.
He was born in Corigliano (Calabria). As a player, he mainly played in the cent ...
joined Rangers. He was welcomed to Ibrox by Gascoigne, who defecated in Gattuso's sock as a prank. Gascoigne would also buy Gattuso his club suits under the pretence Rangers were paying for them; Gattuso found out many months later from other sources that it was Gascoigne who secretly paid the bill. In November 1997, Gascoigne received a five-match ban after being sent off for violent conduct during the Old Firm derby following an incident with Celtic midfielder
Morten Wieghorst
Morten Wieghorst (born 25 February 1971) is a Danish association football manager and former player. He is currently the assistant coach for the Denmark national football team. He is the former head coach of the Denmark national under-21 footba ...
. In January 1998, Gascoigne courted serious controversy when he mimed playing a flute (symbolic of the flute-playing of Orange Order marchers) while warming up as a substitute during an Old Firm match at Celtic Park. Having already made the same gesture as a
goal celebration
In sports, a goal celebration is the practice of celebrating the scoring of a goal. The celebration is normally performed by the goalscorer, and may involve their teammates, the manager or coaching staff or the supporters of the team. Whilst r ...
shortly after joining the club in 1995, at that time claiming to have been ignorant of its meaning, his actions infuriated Celtic fans who had been taunting him and Gascoigne was fined £20,000 by Rangers after the incident. He also received a
death threat
A death threat is a threat, often made anonymously, by one person or a group of people to kill another person or group of people. These threats are often designed to intimidate victims in order to manipulate their behaviour, in which case a de ...
from an
IRA
Ira or IRA may refer to:
*Ira (name), a Hebrew, Sanskrit, Russian or Finnish language personal name
*Ira (surname), a rare Estonian and some other language family name
*Iran, UNDP code IRA
Law
*Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, US, on status of ...
member. The 1997–98 season was less successful. Gascoigne scored just 3 goals in 28 games and was sold on, while Rangers failed to win any trophies after he had departed, losing the league title to Celtic and the
Scottish Cup final
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup, commonly known as the Scottish Cup, is a knockout cup competition in Scottish football. Organised by the Scottish Football Association, it is the third oldest existing football competition in the w ...
to Hearts.
Middlesbrough
Gascoigne left Scotland to join
Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area.
Until the early 1800s, the a ...
for £3.45 million in March 1998, where former England teammate
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...
Chelsea
Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to:
Places Australia
* Chelsea, Victoria
Canada
* Chelsea, Nova Scotia
* Chelsea, Quebec
United Kingdom
* Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames
** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
, where he came on as a substitute. He played seven games in the First Division, helping "Boro" into the
Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
as runners-up to
Nottingham Forest
Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...
at the end of the 1997–98 season.
Before the 1998–99 campaign began, Gascoigne began having blackouts after blaming himself for the death of a friend, who died after Gascoigne and a group of friends went on a night out drinking. Despite his ongoing personal problems and his spell in rehab, Gascoigne started the season in good form and helped Middlesbrough into fourth place by Christmas. They ended the season in ninth place and having scored 3 goals in 26 top-flight games Gascoigne was linked with a recall to the England squad, who were now managed by former teammate Kevin Keegan and lacking a creative presence in midfield.
His career went into terminal decline during the 1999–2000 campaign, with Gascoigne breaking his arm after elbowing opposition midfield player
George Boateng
George Antwi Boateng (born 5 September 1975) is a former professional footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. He is Assistant Coach of the Ghana national team. Born in Ghana, raised in Holland and he represented the Netherlands interna ...
in the head during Middlesbrough's 4–0 defeat to
Aston Villa
Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...
at the
Riverside Stadium
The Riverside Stadium is a football stadium in Middlesbrough, England, which has been the home of Middlesbrough since it opened in 1995. Its current capacity is 34,742, all seated, although there is provisional planning permission in place t ...
. He subsequently received a three match ban and £5,000 fine from
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
.
Everton
Gascoigne signed a two-year contract with Everton, managed by former Rangers boss
Walter Smith
Walter Ferguson Smith (24 February 1948 – 26 October 2021) was a Scottish association football player, manager and director, primarily associated with his two spells as manager of Glasgow club Rangers.
A defender, Smith's playing car ...
, after joining on a free transfer in July 2000. He started the 2000–01 season well despite not playing every game due to his lack of fitness, but a series of niggling injuries and his ongoing depression took him out of the first team picture by Christmas.
After spending time at an alcohol rehabilitation clinic in
Arizona
Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...
, Gascoigne was fit enough to play for the "Toffees" in the 2001–02 season, and he scored his first goal for the club – and last in English football – away to Bolton Wanderers on 3 November. Gascoigne then suffered a hernia injury, which kept him out of action for three months. Walter Smith left
Goodison Park
Goodison Park is a football stadium in the Walton area of Liverpool, England. It has been the home stadium of Premier League club Everton F.C. since its completion in 1892. Located in a residential area 2 miles (3 km) north of Liverpool ...
in March, and Gascoigne left the club shortly after his successor, David Moyes, took charge.
Burnley
Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, at the confluence of the River Calder and River Bru ...
, where he made six First Division appearances. The club narrowly missed out on the play-offs, and he left
Turf Moor
Turf Moor is an association football stadium in Burnley, Lancashire, England, which has been the home of Burnley F.C. since 1883. This unbroken service makes Turf Moor the second-longest continuously used ground in English professional footba ...
after only two months. In 2002, he was inducted to the
National Football Museum
The National Football Museum is England's national museum of football. It is based in the Urbis building in Manchester city centre, and preserves, conserves and displays important collections of football memorabilia.
The museum was originally b ...
, being described as "the most naturally gifted English midfielder of his generation". Fellow England midfielder
Paul Ince
Paul Emerson Carlyle Ince (; born 21 October 1967) is an English professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of EFL Championship side Reading. A former midfielder, Ince played professionally from 1982 to 2007, st ...
said that Gascoigne was "the best player I've ever played with ... he had everything. He was amazing."
In the summer of 2002, Gascoigne went on trial with
Major League Soccer
Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...
club
D.C. United
D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...
, but rejected a contract. First Division club Gillingham also made enquiries and Gascoigne had an unsuccessful trial with the club. In February 2003, he signed a nine-month contract with
China League One
The Chinese Football Association China League (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (中甲联赛), is the second level of professional football in China. Above League One is the Chinese Super League.
Prior to the formation of ...
club
Gansu Tianma
Dongguan Dongcheng (Simplified Chinese: 东莞东城) was a football team based in Dongguan, Guangdong province, in the People's Republic of China, that played in the Chinese Football Association Jia League.
Founded on 18 December 1999, as Gansu ...
in both a playing and coaching role. Gascoigne scored in his first match in China, and in total scored two goals in four league games but his mental state meant that he had to return to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
for treatment against drink and depression in April, and he never returned despite the club ordering him to do so.
In October 2003, Gascoigne was offered an opportunity to train with
Wolverhampton Wanderers
Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club's ...
. However a month later Wolves rejected the option on providing Gascoigne a contract.
In July 2004, Gascoigne was signed as player-coach by
League Two
The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...
side
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
, and upon signing spoke of his coaching aspirations, saying that "I can become a great coach and a great manager". Gascoigne left Boston after he made five appearances in a three-month spell, citing professional reasons including his coaching career. Former Rangers teammate
Graham Roberts
Graham Paul Roberts (born 3 July 1959) is an English retired footballer and manager who played as a defender for numerous clubs including Tottenham Hotspur (where he won the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup), Rangers (where he won the Scottish League ...
made an unsuccessful attempt to sign Gascoigne as a player-coach at
Clyde Clyde may refer to:
People
* Clyde (given name)
* Clyde (surname)
Places
For townships see also Clyde Township
Australia
* Clyde, New South Wales
* Clyde, Victoria
* Clyde River, New South Wales
Canada
* Clyde, Alberta
* Clyde, Ontario, a tow ...
in 2005.
International career
Gascoigne was called up to the England under-21 side in the summer of 1987, and scored with a free-kick in his debut in a 2–0 win over
Morocco
Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...
. He went on to win 12 caps for the under-21s under
Dave Sexton
David James Sexton (6 April 1930 – 25 November 2012) was an English football manager and player. He was notable for managing Chelsea to their first ever major European trophy.
Playing career
Son of former professional boxer Archie Sex ...
. The team were semi finalists at the UEFA U-21 Euros and finalists at the
Toulon Tournament
The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...
beaten on both occasions by
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
in 1988.
Gascoigne was first called up to the full England squad by
Bobby Robson
Sir Robert William Robson (18 February 1933 – 31 July 2009) was an English footballer and football manager. His career included periods playing for and later managing the England national team and being a UEFA Cup-winning manager at Ipswich ...
for a friendly against
Denmark
)
, song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast")
, song_type = National and royal anthem
, image_map = EU-Denmark.svg
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark
...
on 14 September 1988, and came on as a late substitute for Peter Beardsley in a 1–0 win. He scored his first goal for England in a 5–0 victory over
Albania
Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...
at
Wembley
Wembley () is a large suburbIn British English, "suburb" often refers to the secondary urban centres of a city. Wembley is not a suburb in the American sense, i.e. a single-family residential area outside of the city itself. in north-west Londo ...
on 26 April 1989. He made his first start in the following game against
Chile
Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...
, and kept his first team place for most matches in the run in to the
1990 FIFA World Cup
The 1990 FIFA World Cup was the 14th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was held from 8 June to 8 July 1990 in Italy, the second country to host the event for a second time (the first being Me ...
. He also played four games for the England B team. He secured his place in the World Cup squad in a 4–2 win against
when he scored one goal and was a key component in the other three.
Gascoigne went to the World Cup in
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, having never started a competitive international. He played in all three of the group games and England topped Group F, Gascoigne providing the assist for Mark Wright's winner against
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
. In the first knockout game against
Belgium
Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...
, he made another assist after chipping a free-kick into the penalty area, where
David Platt
David Andrew Platt (born 10 June 1966) is an English former professional football coach and player, who played as a midfielder.
Born in Chadderton, Lancashire, Platt began his career as an apprentice at Manchester United before moving to Crewe ...
volleyed the ball into the net. Gascoigne was at the centre of the action again in the quarter-final clash with
Cameroon
Cameroon (; french: Cameroun, ff, Kamerun), officially the Republic of Cameroon (french: République du Cameroun, links=no), is a country in west-central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west and north; Chad to the northeast; the C ...
when he gave away a penalty, which Cameroon converted. In extra-time, he made a successful through-ball pass from which
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...
won and subsequently scored a penalty, which proved to be the winning goal.
On 4 July 1990, England played
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
in a World Cup semi-final match at
Juventus
Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...
Turin
Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...
. Gascoigne, having already received a yellow card during England's 1–0 victory over Belgium in the second round, was booked for a foul on
Thomas Berthold
Thomas Berthold (born 12 November 1964) is a former German footballer and manager, who played as a defender. He currently works as a pundit and analyst for several TV stations.
Club career
Berthold was born in Hanau, Hesse. His first club wa ...
, which meant that he would be suspended for the
final
Final, Finals or The Final may refer to:
*Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event
** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...
if England won the match. Television cameras showed that he had tears in his eyes following the yellow card and made Gascoigne a highly popular figure with the sympathetic British public. The match culminated in a penalty shoot-out, which the Germans won after Stuart Pearce and Chris Waddle missed their penalties.
Robson quit the England job after the tournament, and his successor
Graham Taylor
Graham Taylor (15 September 1944 – 12 January 2017) was an English football player, manager, pundit and chairman of Watford Football Club. He was the manager of the England national football team from 1990 to 1993, and also managed Lincoln C ...
dropped Gascoigne in favour of 32-year-old
Gordon Cowans
Gordon Sidney Cowans (born 27 October 1958) is an English retired football player and coach.
Cowans started his career at Aston Villa as an apprentice in 1974, and signed as a professional in 1976. During his time at Aston Villa, he won the Le ...
Republic of Ireland
Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...
in November 1990, citing tactical reasons. He returned to the starting lineup for a friendly against Cameroon the following February, before an injury in the FA Cup final three months later caused him to miss the next twenty-one England fixtures, including all of
UEFA Euro 1992
The 1992 UEFA European Football Championship was hosted by Sweden between 10 and 26 June 1992. It was the ninth UEFA European Championship, which is held every four years and supported by UEFA.
Denmark won the 1992 championship, having qualifi ...
, where England failed to progress beyond the group stages.
Gascoigne returned to fitness in time for the opening qualifying game against
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...
in October 1992, and before playing in the 1–1 draw, he responded to a Norwegian television crew's request to say 'a few words to Norway', by saying "fuck off Norway". His message was broadcast on Norwegian television and he was forced to apologise for the remark. The following month he scored two goals in a 4–0 victory over
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
. Qualification ended badly for England, as they ended in third place behind Norway and the
Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and missed out on a place in the
1994 FIFA World Cup
The 1994 FIFA World Cup was the 15th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national soccer teams. It was hosted by the United States and took place from June 17 to July 17, 1994, at nine venues across the country. The United States ...
.
A broken leg in 1994 meant Gascoigne was unable to play for 15 months, but by the time he returned to fitness,
Terry Venables
Terence Frederick Venables (born 6 January 1943), often referred to as El Tel, is an English former football player and manager, and an author. During the 1960s and '70s, he played for various clubs including Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Queen ...
– his former manager at Spurs – had been appointed as England manager. As England were hosting
UEFA Euro 1996
The 1996 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro 96, was the 10th UEFA European Championship, a quadrennial football tournament contested by European nations and organised by UEFA. It took place in England from 8 to 30 ...
they did not have to go through the qualification process, so they instead played numerous friendlies, most of which featured Gascoigne in the starting line-up. The last of these games was played in
Hong Kong
Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...
, after which numerous England players were photographed on a night out in which Gascoigne and several others having drinks poured into their mouths whilst sitting in the "dentist's chair". The tournament opened with a 1–1 draw with
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
, during which Gascoigne was substituted. He scored in England's second game of the tournament, against
Scotland
Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...
(where he was playing at club level at the time). Receiving the ball from
Darren Anderton
Darren Robert Anderton (born 3 March 1972) is an English former professional footballer and pundit.
As a player, he was a midfielder who notably played in the Premier League for Tottenham Hotspur and Birmingham City. His twelve-year spell with ...
outside the Scotland penalty area, he flicked the ball over
Colin Hendry
Edward Colin James Hendry (born 7 December 1965) is a Scottish football coach and former professional footballer.
Hendry, who played as a defender notably played in the Premier League for Blackburn Rovers where he was part of the title winning ...
with his left foot and changed direction; Hendry was completely wrong-footed and, as the ball dropped, Gascoigne volleyed it with his right foot past
Andy Goram
Andrew Lewis Goram (13 April 1964 – 2 July 2022) was a Scottish footballer who played as a goalkeeper. Born in Bury, Lancashire, England, he started his career with Oldham Athletic and Hibernian, but he is best remembered for playing for Ra ...
to seal a 2–0 victory. The goal was followed by the "dentist's chair" celebration referring to the incident before the tournament, where Gascoigne lay on the ground as if he were sitting in the dentist's chair, and teammates sprayed water from
Lucozade
Lucozade is a British brand of soft drink manufactured and marketed by the Japanese company Suntory. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle pharmacist, William Walker Hunter (trading as W. Owen & Son), it was acquired by the B ...
bottles into his open mouth.
England beat the Netherlands 4–1 to make it through to the knock-out stages. They then drew 0–0 with
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
before winning 4–2 on
penalties
Penalty or The Penalty may refer to:
Sports
* Penalty (golf)
* Penalty (gridiron football)
* Penalty (ice hockey)
* Penalty (rugby)
* Penalty (rugby union)
* Penalty kick (association football)
* Penalty shoot-out (association football)
* Penalty ...
, the last of which was converted by Gascoigne. England drew 1–1 with Germany in the semi-finals, and Gascoigne missed the chance to win the game in extra-time when he came inches away from connecting to an
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer CBE DL (born 13 August 1970) is an English football pundit and retired football player and manager who played as a striker. Widely regarded as one of the best strikers of his generation and one of the greatest players in Premie ...
cross yards in front of an unguarded German net. England lost to Germany in the resulting penalty shoot-out, with
Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016.
Southgate won the League Cup ...
missing England's sudden death penalty.
Under
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...
, Gascoigne was picked regularly and helped England win the
Tournoi de France
The ''Tournoi de France'' ( French, 'Tournament of France') was a friendly international football tournament organised by the French Football Federation (FFF) that was held in France. There have been two tournaments: the first in February 1988 a ...
in 1997 ahead of
Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
,
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
and
Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
Qualification
Qualification is either the process of qualifying for an achievement, or a credential attesting to that achievement, and may refer to:
* Professional qualification, attributes developed by obtaining academic degrees or through professional exper ...
for the
1998 FIFA World Cup
The 1998 FIFA World Cup was the 16th FIFA World Cup, the football world championship for men's national teams. The finals tournament was held in France from 10 June to 12 July 1998. The country was chosen as the host nation by FIFA for the ...
went down to the last group game against Italy at the
Stadio Olimpico
The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...
, and Gascoigne put in a disciplined and mature performance to help England secure the 0–0 draw that was enough to take them through to the tournament. Following qualification, British tabloid newspapers would publish pictures of Gascoigne eating kebabs late at night with his DJ friend Chris Evans. These pictures were published only a week before the final squad was due to be chosen. The pictures disturbed Hoddle, who elected not to pick Gascoigne in the final squad. After hearing the news, Gascoigne wrecked Hoddle's room in a rage before being restrained. Gascoigne, who won 57 caps and scored ten goals, would never play for England again.
Managerial and coaching career
Having already gained some coaching experience in China, Gascoigne signed for
Boston United
Boston United Football Club is a semi-professional association football club based in Boston, Lincolnshire, England. The club participates in the National League North, at the sixth tier of the English football league system. The club is known ...
on 30 July 2004. After being at the club for 11 games he left (partly as a result of the club refusing to let him participate in the reality television show '' I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!'') on 5 October, to begin a football coaching course. After leaving Boston, he stated that he was interested in taking over as manager of Scottish side
Greenock Morton
Greenock Morton Football Club is a Scottish professional football club, which plays in the Scottish Championship. The club was founded as Morton Football Club in 1874, making it one of the oldest senior Scottish clubs. Morton was renamed Green ...
, but this came to nothing.
In mid-2005, he spent two months as player-coach at the recently founded Portuguese team Algarve United, but he returned to England after a proposed contract never materialised. He was appointed manager of
Conference North
The National League North, formerly Conference North, is a division of the National League in England, immediately below the National League division. Along with the National League South, it is at the second level of the National League Sy ...
club
Kettering Town
Kettering Town Football Club is a football club based in Burton Latimer, Northamptonshire, England. They are currently members of and play at Latimer Park in Burton Latimer. Kettering were the first club to wear sponsorship on their shirts in ...
on 27 October 2005, and also planned to put in enough money to own one-third of the club to show his commitment. Previous manager Kevin Wilson was appointed as
director of football
A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...
, and Paul Davis was appointed as the club's assistant manager. Bookmakers put odds on Gascoigne being dismissed before Christmas, though he insisted that he was at the club "for the long haul". Attempts to get new sponsors on board were successful, though results on the pitch soon went against Kettering. His tenure lasted just 39 days, and he was dismissed by the club's board on 5 December. The club's owner, Imraan Ladak, blamed Gascoigne's alcohol problems, stating that he drank almost every day he worked. Gascoigne later claimed that the owner had interfered incessantly and harboured ambitions of being a manager himself, despite knowing little about football. He was never on a contract at the club, and was never paid for his six weeks work, nor was he given the chance to invest money in the club as he had first planned.
Gascoigne came close to being appointed manager of
Garforth Town
Garforth Town Association Football Club is a football club based in Garforth, West Yorkshire, England. They are members of the and play at Wheatley Park.
History
The club was established in 1964 as Miners Arms, a Sunday league team based at ...
in October 2010, and after weeks of talks between his agent and the club, he decided to turn down the offer, though reiterated his desire to return to football management.
Other projects
At the height of "Gazzamania" following the 1990 World Cup, he reached number 2 in the
UK Top 40
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
with "Fog on the Tyne", a collaborative cover with
Lindisfarne
Lindisfarne, also called Holy Island, is a tidal island off the northeast coast of England, which constitutes the civil parish of Holy Island in Northumberland. Holy Island has a recorded history from the 6th century AD; it was an important ...
that earned him a
gold disc
Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...
. He established Paul Gascoigne Promotions and hired a number of staff to handle the hundreds of requests from companies wishing to use his likeness and/or endorsement to promote their products. He signed an exclusive deal with '' The Sun'', which did not prevent the newspaper from joining its rivals in sensationalising the various scandals he became embroiled in. He promoted two video games: ''
Gazza's Superstar Soccer
''Gazza's Superstar Soccer'' is a football game released for the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, Amiga 500/600, Atari ST and Commodore 64 platforms. It was created in 1989 by Empire Interactive, and was named after the popular English footballer ...
'' and ''
Gazza II
''Gazza II'' is a football video game released for the Amstrad CPC, Amstrad GX4000 in 1990 for the ZX Spectrum, Amiga, Atari ST, Commodore 64, and IBM PC compatible platforms. It was created by Empire Interactive and named after the popular Eng ...
''.
In August 2006, he visited
Botswana
Botswana (, ), officially the Republic of Botswana ( tn, Lefatshe la Botswana, label=Setswana, ), is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory being the Kalahar ...
on behalf of
the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...
's international outreach week and played football with the children from the
SOS Children's Village
SOS Children's Villages is an independent, non-governmental, nonprofit international development organization headquartered in Innsbruck, Austria. The organization provides humanitarian and developmental assistance to children in need and protec ...
there. On 25 July 2009, Gascoigne appeared on a Sporting Heroes edition of the BBC television quiz ''
The Weakest Link
''Weakest Link'' (also known as ''The Weakest Link'') is a television game show which The Weakest Link (British game show), first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host ...
'', where he engaged in banter with host
Anne Robinson
Anne Josephine Robinson (born 26 September 1944) is an English television presenter and journalist. She was the host of BBC game show '' The Weakest Link'' (2000–2017). She presented the Channel 4 game show ''Countdown'' from June 2021 to Jul ...
Sir Bobby Robson Foundation
The Sir Bobby Robson Foundation is a British cancer research charity which raises money to fund the early detection and treatment of cancer, and clinical trials of anti-cancer drugs. Based in the North East of England, the Foundation was launch ...
. He took part in the first edition of
Soccer Aid
''Soccer Aid'' is a British annual (formerly bi-ennial) charity event that has raised over £38 million in aid of UNICEF UK, through ticket sales and donations from the public. The televised event is a friendly-style football match between t ...
in 2006, playing for an England team captained by
Robbie Williams
Robert Peter Williams (born 13 February 1974) is an English singer and songwriter. He found fame as a member of the pop group Take That from 1990 to 1995, and achieved commercial success after launching a solo career in 1996. His debut stud ...
.
In August 2014, Gascoigne began playing amateur football after signing for Bournemouth Sunday League Division Four team Abbey. In 2015, he was the subject of a documentary film called ''
Gascoigne
Gascoigne (pronounced, and sometimes spelt, Gascoine or Gascoyne) is a British surname of Old French origin, the regional name of Gascony. The surname first appears on record in England in the early 13th century. ''Gascoigne'' or ''Gascoine'' m ...
'', and in 2022 he was the subject of a two-part documentary series ''Gazza''.
Style of play
A creative, quick and technically gifted
playmaker
In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...
who played as an
attacking midfielder
A midfielder is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As #Cent ...
, Gascoigne was capable both of scoring and setting up goals, due to his passing accuracy, his powerful striking ability, and heading ability. He had speed, physical strength, balance and excellent
dribbling
In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score.
A ...
skills, which allowed him to protect the ball, beat opponents and withstand physical challenges. He was also an accurate
free kick
A free kick is an action used in several codes of football to restart play with the kicking of a ball into the field of play.
Association football
In association football, the free kick is a method of restarting the game following an offe ...
and penalty kick taker. ''
FourFourTwo
''FourFourTwo'' is a football magazine published by Future. Issued monthly, it published its 300th edition in May 2019. It takes its name from the football formation of the same name, 4-4-2.
In 2008, it was announced that ''FourFourTwo'' had ...
'' stated: "A
central midfielder
A midfielder is an outfield position in association football.
Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...
with
Glenn Hoddle
Glenn Hoddle (born 27 October 1957) is an English former football player and manager. He currently works as a television pundit and commentator for ITV Sport and BT Sport.
He played as a midfielder for Tottenham Hotspur, Monaco, Chelsea and ...
's eye for a pass and
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...
's love of a tackle, Gascoigne could be inconsistent and positionally suspect," but added: "Gascoigne was no smoke-and-mirrors showboater: his creativity was crucial in deciding deadlocked matches."
Gary Lineker
Gary Winston Lineker (; born 30 November 1960) is an English former professional footballer and current sports broadcaster. He is regarded as having been one of the greatest English strikers. His media career began with the BBC, where he has p ...
described Gascoigne as "the most naturally gifted technical footballer that I played with," who possessed "a sort of impudence" and "great confidence." Lineker added: "You could see he played completely for the love of the game."
Steven Gerrard
Steven George Gerrard (born 30 May 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player, who most recently managed club Aston Villa. Described by pundits and fellow professionals as one of his generation's greatest players, Ge ...
named Gascoigne as his "hero".
Gareth Southgate
Gareth Southgate (born 3 September 1970) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a defender and midfielder. He has been the manager of the England national team since 2016.
Southgate won the League Cup ...
said: "You've got very good players and then there are top players. In my time in the England setup, Paul Gascoigne,
Paul Scholes
Paul Scholes (born 16 November 1974) is an English football coach, pundit, former player, and co-owner of Salford City. He spent his entire professional playing career with Manchester United, for whom he scored over 150 goals in more than 700 ...
and
Wayne Rooney
Wayne Mark Rooney (born 24 October 1985) is an English professional football manager and former player, who is the manager of Major League Soccer club D.C. United in the United States. He spent much of his playing career as a forward while ...
just had that little bit more than all the others. And we are talking high‑level people there, players like Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and David Beckham." Former Newcastle United player Lee Clark (footballer), Lee Clark added: "Gazza had everything. He could dribble, take on players, thread defence-splitting passes through the eye of a needle to the strikers and score incredible goals."
''FourFourTwo'' described his performances in the 1990 World Cup as being "as close as the English ever got to the sort of bravura brilliance by which Diego Maradona had dragged the ''Argentina national football team, Albiceleste'' to World Cup glory four years earlier." Football writer Brian Glanville said that Gascoigne displayed "a flair, a superlative technique, a tactical sophistication, seldom matched by an England player since the war." Despite his talent, Gascoigne was also criticised for his erratic behaviour and aggression on the pitch. His turbulent and often unhealthy lifestyle off the pitch, and his tendency to pick up injuries, are thought to have affected his career.
Personal life
Gascoigne married his long-time girlfriend Sheryl Gascoigne, Sheryl Failes in Hatfield, Hertfordshire, in July 1996, after they had been together for around six years. He later admitted to violence towards Sheryl during their marriage. They divorced in early 1999. In 2009, Sheryl published a tell-all book entitled ''Stronger: My Life Surviving Gazza''. Gascoigne had a son, Regan Gascoigne, Regan, with Sheryl and also Adoption, adopted Sheryl's two children from her first marriage, Mason and Bianca Gascoigne, Bianca. Bianca is a glamour model and television personality, and appeared on reality TV show ''Love Island (2005 TV series), Love Island''.
During the 1990s, Gascoigne, Danny Baker and Chris Evans had a much publicised friendship, and Gascoigne frequently appeared on their radio and television shows on ''Talksport'' and ''TFI Friday''.
In October 2004, Gascoigne announced that he wanted to be referred to as ''G8'', a combination of the first letter of his surname and the number he wore on his football shirt, because it "stands for great".
In November 2008, Gascoigne was faced with a bankruptcy petition over a £200,000 tax bill, having not filed any tax returns for more than two years. On 25 May 2011, he avoided being declared bankrupt by the High Court in London, despite still owing £32,000.
Gascoigne has three autobiographies: ''Gazza: My Story'' (with Hunter Davies) published in 2004, ''Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons'' (with Hunter Davies and John McKeown), published in 2006, and ''Glorious: My World, Football and Me'', published in 2011. In ''Gazza: My Story'', and in ''Being Gazza: Tackling My Demons'', he refers to treatment for Bulimia nervosa, bulimia, Obsessive–compulsive disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), bipolar disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and alcoholism. The books also describe his addictive personality, which has led him to develop addictions of varying severity on alcohol, cocaine, chain smoking, Problem gambling, gambling, high-caffeine energy drinks, exercise, and junk food.
Mental illness, alcoholism and legal troubles
Gascoigne first entered therapy sessions in October 1998 when he was admitted into Priory Hospital after a drinking session where he drank 32 shots of whisky which left him at "rock bottom"; then-manager
Bryan Robson
Bryan Robson OBE (born 11 January 1957) is an English football manager and former player. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion in 1972, where he amassed over 200 appearances and was club captain before moving to Manchester United in ...
signed him into the clinic whilst Gascoigne was unconscious. He was released, at his own insistence, two weeks into the suggested minimum stay of 28 days. His subsequent visits to the Priory became more infrequent, and he eventually returned to drinking alcohol. In 2001, Gascoigne's then-chairman Bill Kenwright contacted Gascoigne's therapist at the Priory, John McKeown, who organised more treatment to help Gascoigne to control his drinking. As part of the treatment he was sent to the United States where he had a stay at a clinic in Cottonwood, Arizona. He was diagnosed with bipolar disorder. He stayed at the clinic in 2003 after he suffered low points working in China, and again in 2004 after retiring from football.
In February 2008, he was Involuntary commitment, sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983, Mental Health Act after an incident at the Malmaison Hotel in Newcastle upon Tyne. He was taken into protective custody to prevent self-harm. He was sectioned again in June, and in September he was hospitalised after he overdosed on alcohol and other drugs in an apparent suicide attempt.
Gascoigne was arrested for a disturbance outside a takeaway in February 2010. The following month he was charged with drink driving, driving without a licence, and driving without insurance. On 9 July 2010 Gascoigne appeared at the scene of the tense stand-off between the police and the fugitive 2010 Northumbria Police manhunt, Raoul Moat, claiming to be Moat's brother and stating that he had brought him "a can of lager, some chicken, a fishing rod, a Newcastle shirt and a dressing gown". He was denied access to Moat. In August 2011, Gascoigne sued '' The Sun'', claiming that its coverage of him during the Raoul Moat incident interrupted his treatment for alcoholism.
In October 2010, Gascoigne was arrested for drink driving. He subsequently admitted being more than four times over the limit at Newcastle upon Tyne Magistrates' court (England and Wales), Magistrates Court. One day after being warned he could face a prison sentence for drink driving, Gascoigne was arrested for possession of cocaine. He should have appeared in court on 11 November to be sentenced for the drink driving offence, but instead he went into Drug rehabilitation, rehab on the south coast of England and was given an eight-week suspended sentence.
In February 2013, his agent, Terry Baker, told BBC Radio 5 Live that Gascoigne had relapsed again: "He won't thank me for saying it but he immediately needs to get help ... His life is always in danger because he is an alcoholic. Maybe no one can save him – I don't know. I really don't know". Gascoigne was placed in intensive care in a U.S. hospital while being treated for alcoholism in Arizona in a Psychiatric rehabilitation, rehabilitation programme thanks to financial support provided by ex-cricketer Ronnie Irani and broadcaster Chris Evans. He was arrested for assaulting a railway security guard and being drunk and disorderly at Stevenage railway station on 4 July 2013; he was fined £1,000 after admitting the offence, and ordered to pay £100 compensation to the guard.
In January 2014, Gascoigne entered rehab for his alcohol addiction for a seventh time at a £6,000-a-month clinic in Southampton. In August, he was again admitted to hospital in relation to his problems following an incident outside his home. On 23 October 2014, police were called to his home in Poole after he was in a drink binge; he was Involuntary commitment, sectioned under the Mental Health Act 1983, Mental Health Act the next day and taken to a hospital for a three-day Alcohol detoxification, detox.
In October 2015, he was fined and made the subject of a restraining order for harassing an ex-girlfriend and assaulting a photographer. In September 2016, Gascoigne admitted using "threatening or abusive words or behaviour" and was fined £1,000 after telling a racist joke in November 2015 and racially abusing his black bodyguard. On 27 December 2016, Gascoigne was hospitalised with head injuries including broken teeth after being kicked in the back and falling down stairs in a London hotel. His assailant was jailed for 23 weeks and ordered to pay £7,800 compensation.
On 6 January 2017, a spokesman for Gascoigne confirmed that he had entered a rehabilitation centre in a serious effort to stay "alcohol-free" in 2017. On 20 August 2018, Gascoigne was arrested at Durham railway station by British Transport Police for allegedly sexually assaulting a woman on a train. In November 2018, he was charged with sexual assault. The case came to trial at Teesside Crown Court in October 2019, where he was cleared of sexual assault after he called the complainant a "fat lass" and told the court he had only given her a "peck on the lips" to "boost her confidence" and that there was no sexual intention.
Phone hacking by Mirror Group Newspapers
Gascoigne's mobile telephone was repeatedly hacked by Mirror Group Newspapers (MGN), the publishers of the ''Daily Mirror'', ''Sunday Mirror'' and ''The People (newspaper), The People'' newspapers. In a 2015 court appearance Gascoigne said that the hacking of his phone led to him developing severe paranoia and alcoholism. Gascoigne described the hacking as " ... just horrendous. And people can't understand why I became an alcoholic". At the time of the hacking Gascoigne's therapist had attributed his belief in the hacking to paranoia. Gascoigne said that " ... I'd like to trade my mobile in for a coffin because those guys have ruined my life. Left me in a state". From 2000 to 2010, 18 articles were published as a result of the hacking of his phone in the ''Daily Mirror'', ''Sunday Mirror'' and ''The People'' newspapers. Gascoigne had alcoholism during this period and contemplated suicide. Gascoigne received £188,250 in damages from Mirror Group Newspapers in 2015.
Career statistics
Club
International
:''Scores and results list England's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gascoigne goal.''
Honours
Newcastle United Youth
* FA Youth Cup: 1984–85
Tottenham Hotspur
*
FA Cup
The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...
: 1990–91 FA Cup, 1990–91
Rangers
*Scottish Football League Premier Division, Scottish Premier Division: 1995–96 Scottish Premier Division, 1995–96, 1996–97 Scottish Premier Division, 1996–97
*
Scottish Cup
The Scottish Football Association Challenge Cup,
*
Scottish League Cup
The Scottish League Cup (also known as the Viaplay Cup for sponsorship reasons) is a football competition open to all Scottish Professional Football League (SPFL) clubs. First held in 1946–47, it is the oldest national League Cup in existen ...
: 1996–97 Scottish League Cup, 1996–97
Middlesbrough
*Football League Cup runner-up: 1997–98 Football League Cup, 1997–98
England U21
*
Toulon Tournament
The Toulon Tournament (officially the Festival International "Espoirs" – Tournoi Maurice Revello) is a football (training match) tournament, which traditionally features invited national teams composed of youth players from U-17 to U-23 level. ...
runner-up: 1988
Individual
*
PFA Young Player of the Year
The Professional Footballers' Association Young Player of the Year (often called the PFA Young Player of the Year, or simply the Young Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the young player who is adjudged to have been the best of the s ...
: PFA Young Player of the Year#Winners, 1987–88
*PFA Team of the Year, PFA First Division Team of the Year: PFA Team of the Year#1987–88, 1987–88, PFA Team of the Year#1990–91, 1990–91
*1990 FIFA World Cup#All-star team, 1990 FIFA World Cup All-star team
*
BBC Sports Personality of the Year
The BBC Sports Personality of the Year is an awards ceremony that takes place annually in December. Devised by Paul Fox in 1954, it originally consisted of just one, the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award. Several new awards have been ...
: BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award#Winners, 1990
*BBC Goal of the Season: 1990–91
*
PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year
The PFA Scotland Players' Player of the Year (often called the Players' Player of the Year, or simply the Scottish Player of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the season in Scottish footbal ...
: 1995–96 in Scottish football#Individual honours, 1995–96
*
SFWA Footballer of the Year
The Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year (often called the SFWA Footballer of the Year, or simply the Scottish Footballer of the Year) is an annual award given to the player who is adjudged to have been the best of the se ...
: 1995–96 in Scottish football#Individual honours, 1995–96
*UEFA European Championship awards#Team of the Tournament, UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: UEFA European Football Championship Teams of the Tournament#England 1996, 1996
*English Football Hall of Fame Inductee: 2002
*List of Rangers F.C. players, Rangers Hall of Fame Inductee: 2006
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gascoigne, Paul
1967 births
Living people
Footballers from Gateshead
Association football midfielders
English footballers
England under-21 international footballers
England B international footballers
England international footballers
Newcastle United F.C. players
Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players
English expatriate footballers
English expatriate sportspeople in Italy
Expatriate footballers in Italy
S.S. Lazio players
Rangers F.C. players
Middlesbrough F.C. players
Everton F.C. players
Burnley F.C. players
Expatriate footballers in China
English expatriate sportspeople in China
Gansu Tianma F.C. players
Boston United F.C. players
English Football League players
Serie A players
Scottish Football League players
Premier League players
1990 FIFA World Cup players
UEFA Euro 1996 players
BBC Sports Personality of the Year winners
English Football Hall of Fame inductees
English football managers
Kettering Town F.C. managers
National League (English football) managers
People with bipolar disorder
People with obsessive–compulsive disorder
English autobiographers
English male non-fiction writers
Association football coaches
People acquitted of sex crimes
Sportspeople convicted of crimes
FA Cup Final players
People with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder