Paul John Gascoigne
Paul John Gascoigne (born 27 May 1967 in Gateshead, Tyneside), often referred to by his nickname Gazza, is a former English football player, notorious for his colourful character in the game.
His career included spells at Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur F.C., S.S. Lazio, Middlesbrough F.C., Everton F.C. and Rangers F.C., and he also played 57 times for England. Due to his talent, Gascoigne become one of the most prominent sports celebrities in the United Kingdom in the 1990s: in particular, his fame rose to a peak when he burst into tears following a yellow card in the semi-final of the 1990 FIFA World Cup, which would have disqualified him from playing in the final. Since then the media have avidly followed his sometimes troubled life. In December 2005 he was sacked as manager of Kettering Town F.C.
Biography
Gascoigne grew up in the Dunston area of Gateshead, a particularly deprived area of Tyneside, and played for the local Redheugh Boys Club. He was a bright pupil at school, especially in Mathematics, but his key interest was football and it is rumoured that when he was 12 years old, he wrote his signature time and time again in an examination - explaing to his teacher that he was 'practicing his signature for when he grew up to be a famous footballer'. At the age of 11, Paul suffered a tragedy when he watched his friend's brother Stephen Spraggon knocked down and killed by a car. A year later he suffered further trauma when his father suffered a brain haemorrhage and was in hospital for eight months.
After three unsuccessful trials at Ipswich Town, Middlesbrough F.C. and Southampton, he signed for Newcastle United F.C. in 1983 as an apprentice and made his first team debut in 1985. In total, he made 107 appearances and scored 25 goals for Newcastle before being bought by Tottenham Hotspur F.C. in 1988 for £2 million, the first player to be transferred for that amount between English clubs. Later that year he made his first England appearance when he came on as a substitute in a game against Denmark.
In 1990 he was the BBC Sports Personality of the Year after an emotional performance at Italia '90, where he cried in the semi-final after receiving a booking which would have seen him suspended for the final had England won. After Italia 90, with 'Gazzamania' at its height, he reached number 2 in the UK top 40 with Fog On The Tyne, a collaborative cover with Lindisfarne.
In the 1991 FA Cup against Nottingham Forest F.C. he badly injured himself as he made a reckless tackle on Forest's Gary Charles. (Gascoigne's challenge was so bad that had he not been carried off injured, he may well have been sent off.) The injury prevented him from playing for more than a year. After he recovered from injury, he moved to Serie A side Lazio for a fee of £5.5 million. Beset by injury and intrusive media interest, he had little success playing for his new club side and returned to the UK in June 1995 to play for Rangers in the Scottish Premier League. After scoring a hat-trick in the penultimate game of the 1995/96 season against Aberdeen F.C., he was awarded the title of Scottish Player of the Season. During Gascoigne's time with Rangers he secured 3 Scottish Premier League Winners medals.
During Euro 96, Gascoigne enjoyed arguably his best international form since Italia '90, scoring a spectacular goal against Scotland. He also came agonisingly (for England fans) close to tapping in a cross against Germany in the team's ill-fated and emotionally charged semi-final. (Fans have argued ever since, whether if Gascoigne had been fitter and lighter, he may well have converted Alan Shearer's cross). In the event, England lost to Germany on a penalty shoot out, and once again, Gascoigne shed tears.
Problems with form, injury and discipline – probably down to his well-documented problems with alcohol and drugs – saw Gascoigne omitted from the France 98 squad by coach Glenn Hoddle. Gascoigne was never to play for his country again, an event the press dubbed 'Gazzagate'.
He joined Middlesbrough in 1998 but continuing problems with drink led to him being released from his contract. Gascoigne then joined Everton F.C. and after a period of rehabilitation from his now acknowledged problem with alcoholism, he moved on to Burnley. In 2002, Gascoigne went on trial with US club D.C. United, but failed to win a contract. He then joined Chinese club Gansu Tianma, but failed to find his earlier form, and left after playing just four games. In 2002 Gascoigne was inducted into the English Football Hall of Fame.
On 30 July 2004, he signed a deal to become player-coach for Football League Two club Boston United. After being at the club for 11 games he left on 5 October 2004, to begin a football coaching course. He made five appearances for the club but scored no goals. In October 2004, he announced that he wanted to change his name, and later told a television audience that he wanted to be called "G8". He said he wanted to do this because "it sounds a bit like great, well it does with my Geordie accent". Gascoigne is estranged from his wife Sheryl, who claimed to have suffered domestic abuse from Gascoigne; they have a son, Regan.
In 2005, he made an emotional TV appearance on a BBC One programme about ex-footballers. Speaking to Scottish ex-footballer Alan Hansen, he talked about his problems and how he had had to cope with not being the player he used to be. He also mentioned he was determined to get back into the game by obtaining the proper coaching badges needed to manage a team.
Gascoigne was appointed manager of the recently founded Portuguese team Algarve United in June 2005, but failed to settle at the club, and left to become manager of the Conference North team Kettering Town F.C. on 27 October 2005. His tenure at Kettering lasted just thirty-nine days, and he was dismissed by the club's board on 5 December 2005, along with assistant manager Paul Davis. Later the same day, Gascoigne was arrested over an alleged assault of a journalist outside Hope Street Hotel in Liverpool, but the journalist withdrew his complaint three days later..
Career statistics
Going into the 2004/05 season, Gascoigne scored a total of 110 goals in 471 appearances for the 9 clubs he played for. At an international level, he played 57 times for England and scored 10 goals.
| Years | Club | Appearances | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1984-1988 | Newcastle United | 107 | 25 |
| 1988-1992 | Tottenham Hotspur | 112 | 33 |
| 1992-1995 | Lazio | 47 | 6 |
| 1995-1998 | Rangers | 102 | 39 |
| 1998-2000 | Middlesbrough | 48 | 4 |
| 2000-2002 | Everton | 38 | 1 |
| 2002 | Burnley | 6 | 0 |
| 2003 | Gansu Tianma | 4 | 2 |
| 2004-2005 | Boston United | 4 | 0 |
| 1988-1998 | England | 57 | 10 |
| PFA Young Player of the Year 1988 |
| BBC Sports Personality of the Year 1990 |
| Scottish Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year 1996 |
| Scottish PFA Players' Player of the Year 1996 |
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